01/31/2026
There has been little mention of Rebecca White this week.
A 44- year old therapist, seeing clients at 9:00 pm, stabbed to death in her Orlando office.
Being a therapist means holding space for pain, trauma, and despair—often quietly, often without witnesses.
In a world where a 44-year-old therapist was recently murdered by a former client, it’s impossible not to pause and feel the weight of what we carry.
We do difficult work.
We sit with people in their most vulnerable, dysregulated, and fractured moments.
And we do this work in increasingly complex and strained times.
This is a reminder to check in on one another—as colleagues, as friends, as fellow humans.
To notice who might be holding too much alone.
To take safety seriously without letting fear define us. There were definitely nights I called my husband to meet me in the parking lot, or spent days at the firing range getting comfortable with my .38. Emotional and physical safety requires attention.
To honor the emotional and physical risks that are rarely named in our profession.
If you are a therapist reading this: you matter.
✨️ Your safety matters.
✨️ Your well-being matters.
✨️ You are not weak for feeling impacted by this—you are human.
Let’s keep looking out for one another.
❇️ Let’s keep talking.
❇️ Let’s keep caring—for our clients and for ourselves. 💜
A Florida therapist was stabbed to death at her office by her former client, who then fled and killed himself. Rebecca White, 44, had just finished a session with another client on Jan. 19 when Michael Smith, 39, arrived at her Orlando office and demanded to see her.
