In this episode, Maverick Joyce moves from a direct, hopeful reframe of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) into frank conversation about the therapy field’s structural pressures.
In the first segment, Maverick begins with the RSD teaching: stop calling it who you are. RSD is framed as a real, visceral experience—but not an identity. Maverick describes RSD as a relational wound that can be healed through somatic work, meaning-making, and like-hearted community. Healing is presented as a process of “retuning the instrument” of the body – the nervous system—from being calibrated to other people’s opinions into alignment with one’s own inner knowing, self-trust, and purpose. Maverick explains how feelings become thoughts, thoughts become beliefs, and beliefs shape what feels possible—arguing that changing the somatic imprint of rejection is the pathway from coping to transformation and radical self-acceptance.
From there, Maverick and Andie explore what happens when therapists lose connection to the role of healer inside rigid, fear-based professional systems. They name how board oversight, scarcity, and competition can push clinicians into protection instead of connection—where wounds “ooze” into the work and the field normalises rigidity, policing, and mistrust. A central theme is insurance as a “third person in the room”: the requirement to prove “medical necessity,” pathologise clients, and prioritise coding and documentation instead of attunement and relational depth. They also touch on the broader culture of hoarding, modality status dynamics, and how underpayment and business-skills gaps get misdirected into scapegoating (telehealth, “saturation,” other clinicians) rather than collective action and sustainable models rooted in reciprocity.
The episode closes with final reflections on RSD, invitations to follow the podcast and explore resources in the show notes, and engage with Maverick’s offerings—including a Radical Acceptance of the Birth Chart series and a longer-term coaching cohort through Unlock Your Inner Genius.
You can find Part 2 of my conversation with Andie on my Patreon:
Age of Aqueerius | Expanding Perception and Culture
Workshop series starting 2/20:
https://coachingwithmaverick.com/radical-acceptance-week
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/the.neuroqueer.therapist/
Apply to my coaching program:
https://unlock-your-inner-genius.neuroqueerwellness.com/
Register for a free mini-course on RSD:
https://coachingwithmaverick.com/
Listen to more about the War on the Hyphen:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1PYM3zR4YIqUUPitSTdSOe?si=f6370c4fbda04537
