I love writing and have always done. I remember having a journal from a very young age – those with a little lock and key, hoping my secrets would be safe.
When I created my website, I was told creating a blog would be a really good way to attract people to it (algorithms and all that), but I found it hard to write knowing that other people would be reading it too (I know, that's the point).
I wasn’t sure how I would write without sharing parts of me. I wrote a few posts, one of them being about my working room arrangements which, reading back, feels outdated and less important now. They all sounded very generic and had very little of me. It didn’t feel personal; I thought they shouldn’t be until now.
I have thought about many subjects close to me to write about but what stopped me is that even though I don’t believe that therapists should present themselves as a blank canvas, I was worried about how sharing about aspects of my personal life would impact my work and the view people have of me. There's also something very vulnerable in sharing things online - we can feel a lot of love and support, but unfortunately, that's not always the case.
After asking myself this question many times, I concluded that yes, it will probably affect my work and how the people I know see me. It may affect me positively (or not), but my job, in essence, is me. I want to think that the fantastic clients I work with come to me because they believe I may be a good fit for them, which is one of the essential things in therapy – the therapeutic relationship.
When I think about the best therapists I had, they helped me to normalise how I felt in being myself, reassuring me when I needed to and challenging me to question myself deeply. Most of all, they were themselves in the room - with much professionalism and a touch of a great sense of humour.
I hope you will enjoy my future posts, but if not, that’s ok too.
Take care
Rose
Hello, I am Rose! I am a qualified counsellor offering online counselling to individuals and couples. If you would like to find out more about me and my work, have a look at my website. I would love to hear from you!