A Therapist’s Compass: Authenticity and Contact

Showing Up as Authentic

When people picture a therapist, they sometimes imagine someone with a professional mask, someone always calm, always distant, always a little unreadable. My experience is different. I believe therapy works best when I show up as a real person, not a role.

To me, authenticity means being genuine and transparent. I don’t put on a facade. If I make a mistake, I name it. If I feel something important in the room, I stay present with it instead of pushing it aside. That doesn’t mean therapy becomes about me. It means you get to sit with someone who isn’t pretending, who meets you person to person.

Clients often tell me that simply being with someone who is real allows them to relax, to let their guard down, and to risk being more real themselves. 

What It Means to Make Contact

Equally important is what I’d call contact. This is the moment when you feel that someone is really with you. Not just nodding or listening politely, but actually understanding, receiving, and holding what you’re saying.

In therapy, contact feels like being met fully. It’s when you can breathe a little deeper because you sense the other person isn’t judging you or trying to fix you, but is walking alongside you. I think of myself less as an expert and more as a fellow traveler. Someone who joins you in your world long enough for you to feel less alone in it.

That kind of contact builds safety. And safety makes it possible to talk about things you might usually keep hidden.

Why Both Matter Together

When authenticity and contact come together, something shifts. In the safety of a real relationship, you can drop the masks you wear outside. You can risk showing feelings that are messy or complicated, knowing they’ll be met with presence instead of judgment.

Over time, this freedom creates movement. Clients often discover they can trust themselves more, feel more confident, and live with greater spontaneity. It’s not about becoming someone new but instead becoming more fully themselves.

For many in creative, demanding, or high-pressure lives here in LA, that kind of freedom can feel like finally being able to exhale.

My Compass

For me, authenticity and contact are like a compass in therapy. They keep me oriented toward what matters: being real, being present, and trusting that connection itself is healing.

When those elements are in place, therapy doesn’t feel like a technique or a set of steps. It feels like two people meeting in truth, and from that meeting, new possibilities can unfold.

If you'd like to have a free, no pressure consultation call, please contact me.