Getting Paid: Professional Self Care—The Secret to A Successful, Sustainable Private Practice, Career Longevity & Happiness

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT

In the process of providing support to others, it's easy for us as psychotherapists to neglect our own well-being. This is where professional self-care comes in. The secret to a successful and profitable psychotherapy practice lies in our ability to care for ourselves as we care for others. 

Professional self-care, including setting boundaries, taking regular breaks, seeking supervision or peer support, helps mental health professionals maintain emotional resilience and avoid burnout. When well-rested and emotionally balanced, we provide better care to clients, leading to higher client satisfaction and retention.

It’s also a path to personal growth and resilience. Counselors who engage in self-care activities like ongoing education, supervision, and personal therapy continue to develop skills and expand their knowledge base.

When therapists are overworked and stressed, they struggle to maintain appropriate boundaries, protect client confidentiality, and make sound clinical judgments. By prioritizing self-care, we can uphold the highest ethical standards in our practice, safeguarding our therapeutic reputation and profitability in the long run.

A therapist's own well-being can also directly impact the ability to facilitate positive change in clients—since clients who perceive a therapist as a model of self-care are more likely to engage in their own self-care practices. This leads to improved client outcomes and referrals, ultimately contributing to the profitability of our practice and career.

Self-care also nurtures a therapist's resilience and enables us to cope with the emotional demands of the job. Resilient therapists better adapt to changing circumstances, handle difficult cases, and bounce back from setbacks—all which are crucial for a thriving practice and career.

Professional self-care is not a luxury; it's a necessity. It isn't selfish; it's the foundation upon which success is built.

Here are 12 practical, supportive tips and inspiration for professional self-care selected from articles used with those I do practice coaching, training, supervision, and consultation. Links to the articles or books are included. 

1.
May you be moved by passion and enthusiasm for your work, may you deeply believe that you deserve self-care, may you replenish yourself daily, may inspiration be a guiding compass to your days, may you know you are a bright light in a world that needs your presence, may you be an instrument of help and healing and may your cup overflow so that there is plenty to share.

Ashley Davis Bush, LICSW
Simple Self-Care for Therapists: Restorative Practices to Weave Through Your Workday 

2.
I have always been better at caring for and looking after others than I have been at caring for myself. But in these later years, I have made progress.

Carl Rogers at age 75

3.
Self-care is living your life in a way that is physically and mentally sustainable. As a therapist, a good self-care practice allows you to maintain your well-being so that you don’t deplete your own energy to care for your clients.

Melanie Donohue, LCSW
Why Self-care Is So Important for Therapists

4.
We all have times when the stress of our clinical work causes us to become exhausted, anxious and agitated. Some of us are suffering now, or have suffered, from distress, compassion fatigue or burnout. All are occupational hazards. We’ve discovered that our inner reserves of empathy aren’t infinite. Becoming more self-aware helps us to know the limits of what is possible in our own lives as well as in the lives of our clients.

Vivian Baruch
Self-Care for Therapists

5.
Prioritizing self-care is not a luxury; it is a necessity for therapists. Engaging in regular and intentional self-care practices can have a profound impact on our well-being and professional effectiveness. When we take care of ourselves, we are better equipped to provide quality care to our clients.

Caroline Rou
Nurturing the Healer: Effective Therapist Self-Care Tools Unveiled

6.
What does true work-life-balance look like? How is it achieved? Having a healthy balance between work and your personal life means that you are practicing professional self-care. Prioritizing this type of self-care often takes practice, especially since work is a huge aspect of our daily lives. Sometimes it can be difficult to turn off our “working brains” at the end of a work day, and the line between our professional and personal lives begins to blur. 
While a lot of forms of self-care are practiced on people’s own time, professional self-care is something that can also be incorporated into the work day.
 
OregonCounseling.com
Professional Self-Care: Self-Care Series (Part 2)

7.
When therapists neglect their own self-care by taking on more clients than they can reasonably fit into their schedules, working long hours to satisfy clients, and answering phone calls and emails around the clock, they may think they are doing clients a favor, when in reality they are setting themselves up for burnout. 

Chris Howard, CADC-III, CCMI-M
Yes, International Self-Care Day is for Therapists Too

8.
Professional self-care shows in the habits and routines you use to keep a healthy separation between your personal life and your work, for example:

• Being able to set and honor clear boundaries with your time—“These are the hours I work. These are the hours I’m available.”
• Having restorative activities in your life other than work—You can take the time you need at day’s end to transition from work to home life. You can enjoy your personal time and close relationships without feeling intrusions from work.
• Giving yourself access to consultation with colleagues--You have other clinicians to collaborate with; you can reach out to someone about professional challenges.
• Making sure that you are well educated—You remain updated with approaches and skills to respond effectively during client interactions. You can rely on a full range of therapeutic tools and techniques that come to you naturally during sessions with clients, and you are nurturing your strengths.

Robyn E. Brickel, MA, LMFT 
Good Self-Care for Therapists

9.
Micro Self-Care Vs. Self-Violence. The hard truth is that when you don’t take care of yourself, then you’re doing harm (violence) to yourself. It’s time to start thinking of self-care as a form of self-love and self-respect. It is not selfish to take care of yourself; it is necessary. So, the next time you find yourself skipping meals, not drinking water, or working long hours without a break, remember that you are worthy of self-care. 

Laura Reagan
Micro Self-Care for Helping Professionals 

10.
When counselors are isolated, whether working in rural areas or working as sole private practitioners, maintaining wellness can pose an even bigger challenge. Without other colleagues to learn from, vent with or lean on for support, stress is more likely to build unimpeded. Experts say finding a support system, whether through formal supervision or an informal network of other professionals to meet with for consultation and camaraderie, is vital.

Lynne Shallcross
Taking Care of Yourself As A Counselor

11.
My best tip for self-care is to never, ever let it fall to the back burner. It always has to be top of mind. As care givers there will be many times in your career that you will feel that you should put your self-care last in order to take care of others. It’s never a good idea. Think about your longevity in the profession and your future clients, and make self-care decisions very, very carefully.

Jessica Sweet
WishingYouWellCoach.Com

12.
​The practice of self-care is an ongoing endeavor. We are never done with self-care; it must be engaged in throughout our careers. As our life circumstances change over time, so too should our self-care practices.
​
Jeffrey E. Barnett
Distress, Therapist Burnout, Self-Care, and the Promotion of Wellness for Psychotherapists and Trainees

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping professionals develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com.