Empathy is not weakness.

Trying to make sense of DARVO so obviously being played out publicly and openly.

Horrified and heartbroken.

Whenever a therapist and client enter together into a therapeutic space, there is one deeply fundamental, powerful, and yet simple truth.

We enter as one human, alongside another human.

Let’s never forget that.

#humility
#humanisticpsychology
#therapeuticalliance

Sometimes the most powerful things are unexpected words of encouragement that show up exactly when needed.

They are not nothing, but sometimes everything your soul needs to hear - magic in the moment of a stranger, and something we can all pay forward ✨

Leaning into a deep sense of calm in hearing nothing but crickets, just for a little while.

Belonging.

Every time you share a vunerable side of yourself, you normalize it for someone else. Even in therapy.

It is the tear shed holding space for grief, an apology for error, expression of professional humility, and interwoven with empathy. It is where shame retreats in the brightness of the light.

Therapeutic alliance is key in the process of healing, but difficult to achieve when fully masking our authentic selves. As therapists, we cannot present as anything but ourselves if we are to build true connection and felt empathy.

Authentic.
Boundaried.

NOT masked.

She has reached a point where success, to her, means feeling safe in her home, comfortable in her own skin, confident in her body, loving herself flaws and all, and being present enough to enjoy the little things in life.

Vishakha Jain

“You must allow yourself to outgrow and depart from certain eras of your life with a gentle sort of ruthlessness."

- Katy Maxwell; girl of the earth

#ndpsychologist #healing #growth

Through years of training and ongoing professional development, we learn how to be therapists. The frameworks, the tools, the microskills, the ethics. All essential to our practice.

But as therapists the single most important thing we can know is ourselves.