Therapist's Guide to Self-Care


Book Description

Psychotherapy is an increasingly stressful profession. Yet therapists spend most of their time helping clients deal with their stress, not caring for their own. This book is designed as a tool for the experienced counselor, junior therapist, and graduate student, as the issues confronted and discussed herein are relevant to anyone in the field, regardless of experience or expertise. Dr. Weiss has written a book in an easy, conversational tone, filled with concrete examples and blending research findings, clinical experience and theoretical approaches into practical suggestions and sound advice. The book is divided into three parts, discussing therapist concerns and questions that are continually raised, and providing practical tools based on clinical experience and research findings. It will be useful to all mental health professionals who have felt the strain of their practice.




Simple Self-Care for Therapists: Restorative Practices to Weave Through Your Workday


Book Description

“Bite-sized” self-care strategies that any therapist can easily practice. For mental health professionals who must regularly guard against compassion fatigue and secondary traumatization, intentional self-care isn’t just essential; it’s a survival tool. If therapists don’t take proper care of themselves, they can’t do their work effectively. Taking up an exercise program, going on a vacation, turning to supportive social networks, while helpful remedies to the stresses of the job, are not always feasible and the results are often only short term. Synthesizing the latest thinking in mindfulness, neuroscience, energy medicine, and spiritual disciplines, Simple Self-Care for Therapists offers immediate relief in doable, bite-sized nuggets—easy exercises that can be seamlessly integrated into your current workday routine with little fuss. Over 60 restorative practices are presented—tools for (1) grounding, (2) energizing, and (3) relaxing—organized as antidotes to the most common pathologies that therapists suffer: vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Bush, a therapist with over 25 years of experience, walks readers through the descriptions and simple implementation of each practice, with illuminating stories from her own professional experiences. Whether you’re in a staff meeting, conducting a therapy session, writing a progress report, or attending a workshop, these convenient exercises can be dipped into as needed. A go-to resource of self-care tools, every therapist, no matter their background or approach, now has the ability to prevent stress, avoid internalization, revive their spirit, and restore a sense of well-being.




Caring for Ourselves


Book Description

Addresses a topic that is vitally important to therapists, offering a positive approach to enjoying their chosen profession, being the best they can be at it, and tackling or preventing burnout. The author leads the journey to self-awareness and self-care among psychology professionals. This book demonstrates a way to balance personal and professional lives by tending physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and the need to feel connected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).




Leaving It at the Office


Book Description

Cover -- Half Title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- About the Authors -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- 1. Valuing the Person of the Psychotherapist -- 2. Refocusing on the Rewards -- 3. Recognizing the Hazards -- 4. Minding the Body -- 5. Nurturing Relationships -- 6. Setting Boundaries -- 7. Restructuring Cognitions -- 8. Sustaining Healthy Escapes -- 9. Maintaining Mindfulness -- 10. Creating a Flourishing Environment -- 11. Profiting from Personal Therapy -- 12. Cultivating Spirituality and Mission -- 13. Fostering Creativity and Growth -- References -- Index.




The Thriving Therapist


Book Description

Nearly half of all mental health providers have histories of abuse and family dysfunction, and almost one in five has experienced suicidal ideation. Many therapists and counselors suffer under the weight of their clients' mental health struggles. All practitioners must learn to practice self-care. Mental health providers are mindful listeners, problem-solvers, curious inquisitors, supporters, perspective-shifters, consultants, diagnosticians, body regulators, cheerleaders, coaches, guides, and healers. To do all this requires considerable personal reserves. Caring for themselves, as people and professionals, is imperative. This book addresses the dearth in today's self-care training by presenting a sustainable approach that is integrative, holistic, and developmentally flexible. When therapists feel deserving of self-care, when their values orient and shape their self-care behaviors and mindset, when mindful awareness of their needs comes frequently and with relative ease, and when their routines, practices, and activities are integrated rather than sporadic and fragmented, they can begin to practice sustainable self-care.




Counselor Self-Care


Book Description

Self-care is critical for effective and ethical counseling practice and this inspirational book offers diverse, realistic perspectives on how to achieve work–life balance and personal wellness from graduate school through retirement. In addition to the authors’ unique perspectives as professionals at different stages of their careers, guest contributors—ranging from graduate students, to new professionals, to seasoned counselors—share their experiences and thoughts about self-care, including what challenges them most. Both personal and conversational in tone, this book will help you to create your own practical self-care action plan through reflection on important issues, such as managing stress, establishing personal and professional boundaries, enhancing relationships, and finding meaning in life. "Counselors face the obstacle of remembering to care for themselves while focusing on caring for others. In Counselor Self-Care, Drs. Gerald Corey, Michelle Muratori, Jude Austin, and Julius Austin lead 52 contributing authors in a book rich with living events and defining moments. Multiple stressors are described and met with multiple solutions. There is so much great content here that can be embraced by those who do the noble work of being present for others." —Tom Skovholt, PhD, LP, Professor, University of Minnesota; Author of The Resilient Practitioner: Burnout and Compassion Fatigue Prevention and Self-Care Strategies for the Helping Professions, 3rd Edition "Self-care is often discussed in counselor training and supervision, but not in its full scope. Counselor Self-Care provides breadth and depth by addressing the many facets of self-care. The authors combine personal narratives and anecdotes from experienced mental health professionals with self-assessment questions and self-care improvement strategies. The level of vulnerability and insight from the authors, and those who share their stories, is informative and rare to find. Assign this book as reading for yourself, your students, and your supervisees to motivate nurturing of the self." —Philip Clarke, PhD, Associate Professor, Wake Forest University *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com *To request print copies, please visit the ACA https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]




What Do I Say?


Book Description

The must-have guide to honestly and sensitively answering your clients' questions Written to help therapists view their clients' questions as collaborative elements of clinical work, What Do I Say? explores the questions some direct, others unspoken that all therapists, at one time or another, will encounter from clients. Authors and practicing therapists Linda Edelstein and Charles Waehler take a thought-provoking look at how answers to clients' questions shape a therapeutic climate of expression that encourages personal discovery and growth. Strategically arranged in a question-and-answer format for ease of use, this hands-on guide is conversational in tone and filled with personal examples from experienced therapists on twenty-three hot-button topics, including religion, sex, money, and boundaries. What Do I Say? tackles actual client questions, such as: Can you help me? (Chapter 1, The Early Sessions) Sorry I am late. Can we have extra time? (Chapter 9, Boundaries) I don't believe in all this therapy crap. What do you think about that? (Chapter 3, Therapeutic Process) Why is change so hard? (Chapter 4, Expectations About Change) Will you attend my graduation/wedding/musical performance/speech/business grand opening? (Chapter 20, Out of the Office) Where are you going on vacation? (Chapter 10, Personal Questions) I gave your name to a friend . . . Will you see her? (Chapter 9, Boundaries) Should I pray about my problems? (Chapter 12, Religion and Spirituality) Are you like all those other liberals who believe gay people have equal rights? (Chapter 13, Prejudice) The power of therapy lies in the freedom it offers clients to discuss anything and everything. It's not surprising then, that clients will surprise therapists with their experiences and sometimes with the questions they ask. What Do I Say? reveals how these questions no matter how difficult or uncomfortable can be used to support the therapeutic process rather than derail the therapist client relationship.




The Therapist's Workbook


Book Description

Mental health professionals spend their days helping others, but who is there to help them when stress and burnout threaten their own well-being? Filled with self-assessments, journaling exercises, and activities designed to facilitate renewal, growth, and change, this timely book helps clinicians help themselves with coverage of career threatening issues, such as fear of failure, loss of confidence, and the financial stress and loss of autonomy that many clinician's experience as a result of managed care and its constraints.




The Home Therapist


Book Description

This unique and easy-to-read book is a practical guide to over 130 psychological issues that you may face across a lifetime. It is both a self-help manual and an educational resource, featuring expert opinion from a range of experienced professionals. A must-have for the family bookshelf, it provides a wealth of information and helpful tips that can be used for self-care, as an addition to therapy, or in the support of others. It can also be used by doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, counsellors, and life-coaches for their own continuing development, or recommended to patients and clients to enhance their treatment and recovery.




Therapy for Therapists (a Guide to Changing Lives)


Book Description

Can People Actually Change?In almost every therapist lies an inherent flaw. This flaw prevents them from helping clients to make lasting changes. Temporary changes; the usual, will-powered, behavioral and cognitive kind? They can get clients to do those. But permanent changes, the kind which alter the client's very nature? Not so much.The flaw? To get licensed, they must learn to imitate what the great therapists did. Ironically, those great therapists were great because they didn't do this. Rather, what made them great was that they were being themselves. And being themselves IS what gave them the power to change lives.In this book, Steven Paglierani draws on his three decades of experience to teach therapists to be themselves, with practical suggestions, poignant stories, and heart-felt advice on everything therapists do. Practice management and better self-care to cutting-edge therapies based on his school of therapy, The Emergence Therapies. Do you want to learn to actually change lives, while falling in love what you do? If you're willing to do the work, then this book will show you how.