495 Jennifer Westcott: Wholeness Means Embracing Brokenness As Part Of Life

About Jennifer Westcott
 Hi I'm Jen. I am a therapist, artist, mother, wife, friend. I am a woman devoted and passionate to making therapists the best they can be, the most supported and human and kind to themselves. the reason I believe so strongly in this is through my own journey through healing and encountering both great and awful therapy! As the mental health field becomes more needed than ever, it's essential to support therapists as HUMANS. We already know how to get supervision, we already know how to get training, but there are not nearly enough places to talk about the human experience of being a therapist; how it affects us and how we affect it.
 I grew up in an alcoholic, dysfunctional family that looked really good on the outside with professional parents and kids who were 'bright' and went far...but inside the family were secrets of incest and alcoholism. When I was 36 years old I suddenly remembered being sexually abused by my mother. I nearly went completely mad and definitely went quite mad. This started my journey to healing and sobriety and I continue to trudge daily. The help I needed took me to many therapists' couches, psychologist appointments, psychiatry appointments, alternative healing circles, and 12-step meetings. Through this inside experience, I became PASSIONAtE about what helps people and what doesn't. I changed my complete approach to being a therapist after being a client and NEEDING HELP and getting it, and not getting it. My job as a clinical supervisor and private therapist became an experiment in 'what helps' clients heal from trauma and addiction and I tried a LOT OF THINGS and still do! What I've learned for sure is this: therapists who are authentic, real, and human help clients profoundly. How then do I support therapists to KNOW their own stories and wounds and USE this knowledge to have a healing impact on their clients? How do I support therapists in breaking out of the mold they became trapped in during their graduate program and remembering the sacredness and marvel of human healing? Creating Therapist Sanctuary is my attempt to do this and to hold up therapists in the sacred and meaningful work they do. Also, shout out to my old mentor Stuart Smally from 90's SNL who 'was not an actual therapist but a member of many 12-step groups'. Stuart; I love you.

3 Top Tips
Permission for therapists to be more vulnerable, making them love what they do more
 deny the culture of putting our 'best self forward', let's put our most wounded self forward too!
 Therapists support and hold each other up better than any cheesy self-care method that doesn't even work and that we try doing alone in the bath.

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