Leaving It At The Office
Amanda Casco and Chelsea Schnorrbusch
Key Words
| Creativity | “… the state, capacities, and conditions of bringing forth new entities or events that are both new and valuable” (p. 198) |
| Kaizen | Continuous improvement and lifelong learning |
| Possible Selves | “Aspects of the working self that pertain to what people wish to become and what they are afraid of becoming in the future, that is, hoped for and feared possible selves” (p. 201) |
key takeaways
- “…we usefully remind our clients of the centrality of creativity, experimentation, and growth. … in our roles as people, by contract, we tend not to be particularly adventuresome” (p. 197).
CREATIVITY– Are we less likely to take risks than our clients?
- Appreciate the therapeutic process itself.
- Be aware of the paradoxes of treatment (e.g., the patient becomes temporarily dependent on the therapist in order to advance eventual independence).
- Create effective metaphors to convey the message.
- Experience the flash of insight and discovery.
- Recognize irony in the human predicament and psychotherapy itself.
- Develop a new and efficacious treatment method.
- Creativity is also an aspect that can/should be integrated into our everyday lives outside of the office as part of self-care.
- Engage in activities that you feel passionate about. Ensure that there is action behind your thoughts and ideas.
- “Creativity is unleashed when we diversify” (p. 199). Why? Diversifying protects against burnout (Harrison & Westwood, 2009; Skovholt & Jennings, 2004).
- Examples: Rearrange your schedule, do different activities, offer different treatments and modalities, redecorate your spaces, etc. See clients from different demographic backgrounds who have a variety of presenting concerns.
- Your education offers you different options (assessment work, clinical work, academic work, etc.) .Take advantage of these opportunities and try out different professional pursuits.
- Videotape yourself
- Engage with professional organizations and interdisciplinary activities
- Don’t forget to remember the good that you do and where your victories lie to reduce unhealthy perceptions of failure
- Kaizen vs. continuing education; examples include: self directed learning, reading, workshops, journal clubs, mentoring, peer consultation, study groups, training, etc.
- Begin tracking what is important to you for improvement and what your growth edges are
- Self-care is supported by professional organizations because it allows for a unique space, allows for creating relationships, and allows us access to people with shared experiences.
- Professional Organizations can be found on the local, state, national, or international level.
- Try out interdisciplinary organizations to aid in creativity, stay aware of other perspectives, and to give back to our community.
- “…our lives are works in progress and … you can practice self-care wholeheartedly as a skillful attitude” (p. 203).
- Imperfection is not a sign of failure or that something is wrong. Be kind to yourself. Self-care is a life-long commitment and process.
- “Ram Dass reminds us that the purpose of the dance is not to finish. The purpose of the dance is to dance! May we all dance ‘till we drop” (p. 205).
