When you create an intentional and predictable schedule based on your own unique needs, you’ll feel more prepared for sessions, have energy to write notes, enjoy more self-care time, and have peace of mind knowing everything is done.
As an Introvert and Highly Sensitive Person, I understand the struggles of balancing self-care while supporting others. I want to help you reduce overwhelm and honor your Strengths as a Sensitive Therapist so you can feel fulfilled in your work again.
When you create an intentional and predictable schedule based on your own unique needs, you’ll feel more prepared for sessions, have energy to write notes, enjoy more self-care time, and have peace of mind knowing everything is done.
You may want to help every client who reaches out, but putting empathy first often leads to therapist burnout. It’s important to consider how many clients you can support long-term when you set adequate boundaries.
The struggle of accessibility vs. sustainability burdens Sensitive Therapists who are highly empathetic and care deeply for their clients. You alone cannot solve the problem of mental health accessibility, but you can make sure you maintain a sustainable practice so you can offer care for years to come while honoring your own needs.
Think outside the box to focus on referral sources that are aligned with your temperament and values. Typical marketing strategies like networking that work for others, may not work for you, and that’s okay. Track your referral sources to determine where to put your focus, time, and energy.
Winter can bring specific challenges for the Sensitive Therapist such as overwhelm from holiday obligations, financial anxiety and irritability from changes in routine. It’s difficult to manage the expectations to support our clients, run our businesses and maintain family commitments, all at the same time.
How behind on notes are you right now? Maybe it’s too painful to think about or you’re not even sure anymore. Whatever the amount, you are probably feeling a lot of anxiety and overwhelm right now. In this article, discover 5 ways to transform your note aversion and get support in clearing the backlog.
Sensitive Therapists often embody one of two archetypes, each has strengths and challenges that make it difficult to move past the overwhelm in order to be able to accomplish daily or longer-term goals.
Now more than ever it’s important to focus on the essentials and prioritize preserving your energy. Being more empathetic and more aware of little details is a great asset as a Sensitive Therapist but can become overwhelming when life becomes stressful, scary, or we are supporting many clients through trauma. Our temperament makes us more prone to the effects of compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma, but thankfully we are also more susceptible to the beneficial effects of positive supports.
Taking time off is not optional, but essential to thrive in the work we do of supporting the emotional well-being of others. We have a greater need for downtime which means taking more time away to ensure our work is sustainable and doesn’t lead to burnout. This means planning ahead of time to ensure we have time away. Taking so much time off may bring up financial worries or feelings of guilt, but can be managed with budgeting and setting clear expectations with our clients.
In this guest post, Maegan Megginson, walks you through how to get clear on what your goals are and how to create your own flexible goal-setting system to honor your needs and capacity as a Sensitive Therapist.
Feel more calm and in control of your finances so you can take the time off you need to thrive as a Sensitive Therapist. Manage money with the overwhelm by using your Sensitive Strengths and these practical tips.
7 ways to honor our needs and calm down the overwhelm and exhaustion many Sensitive Therapists are feeling now. All therapists have been bearing the emotional toll of supporting clients as we ourselves experience a worldwide crisis, but Sensitive Therapists will have a unique reaction due to our heightened empathy, perceptive abilities, and need to process our experiences deeply. Going forward, we will need to reflect on what has already happened and give ourselves time to ease into the changes ahead in order to tame the overwhelm and exhaustion we’re feeling right now. Now more than ever we must go at our own pace, set strong boundaries in every area of our lives, and take time to rest.
Supporting clients who are experiencing some of the same emotions and uncertainties as we are could lead to overwhelm, compassion fatigue, and burnout. It’s vital that we set strong boundaries, take time to ground ourselves, create space between sessions, get support from our therapist communities, and take time off if we need to.
Migrating to teletherapy can feel overwhelming and uncomfortable for Sensitive Therapists. Navigating the tech challenges and therapeutic container are often the most difficult part, but there are benefits from seeing clients remotely that can actually save us time and energy.
Think outside the box when marketing your practice to avoid overwhelm and bring in clients in a way that’s aligned with your Highly Sensitive temperament.
Taking time off is not optional, but essential to thrive in the work we do of supporting the emotional well-being of others. We have a greater need for downtime which means taking more time away to ensure our work is sustainable and doesn’t lead to burnout. This means planning ahead of time to ensure we have time away not only for vacations and travel, but also for staycations to decompress, workations to catch up on administrative tasks and trainings to satisfy continuing education requirements. Taking so much time off may bring up financial worries or feelings of guilt, but can be managed with budgeting and setting clear expectations with our clients.
When you look over your schedule for the next week or even the next few weeks, does everything feel sustainable or do you get an immediate sense of overwhelm and dread? Although it may seem impossible, there are ways to make your days run a bit smoother and to make sure what’s important to you makes it to the top of your priority list.
Being empathetic is a powerful clinical skill, but becomes a burden when we need to switch from clinician to business owner. Our guilt can make it difficult to enforce our business policies and collect fees. We prioritize the needs of our clients over our own leaving us at risk for financial distress and emotional burnout.
Our finely tuned nervous systems make Highly Sensitive Therapists more susceptible to the physical effects of overstimulation. Movement and physical self-care are essential practices to combat the effects of sitting and getting easily dysregulated.
Becoming an HSP Knowledgeable Therapist can help support the 50% of psychotherapy clients who are Highly Sensitive. Discover resources to increase your awareness of the trait and approaches to marketing your practice.