Are you a clinician experiencing compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, or feelings of frustration from your work? Oftentimes, burnout is seen as just another occupational hazard for healthcare providers...but it doesn't have to be that way.
For those in healthcare, the days of the individualized relationship between provider and patient discussed in medical or nursing school is long gone. Instead, we're faced with the reality of managed care, shortened appointment times and defensive medicine. Sometimes this can give rise to myriad challenges.
It isn't uncommon for the reality of dealing with life and death situations on a daily basis to cause harm. Mental health counseling for doctors and nurses can provide an outlet for you, the healer, to re-prioritize both your professional and personal lives. You've always been there for your patients; now it's time that you be there for yourself too.
Do you provide mental/behavioral health services? As a therapist, you need support just as much as everyone else, if not more.
You're a therapist - you spend all day in sessions with patients helping them work through their depression, stress, or other emotional issues; then you go home to deal with your own stresses. Often, when the counselor is stuck in his or her own personal life, this can translate to a practice where patients are not progressing as they could.
You already know the benefits of therapy from the great work you do. In many circles in our field, we receive messages that we ought to have our “stuff together”; you may even be questioning whether you chose the right profession. You deserve a space where you can safely take off your “therapist” hat, let your guard down, and let someone else attune to your needs.
