A Little Unfinished

Being a Therapist Doesn’t Mean Having It All Figured Out

When people find out you’re a therapist, there’s often an unspoken assumption: you must have it all together. After all, if you spend your days helping others work through their struggles, surely you’ve mastered your own mental health, right?

The truth is more complicated—and much more human.

We Are All Works in Progress

Therapists are trained to hold space for others, to notice patterns, to reflect, to support. But being trained in mental health doesn’t immunize us from anxiety, depression, trauma, self-doubt, or the messy parts of being alive. We still have our own histories and vulnerabilities. We still experience hard seasons, uncertainty, grief, and overwhelm.

Sometimes, being a therapist can even make it harder to admit when we’re struggling. There’s a quiet pressure to always be the calmest person in the room, the one with perspective and clarity. But the reality is, we’re humans first and clinicians second.

Practicing What We Teach (As Best We Can)

One of the most humbling parts of this work is realizing that the tools we share with clients—self-compassion, boundaries, mindfulness, acceptance—are things we, too, are constantly practicing. Some days it feels easy. Other days it feels impossible.

And that’s okay.

Owning our own growth is not a weakness; it’s an expression of integrity. When we allow ourselves to be imperfect, we model the very self-acceptance we encourage in others.

The Gift of Imperfection

If you’re a client working with a therapist, it may feel reassuring to know that your therapist isn’t perfect. We can empathize deeply not because we’ve transcended struggle, but because we have our own lived experience of it. We don’t pretend to have all the answers, and we don’t expect you to either.

Healing is never about arriving at a place where nothing hurts or wavers anymore. It’s about learning to relate to ourselves with more gentleness and courage when life gets hard.

A Commitment to Ongoing Growth

Being a therapist doesn’t mean we’ve completed the journey—it means we’ve committed to walking alongside others while we keep learning ourselves. We seek our own therapy, supervision, consultation and support. We do our own inner work, not because we have to be “fixed,” but because we believe in growth.

We can hold both: the honor of supporting others and the truth that we, too, are still figuring things out.

If you’re reading this as someone considering therapy, know that you don’t have to be perfect to start. Neither do we.

We’re all just humans, doing our best to show up for ourselves and each other. And that’s enough.

Allison Summer

LPC | OCD & Eating Disorder Specialist

A Brighter Day Wellness