Psychotherapists and Counsellors Answer your Questions
Conversations with Therapists
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What led you to choose psychotherapy or counselling as a profession?
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Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?
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Which particular aspects of health or the human journey are you interested in?
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What methods do you use?
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When do you think the client will start to feel that progress is being made?
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How has therapy made a difference in your life?
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What do you like most about being a therapist?
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Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?
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What do you think is the most significant problem we face, in the world today?
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Can you share the name of a book, film, song, event or work of art that inspires you?
Teresa Wilkinson
I really enjoy seeing people reorganise their internal systems into a system that supports them to achieve, stability, contentment, agency and future dreams.
Carlyn Chen
Being a therapist is a creative process that calls me to be on a life-long trajectory of growth and reflection - what an honour. I feel it is such a privilege to walk with clients on the sacred ground...
Johanna Waugh
I like helping people, giving them the tools that are needed to change their life.
Tania Djipalo
The therapeutic space is a place where you can put down your masks and have permission to be real. I value the relational realness of the therapeutic space and feel privileged to be a part of this...
Donald Marmara
Being able to help people transform their lives gives me the greatest joy and satisfaction.
Karen Potter
Having the very special opportunity to be with people on a part of their journeys in life and to see them grow over time in themselves and be more connected to themselves, their families and their...
Reed Everingham
It is an honour and a privilege to be in the therapy chair. I cultivate safe, open client relationships and witness their joy and pain. It humbles me to see people work so hard to grow and change,...
Tamara Pallos
I like seeing people achieve greater wellbeing in their lives and their relationships. That positive change is so fulfilling to witness!
Michele Stewart
Every day is different. I have the privilege of meeting people at their most raw, fearful, angry, joyful, hopeful....hearing precious secrets, pain, regrets. All of this and knowing that holding the...
Helen Basili
Meeting interesting, courageous people whose adventures through life inspire me.
Heather Cavill Greer
Sitting with the full spectrum of human experience and watching people blossom
Ron Dowd
It's a privilege to be allowed by another person to work with them on their most valuable secrets, their deepest wishes; and for them to reveal their essence. I love that, and I have much gratitude...
Kathleen Goossens
Unpacking what is happening in the clients world and together identifying issues and concerns. Seeing clients grow and flourish.
Martina Palombi
I love the opportunity to work with people, to understand how someone functions within themselves, their relationships and in their life. There is little else that gives me as much satisfaction as the...
Vassilka Dimitrova-Isbell
Seeing how someone transforms in front of my eyes. In fact, we transform each other; it's a mutual and shared experience.
Uri Bookman
There is something truly special about fostering a deep connection and being able to witness the exquisite process of healing unfold, much like the delicate and graceful blossoming of a flower.
Karen Druce
The thing I like most about being a therapist is that I am privileged to walk alongside my clients while they explore possibilities and make important changes in their lives. I often witness...
Carolyn Zantis
I love walking with people who are choosing to grow themselves. It is those clients who come with the intention to do the work towards changing unhelpful patterns who make this work exciting and...
Kate McMaugh
Meeting a wide variety of people and supporting people as they make changes and process the issues that are bothering them. I like the way it gives me the chance to really be with people in a deep and...
Tom Skotidas
Living my core values, of relieving suffering in this world, and helping the world thrive, one human being at a time.
Nicole Kinnaird
I love meeting new people and being present and supportive of their experiences and stories. I love working creatively with people and connecting with the inherent wisdom in our bodies, experiences,...
Amanda Dounis
Helping others. Helping kids, and adults. Seeing results. Having a unique and professional relationship with individuals who come to see me. And most of all...making a difference.
Rachael Carter
Seeing clients feel themselves again. It's an honour to be a part of a client's journey back to health.
Natalie Meijer
I love the intimacy of really getting to know a person and their lives. I see it as a co-creative process in which we together form a container of growth.
Christopher Seager
The opportunity to stand beside clients, whatever their situations, and work with them to facilitate meaningful change.
Carolyn Choy
Therapy is a very personal and intimate experience. Being able to offer a non-judgemental and supportive space to a client where they can really get to know themselves and grow is a wonderful...
Rebecca Anderson
I feel honoured that people trust me with their deepest fears, insecurities and secrets. I love that my clients can be so vulnerable, raw and honest about what is happening for them. I feel really...
Ernst Meyer
I cannot think about a more interesting and fulfilling profession.
Michelle Lam
I am grateful for being given the opportunity to connect with another and accompany them on a small part of their personal journey. I am constantly in awe of the strength that shines with a client's...
Lisa Champion
It is just such a privilege and honour to sit with people as they share their experience. I love listening, seeking to understand and asking questions that help my clients to better understand...
Sara Beresford Terry
I can't really imagine doing anything else. I love the variety of my work, the human connection, the pleasure gained from seeing someone change, grow and re-connect with their own strengths. It is a...
Stefan Durlach
Being with people and discussing aspects of their lives that really matter to them and that, often, people in their lives don't want to hear about. This can mean that their disappointments, sense of...
Philip Hilder
I enjoy the wide variety of people that I meet in terms of clients and colleagues.
Lisa Barrett
It is cliche but 'making a difference'. To see hope being renewed or coming alive in clients in their process, to witness them discover new awareness, greater self acceptance.. these moments to me are...
Petra Lansdown
I love being able to hold a space for my client and let them know that I am going to be there for them no matter what they share with me and together we will make sense of it and process it.
Jennifer Fox
The engagement with each individual and the mapping together of what drives their suffering and change!
Debby Heath
The privilege of getting to work with and know so many courageous and resilient people. I feel so grateful to be able to do this work and learn so much from every client - it is really humbling.
Jacinta Franich
Helping others and seeing the lightbulb moments. I particularly like working with young adults because I see generally how receptive they are to new insights and making changes. No matter how small...
Isabelle Truong
I feel very privileged to work alongside clients, who have the courage to seek help when facing with a myriad of difficulties in their lives. I feel honoured that they are willing to share their...
Urja Refalo
I like being able to be present and true for my client alongside being able to deliver 'skills' with heart and safety.
Ash Rehn
I value the honour of being invited into someone's life, and offered the opportunity to share in their hopes, fears, what they value and what they yearn for. It is a privilege being asked to...
Morag Paterson
It is a very meaningful and fulfilling job that I genuinely love. I value the connections that I develop with clients and feel privileged that we journey together in some deep psychological and...
George Turnure
Every day, every session is different and unpredictable. I/we may have an idea of what's going on and then together we discover something knew. Being an ally or support for someone during such a...
Nick Batty
Its pretty cool being able to make a living from sitting on a comfy lounge and helping someone work through issues and concerns.
Michael Booth
There are lots of things I like about being a therapist, but there are two things in particular. Working with a client to successfully reduce or eliminate their distress and suffering is profoundly...
Rachel Troia
Being of service to others and making a difference in this world.
Philipa Thornton
I am a bit selfish, I like helping people. I truly get a genuine kick out of seeing persons sense of relief, them saying they feel better and how their lives are improved. through our work I love it...
Stephanie Thompson
Seeing clients surprised by how dramatically and quickly a situation that felt so dire and desperate can change for the better, and knowing that I helped to achieve that.
I also love knowing that...
Christina Taylor
Seeing others reach their potential as fulfilled beings.
Joanne Taylor
Being able to help people reach their potential and seeing people able to do the most amazing things that they never believed were possible when they first came to therapy.
Rina Taub
I love the opportunity I get to meet such interesting and diverse people everyday and to learn from them. Therapy brings out the creativity in myself and the people that I am co-researching with. It...
Julie Sweet
There are so many aspects that cause me to love what I do and namely it is the privilege I have in bearing witness to others' stories. I feel an enormous amount of gratitude I am able to work along...
Mano Suttner
Laughing and crying with clients. Earning their confidence. The privilege of having people's vulnerabilities entrusted with you. Seeing clients shift. Modelling constancy, reliability, respect and...
Nerine Strachan
Helping others see their own potential and begin implementing this in their own lives.
Lidia Smirnov
I feel honoured and extremely privileged to be a therapist.
I am humbled by the fact that my clients are allowing me to journey with them and often to places that they've never visited.
Jess Siegle
Meeting so many incredible people!
I love supporting people, and helping each person discover the many strengths they already possess, and teach them a few new tools, so they can live a happier,...
Hadass Segal
The privilege of truly knowing people and holding space for their growth and healing.
Jenny Sanbrook
I consider it a privilege to be granted the opportunity to give people what I consider a universal need, an experience of being listened to and taken seriously. I like figuring out with people how...
Amber Rules
Another question I could write for pages about! There are many things I love about being a therapist, but the biggest thing is how grateful I am to witness people's healing and growth. I truly believe...
Karen Rushbrook
The best thing about being a therapist is being able to help children to help themselves.
Deborah Rollings
I cannot think of a more rewarding occupation, there is great satisfaction in facilitating a client's healing and growth
Nicole Rikos
This is a big one too! I would sum this question up by saying it's incredibly rewarding, enriching and sparks all my interests as it's creative, scientific and spiritual. I also get to connect with...
Victoria Redbard
I love helping people, listening to people explore reality through a new lens and witnessing them empower themselves to create the changes they desire in life.
Robyn Price
I love the creative nature of the work I do, where I do not know before I walk into the room exactly what will occur. This excites me and ensures I am completely engaged with the process. Another part...
Lara Petrulis
It is a great privilege to support another human being in need, and to engage with the deeper parts of who they are. The authenticity of the therapeutic relationship is very important to me. And then,...
Anna Petinsky
Sensing or seeing change with my clients. I get very excited when we notice old patterns starting to shift. Confidence grows. It is a very satisfying feeling to be part of the richer life that...
Lisa Paul
Seeing my clients start to get that self awareness and insight. That's when healing begins.
Alexandra Page
Forming close bonds with my clients and witnessing their growth.
Matthew Evans
I love seeing people change and I love accompanying them on their journey of growth.
Rosa Oyta
There are many aspects that I enjoy doing in my work, including the ability to help people improve their mental health, witness positive changes in their clients, and make a meaningful impact on their...
Debbie O'Connor
I feel great satisfaction in providing a safe and nurturing space for people to find relief and understanding during times of distress. I find it a privilege to be with people, and witness their...
Jacqueline Nevin
The privilege of sharing a person's journey and seeing positive change.
Jodie Gale
When women first arrive at my door - their lives are often full of chaos and they are frequently drowning in a sea of despair, suffering and a sense of hopelessness. I love witnessing overtime how...
Maggie Morgan
There's nothing more powerful for a therapist than successfully helping people improve their lives and overcome challenges. To see someone transform into a healthier person due to your professional...
Marie Mooney
Sitting with and holding space for another human being and supporting them to reflect, heal grow and ultimately transform their life.
Dana Mitrovic
I most cherish the process of getting to know people and learning about what has brought them to where they are and assisting them on their journey to where they would like to be.
Kate Mikhailouskaya
The privilege of being present with another person and witness human capacities for facing the hardship and healing.
Hope Michaelson
What I like most about being a therapist is the opportunity to give back the knowledge and understanding that I have been given, which assists me to help clients' reach their goal/s. I am also excited...
Jacqueline McDiarmid
I like being a part of someone's intimate life. It's such a privilege and even after over 25 years in practice I still feel that. It's wonderful to be able to see the changes that people make and to...
Jessica McMillan
I love that I can help people to start living better lives. I have so much gratitude for being able to do what I do.
Karin McLennan
It is an absolute privilege to support people through their healing journeys, through the provision of tools and techniques that can be utilised to bring change into one's life. The approach helps you...
Geraldine McKay
I love that I can connect with clients in a way to help them feel listened to and understood.
Michael Grunwald
The ability to help people feel better, often by simply being there for them - listening, supporting and normalising there psychological distress can be incredibly comforting and soothing. This in...
Emmaline Golding
I like to talk with people, and hear their stories, and I am privileged to be able to assist in times of need.
Deb Gavan
I love meeting and getting to know new people, identifying goals and areas of change and working with people while they resolve issues and strengthen relationships.
Jean Gamble
I enjoy having deep and meaningful relationships with clients who are wanting to evolve and learn to understand themselves. There is a meaning, purpose and intensity to the work that makes it feel...
Erin Galt
Sharing in the personal journeys of my clients is fascinating and such a privilege.
Giulia Fiore
I love seeing my clients improving their lives. I love to provide a safe and hopeful space for them to share their thoughts, feelings and events. I love to hear other people's stories and apply...
Elizabeth Fairbanks
I feel very privileged to sit with my clients in the midst of their diverse lives, through all the ups and downs, and with such experience comes an overwhelming sense of interconnectedness.
My...
Miranda Fagan
I love that as a therapist I can offer people a chance to have a different relationship with themselves. Hopefully one that is kinder, more understanding and more accepting.
I love witnessing...
Lissette Endacott
I delight in supporting people on their life's journey, being an encourager and facilitating healing.
Gregory Egan
I am passionate about empowering people to make positive changes in their lives.
Nathan Dick
I love helping my clients understand themselves better, especially when related to their childhood experience. I love that moment in therapy when my clients find a new surprising hope, that has...
Catherine Devetzis
I love the fact that I have to evolve on a moment by moment basis to meet my clients around their points of pain and then to help direct our discussions to a point where it is safe and possible for a...
Kerriann Dear
I love connecting with people about what matters to them.
Kate Deakin
I love helping people navigate through the difficulties and challenges of life, connecting with their innate wisdom, expanding in their understanding of themselves and their capabilities, and gaining...
Conny Davis
Being able to sit with clients and offer them non-judgemental and unconditional support whilst actively listening and walking with them along paths, exploring new opportunities and leaving them self...
Bronwyn Davies Glover
I love having the opportunity to truly 'meet' another. In each client-therapist relationship I have, I listen without judgement and join through offering a safe, real relationship centred on trust,...
Amy Datyner
It is immensely rewarding to be a part of a child and family's journey towards better mental health. It is also incredibly fun working with children and adolescents.
Karen Curran
I love that I am making a difference. My work with women, children and adolescents to help them change the effects of trauma, grief and life events, is something I never expected. Each session is...
Ivan Cunningham
I think of my clients as a droplet of water. By helping them to change their vibration in a positive way, that has a ripple effect on the pond of relationships and people that surround them. I like...
Howard Colin-Thome
Getting to know people, their story and being able to help a person grow and develop. Seeing an individual developing.
Mairead Cleary
I love the relational component of working with people. There is no greater privilege than to sit with someone in the depths of their pain or silence or joy and to share that moment with them.
Mary Cantrill
One aspect that I find compelling about being a therapist is the opportunity to facilitate positive change and assist couples and families in overcoming their challenges. Witnessing the personal...
Jan Campbell-Thompson
Having the privileged experience of seeing an individual come to their own particular measure of understanding and inner knowledge is what moves me the most. As we work together, the patient also...
Kerstin Buccoliero
I truly enjoy being present with other people and supporting others to settle into their bodies, hearts and lives. It is so precious witnessing all those shifts and realisations. At the same time...
Jocelyn Brewer
The absolute privilege of my client's trust and willingness to work on the 'big stuff' in their lives.
Sharon Bonello
The thing I like best about being a therapist is seeing my client leave my room, looking less fatigued and worried than when they arrived.
Steve Bonanno
I just love that my job is to focus my care and attention on supporting others. I think in times like these it is uncommon for people to really feel heard - and it's truly an honour to hear what...
Christine Bennett
What I like most is facilitating positive change in my client's relationships. From being emotionally disconnected to once again experiencing understanding and intimate emotional connection, provides...
Sandy Beech
I like to be a therapist who is non judgmental, caring and uses her intuition to support her clients to choose wisely for themselves. I love providing reflections, feedback with tools and strategies...
Christopher Basten
A sense of helping others and seeing people do amazingly brave things with their anxieties and distress.
Duda Baldwin
Clients bring their own stories and wisdom with them. I am humbled to be trusted to guide them.
In addition, this work requires me to constantly develop in both my professional and personal life and...
Heather Adams
Establishing and maintaining the therapeutic alliance is perhaps to me the most important part of the therapy. To facilitate a healthy working therapeutic alliance - where one can really be heard and...
Janelle Wright
Being a privileged witness to another persons narrative and to have a small part in how they make sense of this narrative.
John Woodcock
Sharing those moments when others open up to their own depths or when I get a hint of the unique qualities of the individual who is sharing some small aspect of his/her life with me. People are very...
Judith Withers
the feeling that I may be able to make a difference to someone else's quality of life
Veronik Verkest
I feel privileged to have my clients trust me to walk with them on their unique journey so that together we discover more bout their sense of self.
Michael Vaccaro
I love entering a space with others where its safe to be raw, honest and authentic. I feel deeply honoured to experience these dimensions of life that we don't often share with others. I also love...
Stacey McCraw
It is a meaningful role, because mental health matters. I would continue to offer these services even if I won the lottery.
Graeme James
It is a thoughtful, purposeful and meaningful way to live. The work is stimulating and it is great to see people grow and develop over time.
Michelle Lin
What I like most is being part of someone's journey to happiness or supporting people to get in contact with a part of themselves they haven't before.
Mia Kennedy
It is a unique position and no two days are the same. In my experience it is also a position where you are privy enough to offer hope to others. What I mean by that is I get to hear a lot about other...
Carol Marando
People. I love people. The idea that I can be of assistance to a fellow human being who is suffering is so phenomenal to me. Every person has a fascinating story whether they feel that or not. I see...
Gabriele (Gabe) Marranci
What I appreciate most about being a therapist is the chance to witness and be part of the positive changes in people's lives. It's genuinely fulfilling as I see clients gain self-awareness, heal from...
David Mandrake
I am grateful for being given the opportunity to hear people's personal experiences and helping them get the most out of life.
Andrew Lindsay
I get to meet people and have amazing and real conversations with them. To be let into people's lives and how things are going offstage' is such a rich and humbling experience. There's part of me...
April Lewis
What I love most is that a client trusts me enough to take that courageous leap of faith to change something in their life that is not working for them, and allow me to support them on their journey...
Tessa Ipp
I enjoy seeing my clients feeling happier about who they are and their life. I feel uplifted when together with my client there's an 'aha' moment and suddenly there's a deeper understanding of what...
Natasha Lawrence
Listening to people's stories and hearing about how they have already overcome hurdles in their life. I love knowing the richness of people's lives and being part of their journey for however long we...
Kelsey Hendrickson
What I like most about being a therapist is the relationships with my clients. It is an immense privilege to create enough trust with someone that they are willing to share things with me about...
Martin Hemsley
Working closely and creatively with people. Getting to know people and being surprised by them. Seeing someone come in distress and leaving relieved. Feeling parts of me engaged which otherwise would...
Geoff Heard
The privilege of being let into others lives, which I never take for granted.
And the possibility of making a difference.
Sue Hawkins
Watching people free themselves from the weight they have been carrying psychologically and growing and really liking themselves as a person with a contribution to make to themselves, their...
Megan Haire
When I am in the moment connecting with another human being about something that is real and authentic, that is when I feel most alive. I first experienced this when working on the phone at Lifeline,...
Volker Krohn
I have a deep interest in people. I enjoy being able to be with others in a meaningful way. I love to see people transform and to be able to live more fulfilled lives. I always learn from clients and...
Sarah Bergman
I love people. I am a people person. What I love most about being a therapist is sitting with another person in the realness of the other side of life.The part of life that most of us try to avoid,...
Steven Segal
I get so much satisfaction from seeing people grow and develop through psychotherapy. I am very curious about the way in which people deal with the challenges of life and feel privileged to...
Neha Kapoor
What I find most fulfilling about being a therapist is that it aligns with my inherent curiosity and passion for learning. Through therapy, I can explore the intricacies of my clients' lives, and in...
Brenda Rowlandson
The wonder of the unfolding unconscious process into conscious awareness. Being witness to my clients' herculean struggles in their desire to transform and change, is very moving. I look forward to...
Dinah Buchanan
Being able to share the riches of the therapy journey with my clients - being able to accompany others in a way that speaks to the connection we all have to one another. For me the dream has always...
Steven Dromgool
I said this one before - seeing couples fall in love again is AMAZING.
Corinne Lindsell
The privilege that it is to walk beside someone in their storms
