Therapist Self-Care
Understanding burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue is important. This provides a rationale for therapists to give necessary attention and effort to self-care to reduce the risk for all three.
Research demonstrates therapists often overlook their own needs (Barnett et al., 2007). Therapy demands therapists to engage in one-way caring: demonstrating empathy, compassion, and patience and meeting the emergent needs of clients without the same in return (Guy, 2000; Skovholt et al., 2001). While this is essential for therapeutic rapport and a healthy therapist-client relationship, anything a therapist might receive from a client that contributes to their own wellbeing and growth is secondary to this process. Further, therapists who are inattentive to their own needs may not even consider what relationship-centered care can provide to enhance their wellbeing, enjoyment, and resilience in their work.
Therapeutic rapport is contingent upon a therapist’s capacity for emotional and psychological engagement (Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2011), yet high level engagement sustained over many clients draws upon a therapist’s emotional and psychological resilience. Far too often, therapists do not give adequate attention to self-care to balance this demand. In many ways, psychedelic-assisted therapy places even greater demand on therapist’s emotional and psychological resilience than regular therapy does.
Activity
What do you do for self-care? How do you make this a priority as part of your busy schedule?
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Self-Care as an Ethical Guideline
Self-care is also an important aspect of ethics and professionalism. In order to provide effective care to their clients, therapists must first be well themselves (Norcross & Guy, 2007). A therapist who does not engage regular self-care practices (examples are discussed below) will be less self-aware, more likely to engage in countertransference or empathic failures, and is less able to provide a regulated nervous system for a client to co-regulate with.
Did You Know?
In section II.12 of the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 2017), it states that members are to “engage in self-care activities that help to avoid conditions (e.g., burnout, addictions) that could result in impaired judgment and interfere with their ability to benefit and not harm others.” It is within the therapist’s ethical duty to provide responsible caring, maximizing benefits, and minimizing harm for their clients.
Video: Self-Care for the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapist
On the next page, Dr. Joe Flanders interviews therapist Kata Kálmán in a video about self-care for the psychedelic-assisted therapist including some important considerations.
References
Barnett, J., Baker, E., Elman, N., & Schoener, G. (2007). In Pursuit of Wellness: The Self-Care Imperative. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38, 603-612.
Canadian Psychological Association. (2017). Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists.
Guy, J. D. (2000). Self-care corner: Holding the holding environment together: Self-psychology and psychotherapist care. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(3), 351-352.
Skovholt, T. M., Grier, T. L., & Hanson, M. R. (2001). Career counseling for longevity: Self-care and burnout prevention strategies for counselor resilience. Journal of Career Development, 27(3), 167-176.
Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2011). The Resilient Therapist: Burnout Prevention and Self-Care Strategies for Counselors, Therapists, Teachers, and Health Professionals (2nd Edition ed.). Taylor and Francis.
Norcross, J. C., & Guy, J. D. (2007). Leaving It at the Office: A Guide to Psychotherapist Self-Care [Adobe Digital Editions version] (Vol. 10). Routledge.