Most psychotherapists tend to be high in the personality trait of openness. Meaning they can create a relational space that is not one sided sympathy or judgmental, but open and empathetic and compassionate.

My stance makes this more explicit where the relational space is cultivated to help create new and corrective experiences where a client can possibly be heard and felt and understood in ways they may never have experienced in the past. This is especially true for childhood trauma where many children in abusive or neglected early family environments lack the experience of truly being heard, seen, and felt by the other.

Additionally, I see my stance with a client as more dynamic than simply being a psychotherapist.
I dynamically move between being a therapist to a coach and then more of a peer facilitator and back and forth.

There are times when I need to be more directive and assisting with understanding which I consider the therapist stance.

Next, when the work deepens, I become a coach to stay with the deepening and change experience.

Less often but equally as powerful, we may find ourselves as simply peers where I’m facilitating in a more passive and listening manner while we are in awe of where we ended up together and the power differential seems to vanish.