Therapists as Patients

By Denise Humphrey, Ph.D., www.DeniseHumphrey.com

“Every analyst ought periodically … to enter analysis once more, at intervals of, say, five years, and without any feeling of shame in doing so.” — Sigmund Freud (Freud, 1937/1963, pp. 267-268)

Therapist are people too. They experience the same childhood, relationship, financial, and emotional strains and traumas as everyone else. What is unique about therapists, is that they have years of academic knowledge to assist in dealing with their own  personal “issues.” Yet, academic knowledge does not replace the benefits of talk therapy. Most people, therapist included, “can’t see the forest for the trees” when it comes to individual core emotional issues.

Therapists do not solve their patients’ problems. They pose questions to assist patients in examining their behaviors and emotional responses and evaluate the motivators for specific behaviors/responses. Once a person is able to determine what motivates his or her behavior, it is possible to alter one’s actions so as to achieve more desirable results. The therapist guides the journey of self-exploration.

Regardless of whether one is a professional therapist or not, when it comes to individual personal and emotional issues, we all benefit from the process of sharing our thoughts, fears, desires and insecurities and exploring how all of these influence our actions. Professional therapists may be experts on human behavior, but only when they are distanced from the emotional affects of it. When it comes to our own behavior, just like everyone else, we benefit from a the therapeutic process and relationship as well.

Denise Humphrey, Ph.D
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Humphrey today! 972-239-2490

CREDENTIALS
•    Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology:  Fielding Graduate University
•    Master of Music in Piano Performance:  University of Notre Dame
•    Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance:  Southern Methodist University
•    License No. and State: 32345 Texas
•    Board of Trustees, Dallas Foundation for Psychoanalysis
•    Chair, Arts Committee for the Dallas Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology
•    Member, National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology