Meet Leah Pulli

We recently connected with Leah Pulli and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leah, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

Hmm, that’s tough! I think empathy just happens naturally when you allow yourself to get to know people and believe in them. I’ve always been an empathetic person, but my empathy took on a new shape after becoming a therapist. Routinely sitting with people during some of the hardest chapters of their lives – and witnessing that every single day – absolutely changes your capacity for perspective-taking. Any growth or development I’ve had as a therapist is because of clients who have taken a chance on confiding in me and done the work of pouring their hearts out. Being trusted like that is a privilege and I try to allow that opportunity to shape me and inform me

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

As a therapist, I feel lucky that I get to meet a lot of awesome people, and do work that feels genuinely meaningful to me. Not everyone gets to make a living doing something that aligns with their values, or where they can directly witness healing and growth like this.

My clinical focus right now is on trauma and anxiety. I do PTSD related work with sexual trauma survivors, and Exposure and Response Prevention therapy for people with OCD. There’s so much to learn. It’s an honor to show up for people who are doing very brave, very hard things.

I also want people to know that I currently run an online support group for survivors of sexual trauma. Folks can reach out at [email protected] or find more information on our website: www.bettermindscounseling-services.com

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Willingness to learn, caring, and actually listening.

Letting go of the idea that I needed to have all the answers made me better at this job. Therapy isn’t about fixing people, it’s about showing up, paying attention, and not rushing to make uncomfortable feelings go away. Caring, even when the work takes a lot out of you emotionally, has mattered more than any technique. Wanting better for people and treating them with compassion is really the job. And listening, not to sound smart or to have the perfect response, but to actually just hear someone. I’m not the expert on anyone else’s life. I’m just a person with some training, trying to be helpful.

For therapists just starting out: be kind, be real, and don’t avoid the uncomfortable parts. Learn from your clients, learn from therapists who’ve been doing this longer, say yes to opportunities that push your comfort zone, and remember that caring deeply isn’t a weakness – it’s the whole point.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I’ve been lucky to have so much support along the way. Brittany, my supervisor, has been a game-changer. She really cares about me as a person, not just as a therapist. She encourages me to explore my interests, sends me to trainings, nudges me toward networking and community events, and generally gives me a lot of freedom and support to grow. Brittany and I have a lot in common. She’s mentored me in so many practical ways, but what really means the most to me is that she believes in me when I start doubting myself.

My coworkers, Jay and Erik, have become real friends. I respect their opinions, love to bounce ideas off them, joke with them, and appreciate having peers to talk about the scary parts of this job and just the weight of it all sometimes. Seeing them explore their own paths of interests in the field and watching how many different opportunities they’ve created for themselves has been inspiring.

I still keep in touch with two professors, Dr. Thomas DeGeorge and Dr. Carrie Cottone, who were amazing too. They took the time to get to know me, pointed out my strengths, and helped me build confidence moving from theory in the classroom to real-world work with clients. They looked out for my wellbeing while I worked extensively in crisis environments. They had frank conversations with me about life and about how to apply what I’d learned practically, which made all the difference for me.

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