Empathy

Empathy is defined as the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation. I am not going to beat around the bush. I am a heterosexual white man. I am aware that my skin color, my gender, and my sexual orientation have offered me certain privileges that other individuals may not have. I cannot live the experiences of other people, especially people who might be disadvantaged due to biased, unjust systems.

However, I am also a psychiatrist. I am trained to listen carefully and help individuals navigate their lived experience. We are trained to be non-judgemental. But if we are not, we are also trained to be aware of our implicit biases and judgements (a psychological term known as countertransference). I am not LGBTQ+. I am not a BIPOC. I am a psychiatrist with years of experience sitting with people from all walks of life who have felt comfortable sharing with me their trauma, life experience, and stress.

Hatred has no place at RSK psychiatry. We may not be able to walk in patients’ shoes, but we are able to recognize when those shoes might be too small, too large, too painful, or too scuffed to keep being worn. We welcome individuals from all races, colors, nationalities, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and cultures. Therapy is an intimate process, and we strive to make you comfortable to share your feelings.