Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Stewart.
Hi Linda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Born and raised local to North County, I grew up in Fallbrook, and have wanted to be a therapist from a very early age. My parents were very supportive, and my mom coordinated a meeting with a therapist in town when I was in high school, so that I could talk to her about her career and see if it was really something that I wanted to pursue. It must have confirmed my direction, because I went on to study psychology at Biola University for my bachelors degree. So for most of my life, I have loved everything about psychology and working with people in a direct setting. Life took a slight detour into hospitality with Marriott hotels and I thought that I might go into organizational psychology for a short time there. I really value my time working with guests and everything that I learned in that industry. To this day, hospitality strongly influences how I’ve run my therapy practice with a mind towards client experience beyond the therapy itself by treating clients more as highly valued guests.
I pursued my Master’s in Counseling Psychology at National University at night when my children were in school so that my husband and I could trade off being at home while heading towards my goal of becoming a therapist. That time spent getting my Masters Degree now feels like a distant dream.
The entire goal was to be a therapist in a private practice and work in a group practice in order to support my family and retain flexibility. When our oldest was applying to colleges, I realized that there might be more that I wanted to do as a therapist. I enjoy teaching and education, and had been doing that for many years as part of my clinical role. I began to have the desire to build a group practice and train upcoming therapists that were pursuing the same career that I still loved and found meaningful. I had never wanted to be a business owner before, but during COVID, this interest developed and grew. I talked about this idea with my husband and some close colleagues and the dream just got bigger. I’m pretty risk averse, so I gave the idea of starting a group practice time to go away and waited to see if I would lose interest. That never happened. The colleagues that I consulted and collaborated with caught onto the idea too, and the three of us began the process of establishing our own group practices here in Carlsbad. I remember meeting with them for lunches and happy hours, and we dreamed, despaired, and encouraged each other through each tedious step of the journey. So in 2023 I launched my own group practice, Collaborative Therapy Center. I already had two wonderful associate therapists that had asked if I would supervise them, so from day one, Collaborative Therapy Center was training therapists and providing them with experience and support. Along the way, the other two female group practice owners, Rebecca Dennison and Kimberly Nelson, and I began to imagine an office space that we could collectively see clients, train therapists, and have fun doing the work we are most passionate about. It seemed like a pipe-dream, but in 2025 we moved into a suite in Carlsbad Village right behind Better Buzz on Carlsbad Village Drive and Carlsbad Blvd. We designed and remodeled it ourselves, and pulled off the very thing we’d been imagining for a couple of years. Even though we own three separate group practices, we do so much together. Together, we named our space and collaboration, Therapy Therapy, Carlsbad Counseling Partners. We don’t want therapy to be seen as something stuffy and inaccessible. Instead, we bring our friendship and enthusiasm to the community, our clients, and our clinicians. We love supporting the local restaurants in the Village by frequenting them for our meetings, happy hour debriefs or consultations, and treating our associates to something fun. Our favorites right now are the Little Victory Wine Bar, Board n Brew, Cbar, Gonzo Ramen, and Same, Same.
I currently have two incredible associates at my practice, Collaborative Therapy Center. We hope to grow a bit more, but right now we each have specialties that serve really important needs in our community: grief and loss, maternal mental health, and sex therapy. It is so fulfilling to be able to provide jobs to therapists that are training and support their careers and flexibility for their own families which was so critical for me. It’s also a profoundly meaningful to be able to provide therapy in North County to those that are in a season of needing extra support and care. Telehealth allows us to serve others in California.
While I’ve had the privilege of knowing much of my life that therapy was what I wanted to do, owning a group practice is a very new dream that still feels surreal. However, I continue to learn so much, and am enjoying the ride. I still get to do the job that I love and sit with clients all day, and I also get to pour into other therapists, learn from them, and be in a small cohort of female practice owners that are a blast and want to offer excellent therapy in Coastal North County.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road when building this business. Having the support of family and friends mitigates the stress and anxiety of taking on new risks and learning new territory. Struggles include taking on a business role in addition to my clinical role, which means learning on the job. Therapists don’t learn business or marketing in our programs, so many of us find ourselves taking on any extra training we can in this area. Running any business is challenging in so many ways, but it also feels good to be take on that challenge.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
There are certain situations that many of us go through that feel so heavy and ambiguous, and don’t have a users manual to guide us in how to make it through. Collaborative Therapy Center helps individuals and couples through three of some of the hardest of these situations: pregnancy loss and pregnancy or motherhood related journeys; the intense grief of losing a loved one; and sexual issues that seem impossible to overcome. We have therapists that specialize in each of these areas and really focus on each client in a way that helps them to move through, forward, and eventually out from under these overwhelming and very human experiences. Many of our clients are Christians, and are especially drawn to our practice because our therapists are able to integrate faith into treatment which can make it a much more of an authentic and wholistic experience for our clients that would prefer that.
I’m so proud of our therapists, as they show time and time again that they dive into the most challenging and painful of experiences with their clients because they truly care about the people they serve. I’m humbled by the work that our therapists do and the care with which they do it.
If your readers are seeing this, and feeling like they don’t know what to do with the very real struggles of maternal mental health, loss and grief, or challenges related to sexual intimacy, we want them to know that we do know how to guide them through, and provide hope and encouragement until they don’t need us any more. Our favorite thing is when our clients don’t need us anymore because they have gotten what they needed, know they are not alone, and are feeling freer from the weight of what brought them in in the first place. We are huge fans our clients because we get to witness their bravery and resilience even in the midst of their most heart-wrenching experiences.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
No luck – friendship and community has built this practice, and will continue to do so. I am not a lone-wolf and value collaboration so much that I named the practice, Collaborative Therapy Center. I meant it. One of the most fulfilling moments for me, are when I can connect people with each other and build collaborative professional relationships so that many businesses can grow and thrive, not just mine. When therapists and other businesses and organizations such as churches work and collaborate together, the community flourishes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://collaborativetherapycenter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collaborative_therapy_center
Image Credits:
1st photo: Lili Ramirez, AMFT, specializing in Maternal Mental Health
2nd photo: Michelle Bourgerie, AMFT, APCC, specializing in Grief, and Executives prioritizing mental health
3rd photo: Therapy Therapy Carlsbad Counseling Partners Launch: (left to right) Kimberly Nelson, Linda Stewart, Rebecca Dennison and their community partner, Mitch Guarneros
4th photo: Therapists consulting at local wine bar, Little Victory in Carlsbad
5th photo: Therapist training at Carlsbad Village office
