Last week, the field of couple and family psychotherapy—and psychotherapy in general—lost one of its most salient pioneers of the last century, Dr. Sue Johnson. This is one of the main things I learned from her: Although professionalism has traditionally collided with vulnerability and personal disclosure ("don't share too much about yourself; be professional!"), professionals should be periodically, purposely, and strategically vulnerable as role models because healing, growth, connection, and learning (the most important things leaders and professionals stand for) usually require vulnerability.

In a world where everyone is pushing a facade on and off social media of how they want to be perceived, vulnerability and authenticity have grown progressively scarcer. Vulnerability and genuineness are how humans learn, grow, heal, and connect. Feeling connected to others is arguably the most important thing in the world. After all, what matters more in our lives?!

Vulnerability is how we build it with others. Courage is key to vulnerability. It comes from the Latin word "cor", which means to tell your whole story from the heart. So, it's the courage to be imperfect (Brown, 2015). No one's perfect; professionals have a responsibility to model this for the public. Connection, accordingly, comes from authenticity, courage, and vulnerability. It's the willingness to say "I love you" first, or the willingness to try something without its guarantee, like a business or a relationship (Brown, 2015). It's about letting ourselves be seen, believing that we’re enough, and "loving with our full hearts." I'd argue this is essential to health, and we as professionals have a responsibility to model this to the public. It can also help us with self-care, as constantly portraying a facade can be exhausting.

We've known in psychotherapy that who the therapist is is much more........

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