Therapy for Therapists
with Erik Giles, LCSW (he/him)
Therapy for therapists who want honest, efficient, clinically informed work—not supervision, not vague support, and not another place to hide behind the language.
One of the more unique groups I work with is other therapists. A lot of therapists eventually want a therapist of their own, but not just any therapist. If you do this work for a living, you already know the language. You know how easy it is to sound self-aware, make a beautiful formulation, and still quietly keep the real problem untouched. That is one reason many therapists want someone who can be direct without being patronizing.
I work well with therapists who want their own therapy to be honest, relational, efficient, and clinically informed. I am deeply interested in the field across modalities and traditions, and I spend a lot of time training therapists inside my practice. That means I know the language, the blind spots, the defenses, the professional culture, and the tension between being useful to other people while not always knowing how to take equally good care of yourself.
This work is also relevant to many caregivers more broadly. People in helping roles are often skilled at caring, containing, understanding, and showing up for others while quietly neglecting or rationalizing what is happening in their own lives. Therapy can help expose that split and make it more workable.
Why Therapists Often Need a Different Kind of Therapy
Therapists often need a therapist who can hold two truths at once. First, you really do know a lot. Second, that knowledge can sometimes make it easier to talk around the issue rather than enter it. You may already know the theory, the diagnosis, the attachment language, the transference concepts, the DBT skill, or the ACT frame. The question is whether any of that is actually changing how you are living.
That is why this work needs to respect your intelligence without colluding with your defenses. You do not need to be simplified, and you do not need to be flattered. You need someone who can understand the complexity, say the thing, and help you move.
Working with Someone Who Knows the Field
I come into this work with deep respect for the clinical field and genuine enthusiasm for it. I have studied broadly, supervise therapists, and care about theory, modality, and technique. I also know that none of that matters very much if your own unresolved issues are quietly shaping your work, your relationships, or your quality of life.
That is part of what makes therapy for therapists different. Sometimes the issue is not basic self-awareness. It is whether you can actually be vulnerable, tolerate not knowing, recognize your own enactments, and stop using competence as a way to stay defended.
This Is Not Clinical Supervision
It is important to be clear about that. This is therapy, not supervision. I provide supervision inside my practice, but that is not what this page is about. We are not meeting to manage your caseload, sign off on hours, or review treatment plans.
That said, it is completely fair for your clinical life to come into the room. Countertransference, transference, resentment, burnout, overidentification, enactments, imposter syndrome, isolation, and the pressure of being the calm person in the room all matter. We can absolutely work with what is getting stirred up in your practice. We just do it in the context of your therapy.
Countertransference, Vulnerability, and the Caregiver Blind Spot
I consider countertransference a real source of information and often a useful therapeutic tool when it is understood well. If that idea feels unfamiliar or underdeveloped in your training, that is something we can work on. More broadly, I think helping professionals often struggle with the same core issue: we want to be useful, but we do not always know how to live with our own vulnerability without either minimizing it or intellectualizing it.
Therapy can help with that. Not by tearing you down, and not by pretending your professional identity is irrelevant, but by helping you integrate your clinical self, your personal self, your relationships, and your actual emotional life more honestly.
What I Help Therapists Work On
- Burnout, compassion fatigue, and emotional depletion
- Countertransference, enactments, and the personal impact of clinical work
- The gap between what you know professionally and how you are living personally
- Relationship problems, family strain, and personal patterns outside the therapy room
- Shame, impostor feelings, and using competence to avoid vulnerability
- Clinical identity, authenticity, and how you show up in session
- Therapy that respects your knowledge without colluding with your defenses
- Becoming both a healthier person and, often, a better therapist
How This Work Connects
You may also be interested in:
✔ Career & Work Support
✔ Decisions & Transitions
✔ Couples & Relationship Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy for Therapists
Is this supervision?
No. This is therapy, not supervision. We can absolutely talk about what is happening in your clinical work, including countertransference, burnout, or how your cases are affecting you, but the frame is your therapy, not professional oversight.
Why would a therapist want a therapist who is especially direct?
Because many therapists are already very good at language, formulation, and insight. Directness can help cut through intellectualization, professional self-presentation, and the subtle ways we talk around what is actually hurting.
Do I need to share a theoretical orientation for this to work?
No. I know the field broadly and respect multiple modalities. You do not need to think like I do theoretically for the therapy to be useful. The point is not ideological agreement. The point is honest work.
Can this help me become a better therapist too?
Often, yes. That is not the primary goal, but when therapists do their own work more honestly, it usually improves both personal life and clinical practice.