There's a mismatch of expectations between therapists and their clients. A lot of therapy clients—especially the high-functioning ones—walk into therapy thinking, “Great. I’m hiring someone who can help me make meaningful changes in my real life.” They’re looking for clarity, strategy, momentum, and better outcomes.
But many therapists (often without realizing it) meet them through a clinical-treatment lens: we start assessing, conceptualizing, and listening for pathology, assuming the “real work” is deeper healing, insight, or excavation of old pain. And for these clients, that can feel like we’re missing the point. They didn’t come in to be analyzed—they came in to get unstuck. When the process doesn’t match their goals, therapy can quickly start to feel slow, irrelevant, or not worth the investment.
The fix isn’t “do therapy better.” It’s recognizing that different clients need different kinds of help—and being willing to broaden how you work. When we expand our toolkit with more directive, skills-based, and coaching-informed interventions (while staying inside ethical boundaries), we can meet these clients where they actually are—and help them create the change they came for.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why clients may disengage when therapy doesn’t work for their stated goals
Common mismatches between therapist training and client expectations in therapy
How scope of competence impacts therapy outcomes and ethical decision-making
The limitations of insight-oriented therapy for non-clinical or highly functional clients
Thanks for tuning in to this episode and sharing it with other clinicians in your professional circle who you think might need to hear it. I'll be so interested to hear what you think about this episode.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and let's continue the conversation!
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby
More free resources to support your Love, Happiness, and Success as a therapist at GrowingSelf.com!
