“You can feel down and depleted, but the next day rise like the roaring fire and force that you are. And keep impacting the people in your life.” -Tyra Butler, LMFT, Early Career Clinician Coach
How do you continue to give when you feel so tired and depleted each day? Have you ever had the thought, “How am I supposed to keep this going, seeing all my clients, completing paperwork, meeting productivity demands, sharing in supervision groups, and maintaining adequate client care?”
“How am I supposed to feel good about what I do when it feels so difficult?”
It’s really hard when you feel stuck in a position, and feel you should be glad just to have one. If you’re doing the grueling clinical work but don’t see much progress in clients it can lead you to doubt yourself or your abilities. You may find aspects of the work truly fulfilling but the rest of it boring or stressful. One day you think it’s not so bad while other days you barely make it through. You could even be someone who feels exhilerated by the one-on-one clinical work but day after day feels less jazzed about it.
All That Self Care Mumbo Jumbo
Everyone talks about self-care and the importance of preventing yourself from getting burned out, but what does that even mean for you when faced with the demands of pre-licensure and having to abide by all your employer’s policies and practices? For some, the combined requirements are taxing and too much to keep up with. And when combined with the real world demands of needing to make ends meet and take care of family members, something’s gotta give.
Ben Caldwell, LMFT, discusses this issue in a recent article of self-care saying, “Perhaps most troubling is the undercurrent of a lot of self-care discussion. When therapists are told that their stress and burnout comes from inadequate self-care, rather than the very real inadequacies and injustices involved in a lot of mental health work, we are told that our stress is our own fault. We are told that working in a difficult job with severely mentally ill clients and low pay would be more survivable if we just worked a little harder. In this way, encouraging self-care can equal shifting the blame for a deeply broken system onto those doing their best to work within it.”
As a pre-licensed therapist, you are faced with decision after decision; to find work, change jobs, earn hours, stay or leave, and a million others. You may ask yourself if there are problems with a site or supervisor, “Do I speak up or deal with it?” If you’re working with a client who’s particularly difficult for you, do you refer out or keep trying with them?
Each day, there can be a whirlwind of questions that arise, there may not seem clearcut answers to. Or quailfied people to ask.
And these issues can culminate in feeling overwhelmed or depleted. A couple of warning signs you may be on the road to burnout and to watch out for in yourself are if:
- You are starting to feel indifferent toward your work, either with clients or with the people at your site. You don’t care as much or may wonder why you’re in this field altogether.
- You are sick to your stomach or nervous about not having completed or done a good enough job in the eyes of your employer. Or you feel like you’re on the verge of pulling your hair out.
Another Part of the Dilemma 
Many pre-licensed therapists who have decent paying internships stay stuck in situations because they need the job and the income it provides. And they’re earning hours, and afraid to speak up or face conflict for fear of losing that job.
Don’t get me wrong some positions are definitely worthwhile sticking with, but some are not while others at the very least need some changes to be made to make it more tolerable.
Here are a few tips to help you, the pre-licensed therapist, to prevent burnout and successfully navigate this pre-licensure maze:
- Determine if there’s a particular problematic pattern or situation with where you’re at and what you’re dealing with.
- If so, speak up and assert yourself in a confident, congruent manner. If a site or supervisor is mistreating you, operating unethically or even abusive, you don’t have to take that and stay in fear of retaliation.
- Approach the person or group with your concern about the particular problem and that you want to find a mutually beneficial resolution. You’ll come across professional and that person will be more likely to hear you out and collaborate, and not feel threatened.
- You can point out the positive aspects of what you like about the site or supervisor, or what you value about your position there. And add areas you’d like to improve or be better, so you can better manage and maintain expectations and goals for your position.
- This can be tricky and you want to be your own advocate, but read number 4 below too.
- Accept that you are in a growth and training process. This can be such a rewarding time in your life that can be fruitful. Yes, you will feel tired and have tough days. But knowing you are growing and learning while you’re helping people can help you go to bed at night and get up in the morning knowing you’re making a difference in certain people’s lives in positive ways. You are making an impact! And those people in the world need you.
- Get more sleep when you can. Sleep is probably the number one factor that can serve as a buffer to feel better overall. Seeing clients early on is draining and takes a mental and emotional toll on our well-being, so getting more sleep can help our minds and bodies recover and take on another day.
- Get help and support, and figure out if there is something different you could be doing to improve your life right now. If you cannot bring your best self to work each day, it may be time to consider making some sort of change in your pre-licensure worklife, so you either have a way out or a way to better handle it. Sometimes that can be the best self care: Getting some valuable input that can help you navigate your particular situation, and then pivoting from what you’re doing right now can help. But do it in the most strategic way that ensures you’re protected and that your income isn’t in jeapoardy.
I offer private, career coaching services to help you do this–to better navigate sticky and difficult situations with sites and supervisors. You can send me a message through my “Contact Me” below or at www.earlycareerclinician.com.
And I’m currently creating a course, “How to Start and Grow a Private Practice (or be in a Group Practice) While You’re Pre-Licensed,” that I am so excited about!
Getting into private or group practice is one of the best ways to prevent burnout. It’ll give you a way out from community mental health, extra income, hours earned and control over your schedule, which can allow for freedom and a rewarding path laid out for your future. I’m so excited about it! You can get yourself established and have a money-making practice now. It allows you to have more autonomy and freedom. Get on my mailing list now by scrolling to the bottom of this page, or at www.earlycareerclinician.com so you can get the introductory rate as soon as it’s released!
Hop on over to the growing, private FB group Early Career Clinician Community: where you can ask questions and get support.
Ben Caldwell, LMFT quoted above, has written many legal and ethical materials, is an advocate for our profession and offers CEs, to help you study for exams.
