Navigating Life With Your Therapist

INTERVIEW WITH DR. TONY MEINERS, PSYD

I think sometimes in this field there’s kind of this hierarchy of like psychologist, doctor, therapist, whatever, and then client down here, you know? And that kind of creates a little bit of a disconnect sometimes. And I think what I really try and do is kind of even the playing field. Sometimes I see it as like clients are kind of coming to just consult with me. You know, there’s no really like hierarchy. We’re just two humans trying to like figure out life. Really try and be like relatable in the sense of like, there’s no like one person, I have all the answers and I’m just gonna give them to you. You know? It’s like how do we create a space in which we’re kind of just working together to put pieces of the puzzle together. So I think being kind of personable and relatable in that sense in which there isn’t this kind of disconnect between provider and client. Which is what I hear a lot. You know? And I think that kind of prevents people from being fully transparent or authentic or you know, feeling like they’re judged. And when you kind of really even the playing field then be like, hey, let’s just like figure this out together. There’s no, like I know something you don’t. You know, I always say I think we are all the experts in our own lives. So if I were to come in and be like, hey, I’m the expert. Let me tell you what I think. I think that automatically just kind of throws a lot out the window. So instead, assuming that the client is the expert in their own life with the ability to have these resources and these strengths, and how do we kind of build on that? Assuming that you already have all this innate acknowledge, not that I’m here to give it to you, I think just creates this really beautiful dynamic and partnership as we help people kind of navigate life, which can be really hard sometimes.