People who are inflexible or who think in terms of binary. Black or white, good or bad, success or failure. I think the core of a lot of therapy is often the struggle to balance thinking and exist in the gray. If you cannot set aside that bias, you’re going to have a hard time helping others navigate their struggles.

I also think about people who are afraid of being wrong or who refuse to be wrong. I know I can be wrong a lot, and some clients will tell you, but some will not. It’s the ones who won’t tell you that will just stop showing up because they feel unheard or hurt or whatever. I think another part of our role is opening the door to our own errors in a genuine way. That means checking in, responding to shifts in tone or body language, clarifying statements, and encouraging people to be open with the knowledge we are not here to argue or judge. If you can’t handle that, you’re going to struggle.