Your therapist is supposed to edit your story, not write it.

TL;DR: Three weeks into her first full-time job as a therapist, Megan already holds onto something some seasoned clinicians lose along the way: the client writes the story. The therapist's job is to stay curious and to stay in the room when the hardest chapter shows up.

Hi everyone,

I like to tell clients that I'm their editor. They're writing the book. My job is to flag a section and ask whether they really want it in there. I also point back to the good parts they've already written. During this conversation with Megan, a new therapist on our team, I realized she showed up three weeks into her career already working that way.

Megan came to us from her final internship at Goodwill Central Texas, where she provided therapy to employees whose stories were complex and layered with trauma. She's fresh out of grad school, and she knows how that can read. Some older clients look at her and think, in her words, "who is this 12-year-old." She agrees they have more years and more wisdom than she does. "I have never walked in your shoes," she told me. A former supervisor helped her see the client and therapist relationship as a collaborative partnership, and she walks into every session meeting people with curiosity.

The opposite of an editor is the person who grabs the pen. Megan remembers classmates who called themselves the experts after one year of grad school, and it hit a nerve. Humility, she said, doesn't mean you don't have confidence. In supervisor training we even talk about the ego death you have to walk supervisees through, because somewhere around licensure most of us decide we can work with anyone and know everything.

There's a second way to take the pen away, and it does more damage. Some therapists hear a client mention self-harm or suicidal thoughts and refer out on the spot. Megan named exactly what that teaches a client: once they show someone what they're really carrying, it's too much for people. A good editor doesn't hand the manuscript back the moment the hardest chapter lands on the desk. Megan's commitment is to notice when she's dysregulated and steady herself, so her face and voice don't tell the client she's freaked out. She doesn't claim to know where every conversation goes next. To her, that's part of therapy, figuring it out together.

Staying in the room also takes some human-ness. Megan wondered out loud whether she could be as human at work as she naturally is, like when she tells a client the intake paperwork is just something they have to get through. Here, we call that balance edgy professional. We're human, and we're also highly trained humans with solutions in our pockets. Clients notice. One exit survey I read said this place is like nothing they'd ever been to.

Whose story have you been trying to write for them, and who is helping you edit your own?

Megan and I also get into how ADHD and one harsh third grade teacher shaped her drive, and why she's learning to rest, in the full conversation with Megan. New episodes drop every week.

My Reads of the Week

Even experienced clinicians get anxious when a client brings up suicide

University of Pennsylvania researchers analyzed interviews with 26 clinicians from primary care and outpatient mental health clinics, published in Community Mental Health Journal in October 2024, and found that 85 percent spontaneously brought up anxiety or heightened emotional reactions tied to suicide prevention work. Common themes included distress around escalating a client's care and difficulty tolerating the uncertainty that comes with this work. Megan expects that reaction in herself, and she works to steady it before it ever reaches the client sitting across from her.

Clients improve more when their therapist stays humble from the start

A Florida State University study in Psychotherapy Research, published in 2025, had 50 clients at a community clinic rate their therapists within 12 weeks of intake. Clients who rated their therapist higher on cultural humility early on showed the largest improvements in functioning by the end of treatment, an effect that held specifically for ethnoracially diverse clients. Cultural humility means treating a client's identity and experience as something you're still learning about, which is Megan's "I have never walked in your shoes" in research form.

People want a doctor who makes talking about suicide feel normal

Staffordshire University researchers, working alongside people with lived experience, surveyed 41 adults about talking to their GP about suicidal thoughts and published the results in Frontiers in Psychiatry in February 2026. Participants described fear of the consequences of disclosing, and the conversations that felt safe came from GPs who listened actively and treated the subject without stigma. One participant put it simply: "He made it normal, not embarrassing or weird." That's the edgy professional balance Megan was wondering about, being human enough that the hardest thing becomes sayable.

Wisdom Nugget

Most people walk into treatment carrying the version of themselves they think the room wants to see. The Awkward Recovery guide to a first week of IOP asks for the opposite, telling new clients to bring their actual self and to stop worrying about whether they're ready enough. That first week is about getting comfortable enough to engage authentically, and that only happens when the people running the room are being real too. Read more

Hot Takes

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The essence of our mission at Atomic Souls transcends the realms of recovery and stability; it's about igniting the flame of purpose and passion within each soul we encounter. Join us.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

p.s. If this is our first introduction, hi, I’m Rachel, founder and CEO of Atomic Souls Counseling. I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S) and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC). After years in the trenches as a clinician, I discovered that my real passion isn’t just helping clients heal; it’s helping therapists thrive.

I’ve built Atomic Souls into more than a counseling practice; it’s a place where healing and business intelligence meet. I work with therapists, counselors, and practice owners to help them build sustainable, ethical, and profitable practices. Together, we focus on strategy, systems, and the economics of growth the behind-the-scenes work that allows you to keep showing up fully for your clients without burning out.

My approach blends clinical wisdom with business strategy. I coach on everything from pricing models and team structure to marketing, leadership, and scaling, all while maintaining your integrity and purpose. I believe you can be both a gifted clinician and a confident entrepreneur; those two identities don’t have to compete.

Through Atomic Souls, I’ve built a community where mental health professionals support one another, share resources, and turn purpose into sustainable success. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to expand, I’m here to help you build a practice that aligns with your values and fuels your life, not drains it.

If you’re a therapist ready to step into the next chapter of your career with clarity and confidence, let’s connect.

I write about the business of healing: strategy, systems, and soul for therapists who want to build thriving, values-driven practices on my blog.

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