4 Ways that Therapists can avoid Burnout without working less

Burnout is real, the struggle is real. I need to work and I need to make money. When burnout is a very real side effect of the work we do, therapists sometimes need to get creative to avoid burnout. Working less is not always an option. Working less means less income which means more stress. Try these 4 ways to help manage burnout.

Attend CEs that that you actually like!

Many of us wait until the last minute to fulfill our licensure requirement…I’m not judging however I am suggesting that when we wait until the last minute we don’t have a large choice and there is a deadline looming. Pick ones that fulfill your spirit and they can help you reclaim your passion fo what you do. In Georgia, we have t-minus 12 months to get our hours-if you look now and schedule out-you can find ones that you enjoy and might even take advantage of early bird discounts. I offer several CEs throughout the year, click here to find out the next one.

Find a therapist colleague/friend to do “work with.”

I love working with other people to find out their hacks and it’s just plain fun. Now, I realize if you’re in private practice lonely land this might be harder for you to do, but I can’t tell you enough how awesome it is to knock out some of my to dos while chilling with my colleagues at Petrichor. I can also pick their brains at the same time: “what’s the clinical term that means…,” “what do you do when…,” “how do you handle…” Now you gotta find just the right person because sometimes it can distract you from your work but overall I find it motivating. Can you make pre-auth calls together? Can you plan a combined marketing event? Want to have an accountability notes partner?

 Look at your schedule.

I mean really look at your schedule. Use block scheduling for tasks that need to be done. Set aside times for appointments with clients and times for you to schedule your own appointments (see #4). It would probably help to look at it with above friend/colleague. I sat down with my colleague and friend Tali Boots last week to look at our schedules and I can’t tell you how helpful it was to have an outsider’s POV. She was able to catch a big chunk of time that I wasn’t using to my advantage that will probably help me bring in more money with less time commitment-hell yeah!

 Practice what you preach.

See your own therapist. They may be able to help you catch any underlying issues that are affecting your work. I, for one, am a workaholic perfectionist which leads to me overbooking myself and feeling guilty for not doing enough (insert eyeroll and deep sigh)-nobody’s perfect. The only way for me to work on that shit is in therapy.