The Person of the Therapist: Presence, Spontaneity, Authenticity, Vulnerability

The Person of the Therapist: Presence, Spontaneity, Authenticity, Vulnerability
Tim Mewmaw, MS, LCPC
Psychotherapist, Ophiuchus Counseling & Psychotherapy
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with psychotherapist Tim Mewmaw on the importance of therapists’ lifelong immersion in their own personal therapy. Tim values a deep Rogerian approach, emphasizing empathy, presence and resonance with client experience.
Tim gives several examples of lessons he has learned from clients. In one example, Tim shares about the transformation with couples when using symbols to facilitate psychoeducation. Demonstrating how the figures bring attention to the inner child of each partner, shamed, angry, fearful, waiting to be heard and seen. Without confounding words, the couple see an image of their relationship representing their own inner child and how their respective development and life experience is reflected and present in their relationship. These non-verbal exercises often bring trust, empathy and deep emotions too often buried in learned defenses.
Tim encourages therapists, no matter what their theoretical learning, to practice immediacy, trust their intuitive self, practice silent waiting, and be invitational with clients. Tim believes a powerful grounding emerges from client-therapist engagement, when vulnerability is respected, not dismissed or hidden. He demonstrates how clinician modeling of vulnerability both establishes safety for client vulnerability as well as invites the client into an authentic relationship with their own vulnerability.
Tim refers to his early trauma raised in a cult, being as a state of alienation, defined by those in power, eventually lead to counseling, to freedom, a transformation from shame-filled restraints to the depths of an authentic spiritual sensibility with clients.
Tim echoes Jesse Fairchild’s interview, to be true to oneself in the immediacy of therapy, to develop and trust strong intuitions, while keeping a safe, open, questioning frame around one’s motivations. To explore, be innovative, and trust the client.
Tim shared two remarkable symbols. A chimp seated like the classic Thinker by the artist Rodin, gazing into the vacant eyes of a human skull, and the figure of the Mutant Human from Pink Floyd's The Wall, a masked nude figure emaciated and on the edge of survival. These brought up the importance of seeking and giving truth, respecting the encounter of opposites in the humility and wisdom held outside of human ego.
#therapy #healing #psychology #sandplay #sandtray #therapist #arttherapy #humanisticpsychology #imagination #symbols #narrativetherapy #sandtherapy #selfawareness #healing #experientialeducation #miniature #art #personalgrowth #existentialtherapy #counseling #counselors #marriageandfamilytherapist #socialwork #socialworker #creativity #learning #mentalhealth #couples therapy #depth therapy #cult experience #clinical supervision #trustintuition