“What if it [the therapeutic relationship] has nothing to do with transference and countertransference, what if it’s about two souls coming together for a deeper space of healing?” 

       In my last year of graduate school, my professor for Social Work and Spirituality class posed this question. They were speaking about the ideas of transference and countertransference, that the dyad of client and clinician could replicate relationships existing outside of the sessions, and therefore those emotions could be transferred on to either the client or clinician within the session. This question has stuck with me. 

       Seven years later, I have developed my own self-care systems and support networks - often working to ensure my personal journey does not interrupt a client's experience, but I still see there is something deeper that can be present in the therapeutic space, sometimes it is the only space that feels safe, where we can forget the “to do’s” of the world and sink into the self. Often when the work is exhausting, I say, “Yes it’s supposed to be, because this is soul work.”

It will always be an ongoing conversation, the idea of the soul, or the origin and understanding of the brain’s inner workings and our stress responses. There is something gentle and honest about the work a therapeutic session can provide. The origin story of therapeutic care is deeply embedded by the incorporation of the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual selves. 

I look now at where my career has taken me, from community-based mental health, to private practice setting, to working with individuals of all ages and backgrounds, and find that these spaces have further challenged my scope of classroom-learning that took place almost a decade ago. I’m not someone who stops learning; rather, I am always journeying, trying to discover the layers and foundations that build ourselves up to who we are. I hope you will join me.