True authenticity isn’t about perfection or polished outcomes. It’s about the willingness to risk being fully seen. Practicing a conversation doesn’t have to be a form of manipulation or performance. It can be a way to stay more grounded and present, to get clearer about what we need to say and why.

One of the ways I know therapy is going well is when it starts to feel like we’re freestyling together. Not because we’re rapping (though I wouldn’t be mad about that), but because there’s a shared flow—a mutual presence and rhythm to our interaction. We’re co-creating something in real time, improvising with whatever is happening in the moment, not from a rehearsed script, polished character, or careful performance.

Our therapists come to Kindman & Co. because they want to work in an unsevered space. They seek a culture where authenticity, vulnerability, community, and connection aren’t just buzzwords—they’re practiced daily.

They understand that healing doesn’t stop at the therapy door—it’s shaped by the systems we work within, the relationships we hold, and the spaces we co-create. At Kindman & Co., we believe that when therapists are supported in being fully human, they’re better able to show up in powerful, connected ways for the people they serve.

We worked together on and off for the next three years. Though I’m not sure she would have identified as a relational therapist, I never had to guess what she was thinking. Linda didn’t beat around the bush. If she had a question, she asked it. If she had an opinion, she shared it. She openly identified as a feminist, a supporter of creative Judaism, and progressive politics. That gave me permission to bring those parts of myself into the room, too.

Without saying the words, she made it clear I could feel everything, on no timeline but my own. A typical session often included some tears and a bellyache from laughing. With Linda, I learned to drop the script—what I thought others expected of me, what I expected of myself. And in return, I let myself feel the full impact of her care. She told me she was proud of how much I’d grown and that she believed I was a true addition to the field of social work. Because of our work, I was able to believe her.

Private pay therapy offers deeper, more personalized care, free from insurance restrictions. Investing in your mental health means lasting change and true healing. Read on for more reasons why opting to pay out-of-pocket for therapy is really worth it.

I kind of worked out recently that maybe if we didn't call what BetterHelp was doing necessarily psychotherapy, I might be able to be a bit more comfortable with it maybe. I still think it would be problematic, but I think it's the conflation of psychotherapy as I know it, and mental health support in a whole variety of different ways. So it could be, well, it is the fact that you have this platform that's offering something to people in the world of mental health, mental health professionals to speak to in some way or fashion. But the way that BetterHelp works is completely antithetical to how I was trained to offer a psychotherapeutic space, which was about consistency, regularity, space between those sessions. Generally very little contact between sessions, generally a commitment of more than a very short period of time...

Therapy for therapists is an essential support for continued evolution and as an act of self-care. As you likely know, being a therapist is really challenging and emotionally taxing work! Attending therapy as a therapist can be an outlet for discharging some of what we take on throughout our week and recognizing when something touches on our own personal wounds or history. Read on for more information on why therapy for therapists is an important practice for mental health workers to engage in and a few, different reasons why it’s so necessary.

It can happen at any point in therapy: you might become frustrated, you feel less connected, your initial reasons for starting therapy seem fuzzy in your mind, or it feels like something is just not right. While therapy involves some level of manageable discomfort in the process of growth, here are some cues that the therapy process may need some new perspective.

Many therapy clients come to us never having been in therapy before. These new clients are usually excited to begin but also feel intimidated, uncertain, and unknowing of what to expect. Understandably, starting therapy can bring up a complex mixture of emotions! One question we frequently get from clients new to therapy is “What should I talk about in therapy?”