Being a counsellor gives me the privilege to witness people’s lives first hand. And as someone who is constantly drawn to and amazed by the complexity and multitudinous of human experience, I am grateful to the opportunity I get to witness people.

Secondly, there is just so much to learn in this profession. Not just from books and papers, but more from people. People from such varied walks of lives. Therapy to me is vast repository of peoples’ knowledge. And it’s very exciting to have such close access to it.

I wish to break down the power hierarchy so inherent to the client-therapist relationship, as much as I can. I wish to be authentic, genuine, and above all I wish to be myself in the relationship, while also continuing to play the role of a professional.

I do not show up as an expert but rather as a collaborator in therapy. By sharing power in this relationships, where I can stand as close I can to my clients, I feel I create deeper and more authentic relationships.

Honestly, there have been so many. One of the most rewarding part of being a therapist is having the opportunity to constantly learn from people. To have a close access to such vast range of lived experiences.

The greatest learning in my experience so far has to be that humans are an extremely complicated bunch. I am always prepared to be surprised.

I think my biggest strength has to be curiosity. I am drawn to people’s stories, always paying close attention to details. I always like to know more, without any judgements or remarks. This helps me a lot in knowing, exploring, and understanding client’s life stories more deeply.

Another quality that works favourably in my work is my willingness to show up as a person, as much as a professional. I hate the unnecessary walls that traditional therapy creates between clients and therapists. So I try to bring these walls down as much I can, respecting mine and my clients’ boundaries.