What Experience Has Taught Me About Being a Better Therapist | IP 210
When I began my career as a young therapist, I thought there was a right way to do therapy. Assess. Make a plan. Follow the plan. Know what you’re doing.
Almost four decades later? I no longer think that way.
In this deeply personal solo episode, I’m sharing some of what all those years (and more than a few mistakes) have taught me about doing healing work well.
Experience hasn’t taught me that I’m to always know the answer. It’s taught me how to trust myself, how to pay attention, and how to discern what comes next.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Why real presence requires a deep trust in yourself — not just your client’s trust in you.
- One painful early-career mistake that taught me a powerful clinical lesson about the purpose of a symptom - a lesson I’ve never forgotten.
- What I’ve learned about the role of silence, the importance of patience, and why our clients set the pace, not us.
- Why authority and humility belong together — and what happens when I can work from both of those places at once.
- What I mean when I say the most important thing I bring into the room is My Whole Self.
More than anything, my hope is that you’ll come away from this episode learning to trust your own experience even more, that you’ll listen to your intuition and own your perfectly imperfect humanity while continuing to grow in the skill of this work.
So good!
I’d love to know what resonates for you. What has experience taught you about doing your work well? Shoot me an email and tell me. I’d really love to hear your story.
~Wendy
P.S. Has this episode brought another therapist, coach or healer to mind? Help them out. Send it their way…. They may thank you later.
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MENTIONED
Episode 209: The Power of Inner Silence: Why Your Presence Matters More Than Your Method with Lex Santi’
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