In article four of the Family of Origin Exploration for the Therapist series, I explain initial steps for creating your genogram. Before adding more detail to your genogram, including relational patterns and dynamics, it's important to explore the family rules and structure of your family of origin, so that you can add the appropriate relational dynamics to your genogram.
Read moreLiving Refreshed As A Therapist
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.
Read moreOn Being a Therapist in Life and Work: Two Areas to Observe
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.
Read moreTherapist Integrity: How to Hold Space and Hope for Therapy Clients
You are a holder of hope.
It is hope--your hope and your clients’ hope--that makes therapy a special place. Therapy is and must be a place that is atypical for the client. It must represent a change from their everyday interactions and conversations. This is what makes the therapy room a sacred place.
Why does it matter that we believe in our clients’ possibilities, as well as the possibilities of therapy? Well, research shows that therapist factors and client expectancy have a significant impact on therapy outcomes (Sprenkle & Blow, 2004).
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