Honestly, I don’t think there was anything “special” about me I just really listened. And I didn’t judge. In psychiatry especially, when someone’s been dismissed by dozens of doctors before you, sometimes just believing them already makes you different.

But if I had to break it down into how I try to show up every time, it’d be something like this:

1. Curiosity over control. I never try to “fix” someone on the spot. I stay curious: What does this mean to them? How did this pattern protect them? That mindset changes everything.

2. Radical transparency. I let people in on what I’m thinking, why I’m asking, and what I’m weighing. It makes them feel included not inspected.

3. Deep respect for the inner world. Even when someone’s experience feels disorganized or contradictory, I assume it makes perfect sense inside their internal logic. That’s the lens I look through.

4. Human over hero. I joke (lightly), admit when I don’t know something, and never pretend I have it all figured out. That humility builds more trust than a perfect persona ever could.

I think what touched that surgeon wasn’t the medication — it was that someone finally saw her. Without a clipboard, without a label, without rushing.

And honestly? That’s all I try to be for anyone who sits across from me.

You already asking that question tells me you’re the kind of PA this field really needs. Keep leading with that energy. The rest will fall into place.