I was on a Zoom call the other week with a woman who started crying when I told her about my journey to becoming a ghostwriter for therapists. It seems only fitting to share it here because November is the anniversary of when I first started this business.
I was working as a Bay Area freelance journalist (which I still do) but realized I wanted to do more. I wanted to live my purpose, to borrow from modern parlance. To be clear, someone’s purpose doesn’t have to be large or flashy. It could be that they volunteer in a garden or they’re a parent. But everyone has something that makes them come alive and that’s what the world needs, to paraphrase Howard Thurman.
It can be difficult to figure out what exactly that is though! With so many options to choose from, how do you know if what you’re doing is the right thing? For me, it was based on two questions my therapist at the time asked:
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- What do you enjoy doing?
- What do people come to you for?
What I enjoy doing is writing. It’s not always easy. More often than not it’s “type 2” fun or something that’s difficult at the time but feels rewarding afterward. Writing stretches my brain and encourages me to think differently, to synthesize information, and that’s why I love it.
It was clear to me that whatever business venture I started would have to involve writing. But as you know, there’s all kinds of writing! Did I want to write about regulations surrounding bidets in Japan? Or the technical manual explaining how to use the latest Thingymabob? Well, no. Not particularly. This is where the second question comes in.
What do people come to me for? They come to me for wisdom. When they’re riled up and want an outside perspective, they bend my ear. When they’re looking for empathy, they call me. When they want to parse out someone else’s behavior, we chat. I can (and have) talked endlessly about attachment theory, empathy, trauma, Internal Family Systems, and various other psychological topics. I read those books for fun. I research those topics on my own. I don’t want to be a therapist because I don’t want to sit across from someone else and hear all the terrible things they’ve gone through, but I will happily talk about healing in general.
I want the world to be a better, kinder, more equitable place. You could say that’s my mission, whether I’m communicating one-on-one, writing my personal blog, sharing a post on Instagram, or writing professionally. I want to use my gifts in service of others and one way I do that is by ghostwriting for therapists. I believe in therapy, inner work, and the power of the written word. But I also need to earn a living so why not combine my beliefs and my skillset?
What makes me helpful is that many therapists don’t necessarily have time to write or share their wisdom, but I do. So much remains locked in a person’s head that doesn’t make it out into the world. What would it be like if it did? Can you imagine if everyone not only knew about the effects of trauma but did something to heal from it? Can you imagine how people would interact with one another if they were able to respond in a calm, measured, adult way? That’s what I want to help with and that’s what my genius is.
As a ghostwriter for therapists, together, we’re creating the kind of world that’s better for us all. If that interests you, let me be of service to you, too. Contact me today. I have a couple of ghostwriting spots left. Are you one of them?