Why It's Complicated?

I was always drawn to the simplicity of being a therapist. Holding space for pain seemed like the most meaningful vocation to me. So throughout 1.5 decades I studied, trained, and honed my skills within the art of talk therapy. It added to my sense of purpose that throughout this time decreased stigmatisation of mental health issues resulted in a huge surge of people seeking help. It seemed like there would always be work, and this felt safe. 

But of course it’s more complicated than that. The Global Mental Health Market size accounted for US$ 381.98 billion in 2020, but the practitioners at the heart of it struggle with their own well-being. Ironically, while helping clients move toward well-being, therapists often overlook our own needs.

Establishing and maintaining one-way relationships of care takes a lot of effort and energy and places practitioners at increased risk for stress and burnout. And private practice therapists, like myself, even have to manage all the extra admin of being self-employed - ensuring that we’re getting enough client referrals, and have all the tools we need to support the therapeutic process. But in order to provide effective care to their clients, practitioners must first be well themselves. 

My own loneliness and fatigue from being a private practice therapist was what led me to found It’s Complicated with my friend and fellow therapist colleague Jakob, and Christoph and Jewe, who we met through lucky chance (or what Carl Jung would call synchronicity). 

We wanted a platform that went beyond a matching and client referral service, one that truly catered to our needs as private practitioners, freeing us to focus on our craft of helping people. 

And that’s what It’s Complicated is: A therapist-centric one-stop-shop for private practitioners to grow their practices and manage their therapies from start to finish.

I realized that I’ve never really properly introduced myself and presented It’s Complicated to my professional network, and that’s what I had the sudden urge to do with this post. It goes without saying that I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions for me, or if you’re also passionate about the politics of mental health and everything related to therapy. Hope to speak more!