3 More Ways Great Therapists Are Like Great Recording Engineers
December 15, 2023
Yesterday, in the first part of my two-part series, I pinpointed three ways the best therapists are like the best recording engineers to reflect on how similarly necessary the roles of in-studio recording engineers and producers are to in-person therapists. In order to further delve into this parallel, here are three more ways great therapists are like great recording engineers:
1. They are active co-creators
Being passive causes stagnation, both musically and therapeutically. Having an active partner helps everyone co-create. While it is easier to identify how a recording engineer or producer can collaborate with musicians to create a unique sound, therapists co-create through both conversation and feeling. A therapist asks questions, observes what is happening in the room, both named and unnamed, and adds to the conversation in a way that is both direct and open. A patient can respond with the next tone, color, or a new sentence or phrase that pushes the process forward toward healing.
Being active doesn’t have to mean big moves either. There is something incredibly active about simply getting your shoes on, walking down the street, taking the train, and sitting in a waiting room. From the start, this sets up an intentionality about getting to work.
2. They don’t rush the process
There is so much pressure on both musicians and patients to get the process of recording or therapy done and over with. For musicians, this concern is frequently about money, booked studio time, and wanting the recorded material to be worth the expense. Time and time again, sloppy, quick recording does not stand the test of time whereas properly thought through, worked-on, and felt sound endures. It might take five years to produce a good album and it is absolutely worth it.
In therapy, a rushed process risks brushing past the main struggle that needs to be worked through or the central pain that needs more processing. It takes time to unpack, feel, and understand everything that comes up in therapy. Slowness is a way to really get to long-lasting healing rather than quickly fixing it in the short term without gaining a depth of understanding.
3. They are best in the room with you
In a studio, a recording engineer or producer is there with the musicians with the instruments on hand. Listening in real-time, they notice subtle shifts in sound—a snare that got hit accidentally or a count that got included in a recording. By being in the room, they identify these smaller differences and concerns that may have to be adjusted and played with.
In therapy, we communicate with our whole selves. A sound, a sigh, a shift in posture, a bodily movement, and a quick glance make all the difference when talking about our emotional experiences. Some of this can be translated over video chat but not all of it. It’s inevitable that some of this physical communication gets lost. These subtle gestures can be a source of both curiosity and information in in-person therapy. A therapist can stop to ask questions about why someone is moving that way when they talk about their father or what they’re trying to say when they make that expression or take a deep breath. There is also an opportunity to play with and have a conversation about these two bodies in the room together and all that brings up emotionally, both historically and in the present.
