I Don’t Treat “Patients”...

I Don’t Treat “Patients”

It’s true that I’ve been practicing psychotherapy for years, but I have never, ever seen a patient. It’s just not how I view the people who come to me for help. They aren’t sick with a disease that I can cure; I’m not the holder of all wisdom who can diagnose, treat, and send them on their way. To be sure, people don’t seek me out just because they want to have a nice chat over a cup of tea. There is something that is truly bothering them. And no doubt they’ve got the odd neurosis or two.

But don’t we all? And that’s the point.

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I’m the one who has studied deeply and developed therapeutic skills, but we are in this together. I don’t exist on the healthy totally tic-free side of the fence while the non-therapists suffer away on the other. In fact, it is my own pain that gives me the empathy required to do this work well.

I know firsthand how wounds from long ago, even ones that we can barely remember, affect how we respond to all kinds of situations in our lives and shape the way we relate to our partners. The traumas and struggles of my childhood compelled me to seek out a way to emerge from their hold and to strive to help others do the same. My life’s work has taught me how to become my own wounded healer.

This is an ancient idea that remains totally relevant, as all the best ones do. It probably began with the legend of Asclepius. He was a Greek doctor who was cut out of his mother’s womb as she was about to die. Talk about an early wound! Jung worked a lot with this idea as well. He realized that the therapist must always be examining himself, and keeping aware of his own wounded parts, because he can only heal in another what he is able to heal in himself.

So, my therapy involves conveying how to become a wounded healer of yourself. We master this because the work of healing never stops. We will be striving to know and love those parts of ourselves that have been abandoned, neglected, abused, whatever it is, all our lives, consciously or otherwise. And if we can take the risk of revealing those wounds to our partners, we give them a chance to love that aspect of us too. Otherwise, how can our partner truly know us?

Now you can see what I mean. We are all in the continual process of healing. That’s why there are no patients in my office, only fellow human beings doing the best they can, just like me.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this please share it! It would mean a lot to me. 🙂

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Figs O'Sullivan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #79062) and the founder of Empathi. For 17 years he has helped couples move out of disconnection and back into secure, loving connection, drawing on Emotionally Focused Therapy and attachment science. With his wife Teale, he runs a San Francisco couples therapy practice, is a relationship expert to the Stars and Silicon Valley, and built Figlet, an AI relationship coach trained on their clinical work. His approach has guided more than 58,000 relationship assessments.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a therapist and a doctor?+
I have never seen a "patient" in my career. The people who come to me are not sick with a disease I can cure. They are human beings stuck in patterns that made sense once but are now causing real pain. My job is not to diagnose and fix. My job is to walk beside them, use the skills I have spent years developing, and help them see what they cannot see on their own.
How does Figs approach couples therapy differently?+
I do not position myself as the expert who has it all figured out. I am someone who has done this work in my own marriage, who has failed and repaired, and who brings that lived experience into the room. When I sit with a couple, they are not my patients. They are two people whose love got buried under layers of protection. My job is to help them dig it out.
Do I need to be "broken" to go to therapy?+
Not even close. The people who come to me are some of the most capable, successful people I know. They are not broken. They are stuck. There is a massive difference. Being stuck means your old strategies stopped working, and you need new ones. That takes courage, not a diagnosis. Figlet is built on the same philosophy, meeting you where you are without judgment.