My perfectionism and mentality of input-leads-to-output that had helped me succeed in school did not translate well into the field of therapy. I felt immense pressure to provide quick fixes to my client’s complex problems, to offer the “right” interventions, to say the perfect thing at every moment. And unlike the numerical grades given in school, there was no objective way of measuring how exactly I was doing as a therapist, so I often just assumed I was failing. I attempted to solve my insecurity by reading books about therapy and learning various modalities, but the result was more insecurity and confusion. Eventually when the anxiety and depression got to be too much, I made the decision to leave. But as I started to say goodbye to my clients, I realized I didn’t want to stop being a therapist–what I wanted was to find a sustainable and life—giving way of being a therapist. Since then, I have worked to discover my own voice as a therapist, to accept the limits of therapy, to contain the work so that it does not become all consuming, and to find steady joy and purpose in the work. I’m SO glad I stayed in this field, and I want to support other therapists in this work.