Therapist Exposed

Hi There,

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to expose more of my personal experience as a therapist. When I share, I feel radically free like that scene in the title sequence of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt where Kimmy is first leaving the bunker. Finally! Daylight!! Freedom! But I also feel anxious like I’m doing something incredibly taboo. I was trained as a therapist that keeping yourself private is the norm for very important, serious reasons that shalt not be disobeyed except in rare incidents for the wellbeing of patients only.

I’ve traced a thread of daring to share myself back to one young patient I saw years ago who carried an incredible amount of shame. I found through experimenting with a relevant personal anecdote how healing it was for her to hear about when I struggled. It was a huge antidote to the shame generated by the power dynamic in the room of Big Important Therapist with The Answers helping Small Patient who Struggles and Hurts. The more she benefited from it, the more I was encouraged to bring this side of me in to our sessions and others.

I want to change the power dynamic of therapy itself. To say, yes I have some expertise from training and focusing on humans and how they work - but also I’m human too and here’s how I work on my struggles. There is no Wizard of Oz, here I am vulnerable behind the curtain - just like you. Being human is hard work. Relationships are hard work. That’s okay. There’s nothing WRONG with you because it’s hard. It’s hard for me too.

Love,

Gretchen

I’m writing a personal essay about being a Therapist Exposed. If you have thoughts about this topic - I’d love to hear them!