I recently spoke with another practice owner who stated that they try their best to make sure their clinicians are actively in their own therapy. I thought this was incredibly wise and it sparked this blog entry.
Counseling is one of the few helping careers that doesn't (usually) stem from personal experience.
Hear me out:
Teachers experience years of being taught
Doctors experience years of being a patient
Religious leaders start by being in the religion as a member
and so on....
Mental health professionals (if not with the right type of insurance) sometimes couldn't afford their own help along their career path. Some graduate programs (I think) mandate your own therapy, however many do not. I believe it's really hard to do so considering how our health care system is set up currently.
When I started my training in both Compassion Inquiry and Somatic Experiencing Trauma Therapy both programs insisted you have personal sessions in their modalities/approaches. It was in these experiences I learned even more about how to help others and with much more confidence too due to the lived experience.
Side note:
I have to note though you had to be able to pay out of pocket for those therapy sessions. Yes scholarships are offered but still. I have had many moments in my life where I am at the checkout for groceries needed in my household sweating because I hoped my math was correct enough for the card to read "accepted" vs "declined". Constantly living paycheck to paycheck or in a debt filled life does a number on your mental health. I get it. So when you are trying to learn how to do your craft better and it's calling for you to shell out more money (because people need to get paid) feels really hard on the nervous system. It about broke me when I was in the thick of it.
Back to a call for helping the helpers:
I have supervised for many years now and what I am seeing lately, after covid did a number on all of us, is heartbreaking. The helpers need better help. The helpers need free trauma informed therapy that is given by a seasoned helper. When I look to all of my seasoned helper colleagues we are all looking a bit dysregulated due to the higher demands lately. Higher demands but even less pay at times due to the constant changing laws, insurance panel contracts, inflation, outsourcing expenses and so on. We are breaking and we are more needed now. With quick and cheap therapy businesses (I will not name but you know the ones I am talking about) our field is getting even harder to stay afloat in.
I am not sure of the solution here because it's a big ask. We do need better healing options for our healers in this world.
What are your thoughts?