Why I’m the Shoeless Therapist
It’s Marathon Monday here in the Boston area! On this day, our attention is on athletes who have descended on our fair region for a challenge that seems utterly impossible to me. I am in awe of you—congrats runners!
In honor of this incredible feat, let’s talk about feet!
When I arrive at my in person therapy office, part of my routine to settle in for the day is to remove my shoes. I used to do this only when a client wanted to remove their shoes, but now I just walk around in socks the whole time.
Why am I shoeless?
Let me count the reasons:
It is common in any of my sessions for me to invite my clients to feel the floor beneath them. In my own body, I can feel the floor and have a sense of the earth beneath me when I’m shoeless.
By already having removed my shoes, I am modeling this approach and normalizing it. I find it’s more likely my clients will remove their shoes if I already have.
To me it also promotes a sense of comfort, and hopefully reduces some of the power dynamic.
What do you think, is a shoeless therapist weird, helpful, somewhere in between?
Additional note:
It’s still hard to reference this day without acknowledging the tragedy of the Boston Marathon Bombings. Since 2013, Marathon Monday has been a day of anything from sorrow, to remembrance to a celebration of resilience. Feet on the ground helps us stay present for all the feelings a complicated anniversary can evoke. If you have difficulty with the anniversary of a tragic event, collective or personal, please make a plan to care for yourself. Identify if you need solitude, need to engage in a ritual, be in community or therapy. In any of these situations, don’t forget to pay attention to your body for cues as to what you need and the earth for stability and grounding.
