Therapists also have experience being clients in therapy. So, we wanted to find out from our associate therapists:
What is one takeaway moment that you’d like to share from your own experience as a client in therapy?
Their responses offer a profound look into the transformative power of therapy, whether it’s learning to care for oneself, reconnecting with the body, or embracing vulnerability. Each of these moments highlights how therapy continues to inspire and shape even those who are trained to guide others. Here are some of the most powerful reflections our therapists shared from their personal experiences.
Karen Baker answered:
The human experience is universal and nothing in life is random.
Read Karen Baker’s complete interview here.
Courtenay Houk answered:
Some years ago, one of the most powerful interventions I ever experienced in a session is when my therapist interrupted my process and said, “Courtenay, I don’t care about your (relative); I care about you”. That got me to care about me, too.
Read Courtenay Houk’s complete interview here.
Mark Resch answered:
Being witnessed and supported as a client has helped me to more fully live my own life. One of the most transformative experiences I’ve had in therapy was discovering that I had really insulated and isolated my inner child, in order to protect him. But what that really did for me, was to prevent me from engaging fully with the world. When I learned that I could not just isolate that part, but instead take him out of his cocoon, and carry in with me I found that he caused much less trouble for me when I wasn’t paying attention.
Read Mark Resch’s complete interview here.
Julie Peters answered:
I have had moments in my own therapy work that have completely altered my perspective about the way I think about myself and the way I think about my challenges. This alteration has enabled me to create a healthier life.
Read Julie Peters’ complete interview here.
Erin Boyle says:
When I started my therapeutic journey, I was almost always in my head as an introspective thinker. I remember sitting in therapy with my therapist at the time having little to no awareness of my body even existing while trying to deeply wrestle with why I was struggling and so unhappy. I eventually moved to a therapist who practices Relational Somatic Healing, and slowly formed a relationship with my body and the sensations that go along with all of my feelings and emotions. That has truly been the key to my growth as a person and, perhaps more importantly, a shift in my nervous system that allows me to continue to feel deeply but with more capacity and resilience.
In other words, for all of my big thinkers out there who are scared of feeling into their bodies, that work can be incredibly transformational and worthwhile. (And it can and should be done gently and slowly—it will not happen overnight.)
Read Erin Boyle’s complete interview here.
Elaine Walker answered:
One takeaway is that the ruptures and hard parts continue to have a way of becoming the most healing and important moments that happen!
Read Elaine Walker’s complete interview here.
Caroline Lee answered:
I’ve been in therapy for 19 years and there have been so many profound moments. It is where I have learned to listen and learned to communicate about my own experience and feelings.
Read Caroline Lee’s complete interview here.
Dani Gotwalt answered:
The work is more like a spiral than a straight path, just because I would come back to a topic or memory I’ve processed before did not mean I wasn’t growing.
Read Dani Gotwalt’s complete interview here.
Jordana del Feld answered:
Profound growth doesn’t always arrive heralded by fireworks and a parade. It often sneaks in through tiny moments of stillness.
Read Jordana del Feld’s complete interview here.
Sabrina Rayner answered:
Keep going! When we pull away can be a potent time to go deeper. And, listen to the wisdom of your body.
Read Sabrina Rayner’s complete interview here.
You Might Also Like to Read:
- 12 Therapists Answer: In one sentence, why might someone go to therapy?
- 16 Therapists Answer: What other modalities inform your work?
- 16 Therapists Answer: Who are the clients that you LOVE working with?