5 Signs You’re a Therapist Who Needs Therapy Too: Because even healers need healing.
The Myth of the Therapist Who Has It All Together
You spend your days holding space for others - helping clients untangle pain, find compassion, and reclaim their sense of calm. But lately, you’ve noticed that your own inner calm feels harder to reach. Maybe you leave sessions emotionally drained or catch yourself zoning out between clients. Maybe you keep promising yourself you’ll rest “after this week,” only to fill your schedule again.
The truth is, even the most grounded clinicians sometimes lose touch with their Self energy - that calm, curious, compassionate presence we help our clients cultivate through IFS (Internal Family Systems) or EMDR. Therapy isn’t just for our clients; it’s a vital space for us, too.
Why Therapists Need Therapy, Too
Therapists are human before we are healers. We absorb stories of trauma, loss, and resilience every single day. Over time, this emotional labor can lead to compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, or quiet burnout - the kind that sneaks in while you’re still functioning.
Many therapists in Seattle, Kirkland, and across Washington State find themselves navigating this tension:
💭 How can I keep showing up fully for my clients when I’m running on empty?
Therapy offers a place to reconnect to your own nervous system, to process what’s been absorbed, and to realign with your why. It’s not a weakness, it’s maintenance for your humanity. Therapy for therapists isn’t indulgent - it’s responsible, restorative, and essential to sustainable clinical work.”
Taking a moment to reflect - journaling can help therapists reconnect with their inner voice, notice burnout signals, and return to Self energy. A small act of awareness that opens the door to healing.
How to Know When It’s Time to Get Support
It’s easy to miss the signs when your professional identity revolves around helping others. The exhaustion builds slowly, disguised as dedication or “just a busy season.” But beneath the surface, your system may be signaling for rest, repair, and reconnection.
If you’ve been wondering whether you might benefit from therapy yourself, here are a few gentle signs it might be time to turn that compassionate attention inward.
5 Signs You Might Need Therapy Too
1️⃣ You feel emotionally drained after every session.
You finish the day feeling like your tank is empty. Instead of feeling fulfilled by connection, you feel overstimulated or shut down. This might be compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma whispering that it’s time to pause.
Therapy can help you regulate your nervous system, release what’s not yours to carry, and rediscover balance between empathy and energetic boundaries.
2️⃣ You’ve stopped feeling joy in the work.
What once felt purposeful now feels heavy or mechanical. You show up, but the spark is gone. Maybe you’ve internalized the idea that your worth depends on helping others heal.
Therapy creates space to grieve what’s been lost, rediscover your sense of meaning, and rekindle your creative energy as a clinician.
3️⃣ Your boundaries have started to blur.
You keep saying “yes” when your body says “no.” You overbook, over-function, or overextend - believing rest will come later. But later never comes.
This pattern often reflects parts of us that equate productivity with safety. In IFS terms, your manager parts might be running the show. Therapy supports you in listening to those parts with compassion and learning to lead from your calm, centered Self.
4️⃣ You minimize or intellectualize your own emotions.
You know the interventions, the models, the research - but when it comes to your own pain, you switch into logic mode. You tell yourself you “should” be able to handle it.
Insight isn’t the same as healing. Therapy offers a space to feel rather than fix, to let someone else hold space for you.
5️⃣ You notice irritability, numbness, or cynicism creeping in.
You find yourself less patient - with clients, with family, with yourself. You might feel disconnected, cynical, or flat. These are often protective signals from your nervous system saying: Something needs tending.
Working with a trauma-informed therapist (especially one trained in EMDR or IFS for clinicians) can help you process what’s underneath that irritability and restore your connection to Self energy, purpose, and hope.
Permission to Be the Client
Therapists often believe they should “know better.” But knowing and healing are different things. Seeking therapy as a therapist doesn’t mean you’ve failed - it means you’re brave enough to live the work you teach.
We all have seasons where we’re the helper and seasons where we need help. Giving yourself permission to sit in the client’s chair is one of the most courageous acts of professional and personal integrity you can make.
The best therapists are those who remember they’re human first.
Stepping toward renewal - therapy helps you find your own path back to balance, purpose, and Self energy 🌱
Ready to Reclaim Your Own Healing?
If any of these signs resonate, it might be time to give yourself the same care, compassion, and curiosity you offer your clients every day. If you’re a therapist, healer, or helping professional in Kirkland, Seattle, or anywhere in Washington State, you don’t have to carry it alone.
At Eastside EMDR Therapy, I specialize in helping therapists and high-achieving professionals recover from burnout, compassion fatigue, and the quiet exhaustion that comes from caring deeply. Through EMDR therapy, IFS-informed approaches, and therapy intensives, you can reconnect with your Self energy and find renewal that lasts.
Looking for an EMDR therapist in Kirkland or anywhere across Washington State who understands the unique challenges of being a helper, healer, or clinician?
Together, we can help you reclaim your time, release what’s been weighing you down, and experience deep, lasting change - through therapy that’s both efficient and deeply compassionate. Whether you’re seeking ongoing support or an EMDR therapy intensive for focused healing, you don’t have to walk this path alone.
About the author
Angelica De Anda is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and EMDR Certified therapist based in Washington State. Offering virtual therapy and in-person EMDR extended and EMDR intensives for individuals ready to move through trauma, burnout, and stress with deeper, faster results. Her work is grounded in cultural humility, compassion, and a belief in each client’s capacity to heal.
