What do you believe are the key elements of a successful therapeutic relationship?

For therapy to work, it is important that we build a relationship that feels safe, resilient, and collaborative. For therapy to be effective, you need to like me! That doesn't always happen automatically, and it can take 3-5 sessions to be sure. That doesn't mean that I won't challenge you, or that we're just going to laugh through every session. But a healthy therapeutic relationship does have moments of levity, moments of deep emotion, and times that are very hard. It is my belief that the most important learning in therapy occurs through the therapeutic relationship.