Are you in a healthy relationship with your business? With your creative practice?
Or is it unrequited love?
On this episode of The Autonomous Creative, I talk to psychologist, author and business therapist, Nicole Lewis-Keeber.
As a business therapist, Nicole uses her eighteen years of experience as a clinical social worker to help small businesses owners and entrepreneurs break the cycles of abuse they’ve established in their working lives.
It’s not only about running a business — or doing the creative work! — you love, but setting it up to love you back.
We also discuss different types of trauma, how to identify them, and the importance of establishing boundaries in any healthy relationship. Plus, what causes money trauma and how can you get out from under it?
Finally, Nicole shares her refreshing perspective on the inner critic, which I previously wrote about in a blog post called, “How to Silence Your Inner Critic: Embrace it.”
For Nicole, the best way to handle the inner critic isn’t to “overcome,” “conquer,” or “master” it, but to approach it with compassion and patience. Maybe even let it sit in the backseat? It might have something important to tell you.
Learn more about embracing your inner critic here.

More from the episode...

How did Nicole recognize - and end - the ‘abusive relationship dynamic’ she had accidentally created with her business?
Why are boundaries around time and money so important for our mental health?
Nicole identifies what ‘big-T’ and ‘small-t’ trauma look like, and how they can lead to behavior patterns that negatively impact our work.
The number one reason ‘changing your mindset’ doesn’t work when dealing with a trauma response: “The inner critic is going to call bullshit on it.”
“You’re going to find a little bit of wisdom about something that needs to be healed.” — Why Nicole recommends recruiting your inner critic, rather than exiling it.
The importance of recognizing unsupportive systems, in the past and present, and how they affect you: “You can stop gaslighting yourself.”
What’s the relationship between money and trauma?
Nicole breaks down the steps for creating an ‘emotional stability plan’ that can help make your work less triggering.

More from our guest
Nicole Lewis-Keeber is a business therapist and mindset coach who works with entrepreneurs to create and nurture healthy relationships with their businesses. She's a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work and a rich experience of working as a therapist.
She's certified in Brené Brown’s The Daring Way™ and Dare To Lead™ methodologies. Her biggest, most important work is in combining therapeutic processes with business coaching to help entrepreneurs build emotionally sustainable, financially stable businesses.
Connect with Nicole Lewis-Keeber
https://nicole.lewis-keeber.com/
https://www.instagram.com/nicole.lewiskeeber/?hl=en
Additional Links
How to Love Your Business: Stop Recreating Trauma and Have a Businesss You Love- And That Loves You Back
Do No Harm Waitlist
Love Your Business Course
Trauma & Entrepreneurship AssessmentFor full transcripts, show notes, and more episodes, head to https://jessicaabel.com/acpod/