Therapists are Human Too

As someone who is still new to working as a therapist, I find myself coming up against my own anxiety far more than I expected. I admit to feeling extremely nervous as I began to advertise myself as the professional I now am—or am qualified to be.

As I thought about ways to calm myself in the future, I considered lighting a candle—unnecessary during the day, perhaps, but still a possibility. Then I remembered that a therapist I saw years ago used to light a candle and burn essential oils at the beginning of our sessions. I began to wonder whether she might have been doing that for herself as well as for the people she was seeing. I had never considered that possibility before, but now I can absolutely understand that she, too, may have needed ways to help herself through her working day. She is human, of course. As am I.

Today, when I was speaking with a woman who had contacted me, I used a word that was completely incorrect—the exact opposite of what I had meant. I rephrased my sentence, but I was left feeling so embarrassed.“What must she think of me?! I must come across as so stupid! So uneducated! So incompetent! How will she believe I’m skilled enough to do my job—the job I’m qualified to do?”

After hearing these thoughts run through my mind, I was fortunate to be able to pause and ask myself: what kind of therapist would I be if I allowed myself to continue thinking this way? I am human. I will get things wrong and make mistakes. It must then follow that if it’s okay for the people I work with to do so, it must be okay for me as well.

So, to those reading this who are considering therapy, remember that therapists are human—just as you are. We make mistakes and get things wrong. We experience anxiety and feel the weight of the titles we carry. But it is our training that allows us to help where we can. Training is a skill; it is a true education. It opens the mind and reveals the grey areas of life. It teaches us where our work can be useful and where it cannot. But it doesn’t shield us from the human condition, and it is this that leaves us with moments of doubt and insecurity. Ultimately, though, how we respond is what matters most.