A Therapist’s Dilemma: To Blog or Not to Blog

Marketing as a therapist feels like walking through a minefield. Breaking the fourth wall for a moment—blogging is a form of marketing that both excites and terrifies me. On one hand, I know I need to put myself out there so clients can find me. On the other, I feel the weight of needing to sound professional and knowledgeable, to avoid exposing a blind spot of unintentional ignorance that could cause harm, and to steer clear of attracting internet trolls. Yet, authenticity and relatability are deeply important to me. I love to write. I always have. And still, it feels high-stakes, like one misstep could set something off.

I know I am always growing and learning—there will always be areas where I am blind, where I don’t know what I don’t know. In a time of “cancel culture,” the stakes feel incredibly high for the part of me that wants to protect me from judgment.

Being a therapist is both strange and wonderful. I hold space as a sacred witness. I open my heart to strangers, holding space for their deepest pains and scariest secrets. I know my clients intimately, yet they often know very little about my life. And somehow, they still know my truest and most authentic Self. I love what I do more than I ever thought was possible for a career. The stakes feel incredibly high sometimes—to get it right, to do no harm. And yet, showing up as my best self and holding people gently as they wade through trauma is one of the most meaningful things I have ever done.

I like to believe I’m good at what I do, though I know I’m not the right therapist for everyone. Esther Perel, the renowned therapist and author of Mating in Captivity, once spoke about how she writes for the people who need her message—not for everyone. As a budding therapist at the time, hearing someone with her level of expertise and visibility say that was revolutionary for me. It gave the part of me that protects me by being a chameleon permission to relax—to stop trying to be the right therapist for everyone.

I want to write blog posts more consistently, to find my voice as a therapist blogger. Authenticity is non-negotiable for me. I have no interest in stuffy professionalism or playing the all-knowing expert. I strive to remain humble, to embrace what I don’t know, and to never pretend otherwise.

If anything I write in this or any future blog post offends you, dear reader, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Please feel free to reach out and allow me the opportunity to repair any harm my words may have caused.

This is my voice, as raw and real as I can offer it. I hope it reaches those who need it.