Many of you have been following this blog since it began in August 2016, and as a result, you've supported the work that I'm doing.  To you, and all the readers, I say, "Thank you."

If you've been an e-mail subscriber, you also know that I've been developing an online community for therapists, based on the idea that we can thrive in our lives and work when we have a network of colleagues that encourage and support us, as well as information that is relevant right now for our lives and our careers.

In today's post, I'm sharing content from this week's Get Refreshed Challenge for therapists and mental health professionals.  The challenge is designed to guide therapists through reflecting on daily topics, releasing past disappointments and burdens, and refocusing on the possibilities that exist for their work and lives.  

The challenge was inspired by my evolving therapist life, as well as a recent article I read about therapists’ work-life balance.  I decided it was time to be more vocal about questioning the ways we are living our therapist lives, and to do what I could to generate a more expansive and encouraging conversation about how we navigate our work and personal lives.

Recently, I read an article summarizing a Norwegian study on how practicing therapy impacts therapists' lives.  I found the article extremely valuable.  Many points in the article validated my therapist experience, and I'm sharing them with you today in the hopes that they will validate your experience, too.

Two themes from the article reminded me of the importance of maintaining perspective as a therapist.  We can get busy living our lives and doing our work, and forget that our responses and emotions are a part of a larger context.  That larger context includes our professional developmental stage as well as how we transfer between professional and personal roles.