The World From the Eye of a Psychotherapist

Feature by Simran Bharadwaj

Image via Freepik

Being a psychotherapist can be an isolating experience at times. You spend hours each day listening to and helping others be the best version of themselves. Being a psychotherapist, you help others on their journey to optimal living. However that does not mean psychotherapists are perfect. We do not always have our life together. We are not always perfect. We are not always the best at communication. 

Clients can also have a hard time bringing up certain topics to their therapists because they feel like their therapist will definitely not be able to relate, making the assumption that therapists are always living a perfect life without any personal or relationship problems. Therapists have to process grief and trauma just the way our clients do. Psychotherapists may have personal and relationship issues that we have a hard time dealing with because we do not always remember the coping mechanisms and communication skills that we may teach our clients. 

Being a psychotherapist is also an interesting experience because of the misconception that we are always analyzing everyone else's actions and words. Every time I upload a mental health related story or post on social media, I find myself thinking and rethinking whether friends will automatically assume the material is about me or my relationship. Whenever I tell others about my profession, there is usually a comment such as “Oh I better watch what I say around you” as if to say a therapist will always be psychoanalyzing what others say. 

Viewing the world from the eye of a therapist is very similar to the view from those who haven’t studied psychology. We have communication errors. We do not always pick up on others' toxic behaviors or actions when applied to our own life. We also have to work on ourselves to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. So don’t worry about your image when you are in the room with a therapist for a therapy session, and definitely do not worry about your image when you happen to meet a therapist outside the therapy room.

Author

Simran Bharadwaj is a pre-professional licensed mental health therapist in New York City. You can contact Simran at simran@mwr.nyc and read more blog posts at www.mwr.nyc.