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Nov 9, 2020

Quarantine Self-Care for Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about the challenges for therapists during the pandemic. We look at what is unique to therapists’ experiences, causes of burnout, and ways in which therapists can work to protect their mental health and wellness during this time.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

  • How therapists can take care of themselves during this time
  • The risks for burnout during COVID – study in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry
  • Taking on clients’ emotions, reacting together in real time
  • Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma
  • The strain of “in this together”
  • Lack of the usual go-to self-care practices
  • Lack of in-person community and connection
  • Difficulty in getting feedback related to how we’re being received
  • Not knowing if we’re providing effective therapy
  • The concept of stasis, and just waiting for things to go back to normal
  • Longer term therapy due to lack of progress or on-going stressors
  • The lack of distraction from work or other responsibilities
  • The danger of filling time with work
  • The struggle or concern related to raising fees during a pandemic
  • How work may have become more of a grind
  • Lack of creativity or inspiration
  • The importance of taking a self-assessment
  • Realistic expectations
  • Priorities and values
  • All the roles we are playing right now
  • What resources do we have available to us?
  • Creating separation between work and personal space (through physical separation, ritual, structure)
  • How to identify opportunities with what is happening now
  • Identifying new challenges and risks, how to mitigate risks
  • Creating a sustainable situation even if it is just for now
  • Managing your schedule
  • Connecting with your community, so you don’t feel so isolated
  • The importance of breaks

Our Generous Sponsors:

CPH & Associates

CPH & Associates is an insurance company that specializes in professional liability insurance for mental health professionals. We currently insure over 100,000 mental health professionals throughout the United States. We can insure you throughout your professional career starting with your student practicum, through your post masters internship, and on to practicing with your professional license.

With up-to-date legal resources and exceptional customer service, CPH protects your career against a grievance from a regulatory board, claim, or lawsuit. Because our business is specialized, we are able to focus on your liability needs in a way that bigger companies are not. We are able to serve a large client base while maintaining a small-office approach. With options to add General Liability, Cyber Liability, and coverage for your LLC or corporation, a policy with CPH is tailored specifically to meet your liability needs. Policy holders are encouraged to take advantage of our Attorney Avoiding Liability Helpline, providing two free hours of attorney consultation per year for situations with a client that could result in a claim or lawsuit. With our online application and renewal process, real-time online policy change capabilities and knowledgeable customer service, we continue to keep our customers’ needs a priority! Get a quote and apply online to receive proof of coverage within minutes at cphins.com

GreenOak Accounting

If you love dreaming about growing your practice, but you feel a disconnect between where you are now and where you want to be, check out GreenOak Accounting. You went to school to become a therapist, not an accountant! Your time is much better spent doing what you love–and not crunching numbers. That’s where GreenOak Accounting comes in! They specialize in working with private practices just like yours, so you can reclaim precious hours each week! They can help with all your accounting needs like bookkeeping, budgeting, forecasting, payroll and even assist with implementing Profit First. If you are interested in freeing up your schedule for more clients, or just getting back time for yourself, go to greenoakaccounting.com to schedule a free, no obligation consultation today. You can also check out our podcast, Therapy for Your Money, hosted by GreenOak Accounting owner Julie Herres.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Asian Journal of Psychiatry article: Burnout: A risk factor amongst mental health professionals during COVID-19

Brighter Vision Article by Katie: Clinician Self-Care in the COVID Era

Hey Tiffany: Money Sessions Podcast - Raising Fees During a Pandemic

Meme: I can’t remember, do I work from home or live at work?

Blog: Making Decisions Now

Modern Therapists Happy Hour for November

 

Relevant Episodes:

Structuring Self-Care

Shared Traumatic Experiences

Burnout or Depression

Compassion Fatigue

Managing Vicarious Trauma

Recession-Proofing Your Practice

It’s About Time

 

Connect with us!

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2021

 Our consultation services:

The Fifty-Minute Hour

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also Past President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

 

Stay in Touch:

www.mtsgpodcast.com

www.therapyreimagined.com

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Group

https://www.facebook.com/therapyreimagined/

https://twitter.com/therapymovement

https://www.instagram.com/therapyreimagined/

 

Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/