When You Get It Wrong: A Therapist Conversation on Mistakes
This Event is for Practicing Therapists Only
Most therapists have had a clinical or professional moment they wish they could redo: something they missed, misunderstood, avoided, mishandled, or recognized too late. Even when mistakes are part of being human and doing relational work, the shame that follows can feel deeply isolating.
Sometimes there is an opportunity for repair. Other times, a client leaves, and we are left with no resolution. In either case, therapists may carry the experience privately, afraid of judgment or unsure how to make space for accountability without becoming consumed by self-blame.
This gathering offers a confidential, compassionate space for therapists to talk honestly about mistakes, shame, rupture, repair, and the complicated process of moving forward.
Using a fishbowl format, a small group of volunteer participants will begin by sharing openly about a clinical or professional mistake while others listen. The conversation will then open to the larger group. Participants are welcome to share, listen, or simply be present.
If you are interested in being one of the therapists who shares during the opening fishbowl conversation, please email Ann at [email protected]. There is no expectation to share in order to attend; listening is a meaningful form of participation in this gathering.
To protect client privacy, participants will be asked not to share identifying client information.
Our hope in holding this space is that therapists leave feeling less alone in the experience of getting it wrong.
About the Facilitator
Ann Dypiangco, LCSW, is a therapist, clinical supervisor, and consultant with over 15 years of experience, and she will be the first to hesitantly admit that she has made mistakes in this work. As a self-described perfectionist, she knows how heavy and shameful it can feel to carry a clinical misstep and how rarely we extend to ourselves the grace we offer our clients. In addition to serving as Clinical Community Lead at Mental Health Match, where she creates spaces for therapists to connect around the realities of the work, Ann co-writes Therapist Brief, a weekly newsletter for clinicians navigating modern practice.