Healing for the Outliers: Helping the Misunderstood Heal

In this heart-centered and thought-provoking episode, host Jamie Seeker speaks with Ari Drosman, founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Resurface Group, a mental health and addiction treatment organization designed specifically for people who don’t fit into traditional systems—what Ari calls “the outliers.”

Ari shares how his path into psychology began unexpectedly, sparked by a powerful moment of connection with a client during his early fieldwork. Over the past two decades, he's developed a fully integrated, life-based approach to healing that blends personal presence, innovation, and flexibility.

Together, Jamie and Ari unpack what it means to truly serve misunderstood individuals through tailored, in-home, and deeply relational care. Ari opens up about the clinical and business challenges of building an unconventional model, how he integrates personal life into professional purpose, and what it takes to nurture a connected, healthy team.

The episode closes with Ari’s beautifully honest take on what it really takes to be a business owner in a mission-driven space.

🧠 Key Discussion Highlights:

🔹 Ari’s Unconventional Entry Into Psychology:

• Initially studied English and Philosophy.
• Was encouraged by mentors to consider therapy.
• A transformative moment with a client showed him the power of presence in healing.

🔹 What It Means to Serve the “Outliers”:

• Clients with unique, layered challenges that don’t fit into traditional care models.
• Includes neurodivergent individuals, high-performing professionals with hidden struggles, and families as the "symptom bearers."

🔹 The Resurface Group Model:

• Offers life-based treatment: care is delivered in the home, workplace, or natural environment.
• Entirely individualized; no group therapy or standard one-size-fits-all programming.
• Prioritizes deep integration into the client's real life, including experiential sessions (e.g. surfing, shared meals, etc.).

🔹 Challenges of Innovating in Mental Health:

• Pushback and misunderstanding from traditional clinicians.
• Navigating limitations of insurance reimbursement.
• Educating and onboarding clinicians into a new model of care.

🔹 Personal Balance & Leadership:

• Ari candidly shares that balance is a work in progress.
• His wife is a core collaborator in the Resurface journey.
• He practices presence over time, focusing on depth rather than quantity.
• Ari builds a relationship-centered team culture rooted in mutual support, flexibility, and well-being.

🔹 Culture at Resurface Group:

• 30-hour full-time workweek for clinicians.
• Team members create their own schedules.
• Emphasis on being a healthy person first, so they can effectively help others heal.

💬 Powerful Quotes:

“The ability to be present with someone’s healing is the most sacred and honorable space for me to be in.”

“An outlier is just someone who doesn’t fit—and we built Resurface to treat them like the Goonies we are.”

“If I’m not healthy, how can I heal?”

“Not having a boss means everybody is my boss.”

“I want people to make really wonderful mistakes because they’re trying too hard, not because they’re not trying at all.”

🔚 Signature Question – What Does It Take to Be a Business Owner?

Ari’s answer:

• Grit, moral clarity, and an unwavering sense of right and wrong.
• Commitment to growth and accountability.
• A love of learning through mistakes and...