With May being Mental Health Awareness Month you may feel like it is your month to shine as a therapist! Everyone is talking about mental health, working to increase awareness, and decrease stigma. There are powerful conversations happening, allowing more and more people to address their needs and work toward change.
This awareness is for you, too. As therapists we can often be so focused on the needs of others, we may leave very little time or space for our own needs. During this month of awareness be sure to check in with yourself.
Are You Practicing What You Preach?
As therapists it can be easy to forget about your own self-care. One might think the opposite to be true. We are discussing self-care and healthy coping skills in most sessions (if you are anything like me). With it being on the forefront of our minds, one would think that this would be second nature.
That would be where we are wrong.
Knowing how to take care of ourselves and actually taking care of ourselves are two different things. We therapists are pretty super, but that doesn’t make us superhuman. Being a clinician doesn’t mean we always know the right thing to do and even when we do, it doesn’t mean we are doing it.
Make sure you are checking in with yourself and be honest about whether you are taking care of your needs. It can be easy to plan to practice better self-care “later.” Unfortunately, later rarely comes. Check in on yourself and make sure you are giving yourself what you need.
Therapists Can Be Depressed Too
This not only applies to depression, but to any diagnosis. We take on a lot as therapists, though we don’t always get the support we need. This goes hand in hand with checking in on yourself. Don’t just check in on your self-care practices, make sure you are checking in on your mental health, and your physical health while you’re at it!
You are a part of mental health awareness. Take stock of your mental health and most importantly, be honest with yourself. Don’t intellectualize!!!!!
It’s easy to explain away symptoms, blaming them on other things and minimizing their importance. Just because you are a therapist doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to work with one.
Honesty is a big theme when it comes to mental health awareness and checking in on yourself. Identify what is really going on so you can make a real plan to address it. Don’t slap a Band-Aid on a broken arm.
For example, let’s say I’m feeling anxious. I might think to myself it’s because I drank too much coffee, someone is really irritating me, I have too much on my plate … the list can go on. Until I actually accept that I am feeling anxious, I won’t use the skills I KNOW to help myself. I will try to drink less coffee, eliminate interactions with irritating individuals, and delegate tasks. These things may help a bit, but they aren’t addressing the real issue.
Until you call a spade a spade, you can’t deal with what is really happening. Be honest with yourself about how you are doing.
To Sum It Up
During Mental Health Awareness Month (and every month if I had my way) practice your own self-awareness. Check in on how you are doing and be honest with yourself about what you need.
Once you identify how you are doing and what your needs are, make a plan. A plan that doesn’t include intellectualizing or rationalizing away the need to take action. You are super, but not superhuman.
Practice what you preach, my therapist friend. See you next time.
*If you are interested in becoming an independent contractor with CCS and you are a licensed therapist in North Carolina, send your cover letter and resume to the following email: Applicants@CarolinaCounselingServices.com
