Life Long Learning as a Licensed Therapist, Within Reason
Most of us therapists are life long learners, and proud of it. Our profession lends itself to this type of training, even if it is only to meet continuing education requirements to renew our licenses.
Counseling is the type of field where you never know everything, and those that think they do can be particularly frightening.
Why is Life Long Learning Important as a Licensed Counselor?
Our field is constantly changing and it is our responsibility to our clients to stay on top of these changes. Most of us strive to provide the best possible care to our clients, continuing education is a large part of this.
Allia Health outlines some of the main reasons why continuing our education is so important:
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Staying Up to Date
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Providing the Best Possible Care
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Credibility
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Improved Job Satisfaction
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Continuing to Adapt to Change
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Focused Learning
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Certificates!
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Connections, Networking, Making Friends in the Field
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Fueling Inspiration
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Cultural Competency
This list is wonderful, but not all inclusive. You may find that there are other factors that drive your passion for learning. All of these motivating factors are important and essential to staying relevant in our careers.
Within Reason
Continuing to learn and grow your clinical tool kit is essential, however, can there be too much of a good thing? The answer is always yes. Too much of anything can simply be too much.
Like all things in life, it is essential to find a balance. This can happen at any time in your career, however, I see this most often with newer therapists. There can be a desire to learn ALL the approaches and have ALL the tools in your tool kit. This can be ALL too much.
It is important to have enough tools, but too many can leave you feeling confused and overwhelmed. When choosing where to focus your attention with continuing education, consider the following:
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What is required by the board? Always make sure that courses you are taking will meet CEU requirements as well. If you are taking precious time out of your schedule you deserve to get credit as well.
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How will you use these skills? Make sure that the skills and information you are learning is applicable. Learning is wonderful, however, make sure it is usable as well.
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Are you able to implement what you learn relatively soon? Learning new skills and techniques can be exhilarating, but if you aren’t able to implement them with clients in a reasonable amount of time it’s likely you’ll lose momentum or even forget what you learned.
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Is your toolbox overflowing? This is where reason comes in. If you are completing course after course, learning multiple different approaches, how likely is it that you will use these approaches in an effective way? Most of us are eclectic in our approaches, though there is such a thing as being too eclectic. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
As counselors we have an ethical responsibility to continue to learn and develop our professional skills. This has to be done within reason, otherwise, it can be overwhelming and counterproductive.
To Sum It Up
As a clinician, it is important that we continue learning. You want to grow your tool box but there is such a thing as having too many hammers. Life long learning is amazing, however, it must always be done within reason. Continuing education can also be costly, engaging in quality courses that you can implement is important.
If you feel limited in your practice or your ability to implement new evidenced based approaches this can also be problematic. Be sure that you are working in an environment that encourages your growth and ongoing learning.
If you are a licensed therapist in North Carolina and interested in learning more about private practice, reach out! Carolina Counseling Services has been in the business of providing exceptional mental health care since 1994. Say yes to independent contracting and having your own private practice.
