Therapy for Therapists
“No [person] is required to build the world by destroying [him/herself/themselves].”
– Rabbi Sofer
Are you a mental health therapist who is struggling with difficulties of your own? Therapists are human, just like everyone else and are not immune to being hit with unexpected life crises. Moreover, many therapists experience mental health symptoms themselves. If we take a step back, this shouldn’t be surprising. We deal with problems that many in society don’t want to address, and when compared with other professions with similar levels of advanced education and professional commitment, the mental health provider’s stress level is high, with lower financial compensation and public recognition than other roles. Because of these factors, there are often other motives that incentivize us to engage in the profession we have chosen. This frequently is an inherent empathic character that is informed by experience dealing with either personal, or family: adversity, tragedy, abuse, mental health problem(s) or addiction. Indeed, multiple studies have demonstrated that those in the helping professions (e.g., psychologists, social workers, counselors) generally have higher historical incidences of the issues mentioned above, when compared with general population norms or people in other disciplines and occupations. It is thus unfortunate that most graduate programs do not require counseling students to engage in their own therapy. If adequately attended to, these histories and experiences can be formidable in strengthening our effectiveness as clinicians, as they provide us with increased ability in relating to clients, and unique insight into facing significant opposition in a successful way. However, if unaddressed they may create suffering for ourselves and unduly create barriers in our work with others.
Outside of personal history, the traumatic effects of regularly and intimately assisting people with the worst times in their lives can take a heavy toll on a mental health provider. This has been documented in the scientific literature, and has been coined as “vicarious traumatization”. Vicarious traumatization may occur when increased life demands interact with an imbalanced caseload, resulting in a decline in self-care for the provider. These factors can work together to create “the perfect storm” which lays the foundation for impairment in our own ability to face personal life crises, as well as our overall well-being and professional performance. Thus, it is imperative that mental health providers consistently check in with their own counselors to assess for new or exacerbating symptoms of distress in order to maintain: well-being, functioning and overall effectiveness in their own practices.
Though mental health therapy has become more normalized and popularized, there still remains stigma in society for acknowledging limitations and vulnerabilities and seeking help. For the mental health provider, this stigma can interact with role pressures, as therapists are expected to remain in positions of authority; something that can mistakenly, and even subconsciously, lead providers to believe that seeking help is an indicator of not living up to the role of “expert”. If left unchallenged, this misinformed and internalized shame can inhibit help-seeking behavior from therapists and perpetuate unnecessary suffering. This doesn’t have to be the case. There is nothing shameful about seeking mental health assistance if you are a mental health provider. Would you blame a doctor who experiences physical symptoms for seeking consultation and support when he/she develops disease? In our most rational thinking, we would believe that it would be normal and helpful for that doctor to seek outside consultation, and many doctors will cite that they learned through their medical training of the colloquial saying that it is, “A fool of a doctor who is his own patient”. Though this common saying is shaming in its own right, the core truth that it conveys (i.e., the importance of seeking outside help) is vital. Mental health providers deserve attention just as much as anyone else, and perhaps more so, considering that people in vulnerable situations are relying on us to be at the top of our game, and the very real and known occupational hazards associated with our long-term exposure to vicarious trauma. I remain a firm believer that the best work we, as providers, can do for our clients is working on ourselves!
Are you a mental health provider who is experiencing symptoms or difficulties of your own?
You deserve the attention you give others! Contact me today for a free 15 minute consultation on how we can best work together to support you, so you can most effectively support others.