1 February 2021

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What Becomes a Therapist Most?

There are a lot of therapists out there, and I think, because of this, there is a temptation amongst certain quarters of the psychotherapy community to market themselves commercially in such a way as to stand out from the pack. This is completely understandable since, from the client’s perspective, it can be hard to distinguish the person who is the therapist and their presumed role. I think there can be a risk when therapists stick their neck out to market themselves, insofar as making it about the therapist and not the client (or what exactly, wonderful personality aside, that therapist’s role is). I blame Dr. Phil.

As I say elsewhere on my site: you don’t want your therapist to be the star of the show. This might initially sound like fun, but not if you’re paying for it, and especially not if you are seeking help and understanding.

Trust me, I get where the temptation to distinguish oneself comes from. Some days I’m tempted to put an ad out there whereby I promise to never offer unattributable “Native American sayings” or adorn my office with purple satin drapes. And while, for those of us who have seen certain therapists do those very things, we might find some smirky amusement around such dated therapist/New Age stereotypes, the fact is that I think it can ironically only serve to drive some people away, right? I totally want to speak with that overly-opinionated therapist, said no one.

It reminds me of a very common question I’m asked: what (kind of client) is my specialty? My first reaction to this was pretty much the very same reaction I’ve used ever since: I don’t have one. I’ve been doing this going on 9 years and my feeling is that by specifying a type of person/background I would essentially be missing out on some wonderful clients whose lives and backgrounds I haven’t yet been exposed to.

In the end, it has to be about the client.