Many who take up careers in clinical psychotherapy have a deep personal commitment – some might say calling – to help others on their journey toward better mental health. Some, like post traumatic stress expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (whose father was a Nazi concentration camp survivor), found powerful motivation to improve mental illness treatment, after bearing witness to the deep impact of trauma on a loved one.
By nature, the work of a clinical psychotherapist can carry a high risk of burnout because so much of the therapist’s job is to listen deeply to toxic effects of trauma every day.
Helping people recover mental health can be very rewarding, but client success alone is not enough to keep us safe from the risk of burnout – or to keep us as effective with all clients as we can be. As practicing clinicians, we need self-care strategies of our own to sustain our energies, develop our skills, and maintain our best work as therapists. Good self-care, specific to our therapeutic work, is essential to remaining effective and healthy as clinicians.
What is Good Self Care for Therapists?
Self-care is not a haphazard set of distractions in between office hours. It means having a personal answer to the question: What are you going to do to ensure that you are present with your clients, at peace within yourself, and informed with new knowledge that can make you most effective?
Professional self-care shows in the habits and routines you use to keep a healthy separation between your personal life and your work, for example:
- Being able to set and honor clear boundaries with your time – “These are the hours I work. These are the hours I’m available.”
- Having restorative activities in your life other than work – You can take the time you need at day’s end to transition from work to home life. You can enjoy your personal time and close relationships without feeling intrusions from work.
- Giving yourself access to consultation with colleagues – You have other clinicians to collaborate with; you can reach out to someone about professional challenges.
- Making sure that you are well educated – You remain updated with approaches and skills to respond effectively during client interactions.
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