Therapy for Therapists: Why Helpers Need Their Own Support

If you're a therapist, counselor, social worker, or anyone whose job is to hold space for other people's pain, I want to ask you something. When was the last time someone held space for yours?

I ask because I know the answer for a lot of us. It's been a while. Maybe it's been years. Maybe you tell yourself you don't need it, that you know all the tools already, that you can work through your own stuff on your own time. I understand that instinct. I've had it myself.

But knowing the tools and living inside your own nervous system are two very different things. You can understand attachment theory inside and out and still find yourself unable to set a boundary with your own mother. You can teach clients how to regulate their nervous systems and still lie awake at 2am replaying a session that didn't go the way you wanted.

Being the helper doesn't exempt you from needing help. If anything, it can make it harder to ask for.

Why therapists avoid their own therapy

A few things I hear again and again from clinicians who come to me:

I'm supposed to have this figured out.

I don't want to be seen as unwell by my peers.

I don't know who I can be fully honest with, since everyone in this field seems to know everyone.

I don't have the time or the money.

Every one of these is real. None of them make the need go away.

What it looks like to work with me

I don't expect you to explain what EMDR is or define countertransference. You already know the language. What I offer is a space where you don't have to translate your experience into something a non-clinician would understand, and where I'm not going to be impressed or thrown off by your professional insight. You can just be a person in the room, not a colleague performing wellness.

I work with therapists, social workers, nurses, doctors,  teachers, and caregivers using EMDR, IFS, somatic and mindfulness interventions, and ecotherapy, depending on what your system needs. For some of you, that also includes Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy when talk therapy alone hasn't reached what needs reaching.

You're allowed to need this too

If you've spent years being the steady one, the one people call when things fall apart, I want you to know there's a place where you don't have to be steady. Where the falling apart is allowed to happen safely, with someone else holding the container for once.

I offer sessions in my Phoenix office and via telehealth for Colorado residents. If you're ready to talk, I'd love to hear from you.

Want to pause and notice what may be asking for your attention?

Take this gentle five-minute reflection. It’s educational, non-diagnostic, and not a substitute for therapy or crisis support.