I Walk Into the Room—and the Old Guard Circles the Wagons

Walk into therapy contained. Not because you’re performing. Because that’s your baseline. Regulated nervous system. High-functioning cognition. Built. Present. Still.

Let me tell you about a recent client. He and his partner go to couples therapy and the room immediately shifts. The therapist—a Psy.D., trained, licensed, sitting in the presumed seat of authority—tilts her head at my client’s very first question.

“What frameworks or skills can we expect to develop during this process?”

The client didn’t challenge her credentials. He asked a clinical question. But her response isn’t professional—it’s reactive.

“Have you finished training? What’s your modality?”

That’s not therapy. That’s territorial defensiveness disguised as inquiry.

The old guard had just circled the wagons.

Because the man wasn’t supposed to be calibrated. He wasn’t supposed to ask questions that implied he already knew the structure. He was supposed to be humble, confused, cooperative, and deferential. A man in need of guidance.

But he came in already holding the frame.

And that’s the threat: A man with his own axis. A man who doesn’t need re-parenting, doesn’t need to be shamed, doesn’t flinch when emotional chaos enters the space.

The partner spirals into her usual trauma loop. Fifteen minutes of emotionally dysregulated processing. Old stories. Justifications. Disguised fear masquerading as sensitivity.

And the client just sits. Contained. Quiet. Listening. No flinch. No fidget. No attempt to dominate or retreat.

Finally, he speaks: “She’s projecting.”

The therapist agrees. She even asks him if he think it’s conscious manipulation.

And he responds with psychoanalytic clarity: “There are conscious and unconscious factors at play.”

Clean. Surgical. Unemotional. And now she really sees it: the man is not just right—he’s dangerous to the structure.

Because he stepped into her domain— and reminded her that authority isn’t a credential. It’s a felt reality.

This is why men like my client and others using the G.A.M.E. by EROs frameworks disrupt the field.

Not because we’re disrespectful. But because we don’t apologize for seeing clearly.

The old guard—these legacy therapists who built their power on passivity, regression, and endless “processing”—don’t know what to do with a man who’s already integrated.

So they circle the wagons. They probe your tone. They reframe your precision as arrogance. Because if you don’t need saving, they lose their role.

But that room told the truth. Parnter flinched. The therapist flinched. But the field held.

Because when you walk in clear, the simulation breaks.

And all that’s left is projection, echoes, and the faint sound of wagons rattling as they try to hold onto a story that no longer works.

🎧 Download the latest podcast: Memorial Day Standup: Why Therapy’s Broken and Boundaries Are the Answer

Enrique Arteaga - Chief Field Officer - elevate.epo © 2025 APG, All Rights Reserved