Therapists Are Trained Martyrs | The Gaslit Truth Podcast with Dr Teralyn Sell and Therapist Jenn Schmitz

On the most recent episode of The Gaslit Truth Podcast, Dr. Teralyn Sell and I confronted a hard truth: therapy culture quietly rewards martyrdom.

After a therapist in Orlando was murdered by a former client, the profession’s instinct was to question what she should have done differently. That response reflects a deeper problem. When therapists are harmed, the system individualizes the blame instead of examining the culture that normalizes overextension, blurred boundaries, and constant availability in the name of “ethics.”

We’re trained to absorb. Stay late. Take the extra call. Meet clients wherever they are — sometimes literally. But safety is not optional, and it’s not secondary to care. It’s step one. Risk assessments aren’t crystal balls, and expecting clinicians to perfectly predict violence while minimizing workplace danger is unrealistic and unfair. I wasn’t able to predict that I was going to be sexually assaulted.

In this episode, we talk candidly about underreported assaults, the limits of violence prediction, and the subtle gaslighting that tells therapists harm is “rare” while rewarding self-sacrifice. We also share practical shifts — clearer boundaries, safer office practices, and the confidence to end treatment when risk escalates.

Better therapy doesn’t come from burned-out, boundaryless clinicians. It starts with a safe one.