Therapy for therapists

Being Held to Hold: Why Therapy for Therapists Matters — Even if it’s Not Required

A Personal Reflection from a Person-Centred Lens

As a trainee therapist, I remember hearing a phrase very early on that stuck with me... We can only help others, if we help ourselves. Not because it was new or profound, but because it alerted me to my history, experience and desire to understand myself as I desired to understand others.

Counsellor training should be a deeply personal experience, and the person-centred approach offered me the opportunity to understand that who we are is just as important as what we do.

Something I’ve noticed in my own journey, and in conversations with peers, is that not all training courses or therapeutic approaches require personal therapy as part of their qualification. Some do, some encourage it, or make it mandatory to undertake...whilst others don’t, and yet...I believe personal therapy is one of the most valuable gifts we can give ourselves — not just as therapists in training, but as people.

The Inner Work of Holding Space

In person-centred therapy, connection and presence are boundless. It offers clients a space where they can be fully themselves...seen, heard, accepted, without condition. But how can we truly hold that space for another if we’ve never experienced being held in that way ourselves?

For me, my many experiences of sitting in the client chair has been transformative albeit challenging at times. Its brought up discomfort, showed me my edges and held a mirror in front of myself to scrutinise and make peace with. 'The wounded healer' expression never felt so apt at times. But these experiences also gave me a safe space to explore who I was, and was becoming. It reminded me that therapy is not about being “fixed”, it was about being accepted, in our wholeness... by ourselves. And that’s a lesson I carry into every client relationship.

Staying Grounded During Training

Training to become a counsellor & psychotherapist can be intense, and for the last 6 years it has been an insightful and stressful time. Between getting my head around historical and current theory, complex phrases and explanations, assignments, placement, all whilst raising children, running a home, working, and contending with my own personal challenges... things did get stirred up...alot! Old wounds resurfaced, doubts creep in (frequently)...and my boundaries were tested.

My time in therapy, in particularly with my most recent therapist, gave me a space to breathe. It became a place where I could untangle what I was feeling, process what was coming up in sessions, and reconnect with myself. It reminded me I didn’t have to have it all together, I just had to be willing to show up with honesty...and that was ok.

It’s Not Just for Now — It’s for the Long Haul

Some assume that therapy is only something we “need” during training. But in truth, it’s a resource many therapists continue to draw on throughout their careers. I dip in and out of therapy as I feel I need it, and am curious to experience differing approaches to how I understand myself.

My decision of when to return to therapy sometimes may be during times of personal change, sometimes when client work touches something close to home, or sometimes just to keep in touch with my own path to growth...to stay open, present, and connected to why I do this work.

There’s no shame in needing support. If anything, I believe the willing to receive it is a strength. It models the kind of relationship we hope to create for our clients: one rooted in safety, trust, and mutual respect.

Final Thoughts — From One Therapist to Another

If your course doesn’t require therapy, that’s okay. But I invite you to consider it anyway, not as a task to tick off, but as a space to come home to yourself.

Person-centred therapy teaches us that change happens in relationship, and therapy gives you the chance to experience that from the inside out...to know what it feels like to be deeply accepted, especially when you’re still figuring it all out.

We don’t have to be perfect to be therapists...we just have to be real and hold acceptance for ourselves.