Counsellor Burnout is Real
At the end of 2021 I’d been in private practice for three years and I realised I needed professional help, the kind that I usually gave to others. This was due to a medical trauma I had at the end of 2020, plus other stressors. I’ve had lots of therapy over the years (like a lot of therapists) and understood my own therapy would be an intermittent part of life, but the situation snuck up on me. Just because we are therapists doesn’t mean we can always see the wood for the trees with our own issues!
The F Word…
If you are reading this, you probably already know that it costs a lot to be a therapist or counsellor in private practice. Some of us might think ‘I’d be doing okay if it wasn’t for the tolls I have to pay to run my business.’ This includes supervision, room hire, insurance, CPD, membership of a governing body, advertising and our own counselling should we need it.
You are Important…
On Saturday I went to a spa for a couple of hours to enjoy the jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, and I thought to myself, ‘why have I left it until now, when I am burnt out, to do something like this?’
It got me thinking that I see signs of many of us, in our profession, behaving similarly. I see some people not taking regular holidays because they don’t want to let their clients down or putting off having personal therapy due to the expense or time taken.