Outside Obsessions

Curt and Katie talk about how therapists’ outside passions and pursuits can come into the therapy room. We talk about the thought, consideration, and intention that can help these elevate your practice, rather than hurt your clients.   

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

• Curt’s obsession with running marathons and talking about running in his therapy sessions
• How your outside identity, hobbies, obsessions, etc. can impact your therapy sessions, your branding
• How to identify if you can bring your outside stuff into the room
• Acknowledging things that are obvious to clients, but with sensitivity and conscientiousness
• When you need to align your niche with your outside passions
• The possibility of triggering your clients and how to handle that
• When your outside activities positively impact your work
• The need to avoid over-identification when sharing hobbies or obsessions with your client
• Self-disclosure is for the benefit of the client
• Identifying what is yours and what is your client’s
• How deliberate practice informs this decision
• Grounding yourself before session, refocusing and making sure you stay present during session
• How these activities can make ideas and interventions more tangible
• The danger of advice giving when you are truly passionate about your activities
• Making sure to be intentional about your relationship and your treatment by reviewing treatment goals prior to each session
• Deliberate practice as a mechanism to make sure these obsessions don’t come into session in a negative way
• Shared interests leading to connection and then short-hand that helps to move the relationship forward
• Honesty and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship