Therapists have a difficult balance to keep, between helping clients feel heard and supported, and looking after their own wellbeing. They have training over a number of years to be able to cope with such challenges as vicarious trauma, but there is no doubting that the job of therapist is in itself potentially stressful.
When we interview our members for the Meet The Therapist questionnaire, we ask what they do to look after their own mental health and the range of activities is wide: yoga, running, hobbies such as knitting and making artwork, reading, meditation and, of course, seeing friends. It's a well known fact that spending some free time with others has a beneficial impact, helping reduce the effects of stress and burnout.
Performance coach and author Richard Sutton recently wrote on Welldoing that "social support and human connection shine the brightest" among the options for keeping control of our stress-filled reactions. We can see that on our weekly CPD sessions and fortnightly peer support, part of the appeal to practitioners is to share time and talk with their fellow therapists.
We believe the last few years have seen much more stressful times for everyone and that includes our therapist members. So we are going to provide meet-ups for our members to get support in another way, by bringing them together in real life, so they can meet, socialise and support each other.
The first event is on Monday March 4 and we are calling it a March Mixer. It is in a cool co-working space called The Building Society, situated just off Tottenham Court Road, London W1. There will be wine, non-alcoholic drinks, nibbles and lots of chat. The Welldoing team is hosting, but we will also have Alan Percy, whose expertise is with university students, and our two Dear Therapist agony aunts, Charlotte Fox Weber and Kelly Hearn, as well as some of the experts who presented CPD sessions for us in the past two years.
Future events will include out of London venues, and a range of guest speakers and themes.
If you are a Welldoing therapist, click here for a ticket to the March Mixer. We look forward to seeing you in real life, off Zoom and away from email. Bliss!
