If you’ve ever been in a therapist’s office, you may have had the thought, “What if it was me sitting in that other chair? What if I was the therapist?”

And then you might have wondered what that would actually involve and what it would feel like to be that other person with the sympathetic expression.

Well, we’ve wondered that too and we decided to do something about it. We called up Lori Gottlieb, a practicing therapist and author of the best selling book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone to ask her about the process of becoming a therapist, what has surprised her about the profession, and what skills she has needed the most. We also spoke to Andrea Kremer, a newly-minted therapist and member of our Preshies group on Facebook about her experiences and the lessons she has learned.

Maybe after this episode you’ll want to be a therapist too. Or maybe not. Regardless, let’s explore those feelings.

Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.

Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!

Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.

Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/

John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepression

Find the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.

John is on X @johnmoe.