Refocusing on the Rewards (Chapter 2)

Leaving It At The Office

Helpers High	The intense sense of satisfaction a therapist can experience resulting from the therapy process of decreasing distress and increasing personal growth for clients/patients
Imagery Exercise	Using your imagination to call to mind specific experiences. This can be used to call to mind our successes as a therapist
Gratitude Interventions	Formal practices and/or activities that intentionally aim to redirect attention towards aspects of our life, career, or experience that we are grateful for
Mindful Lists & Journaling	Taking time to write down experiences with the goal of increasing awareness and attention on said experience. This can be done via short bullets such as a list and/or more free flowing and longer text such as open-ended journaling.
Wisdom	“Expert knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life” (p. 28). As this concept relates to synthesizing intellectual information and psychotherapy experiences, wisdom is viewed as a potential benefit for being a psychotherapist/psychologist

There is some allure or expectation that choosing a career in the helping field can/should/will result in some level of reward or satisfaction beyond monetary gain. Reflect on the “emotional and vocational process that lead you to become a psychotherapist [psychologist],” (p. 20). How does this impact your current professional/personal experiences? How does/might this change over time? How might this shape your decision making for jobs/career paths?
“Scratch the good dog, not the bad one” (p. 22). Most research supports the idea that jobs in the helping field come with equal parts “blessings,” and, “burdens,” however, the key to long-term satisfaction results from reflecting and attending to the positive aspects of your experience. What are some blessings and burdens of being a trainee? Moving forward, how do you hope this will change? How do you hope this will stay the same?
There are a myriad of potential benefits/sources of reward at the office (e.g., permanent membership, variety of experiences, intellectual stimulation, emotional growth) and rewards away from the office (interpersonal relationships, personal effectiveness, life meaning, public recognition, employment opportunities) that are associated with the helping field. Which of these facets resonated with you? Which facets felt discrepant and/or confusing? What is missing from the list? How might this list? How might this list be altered or adapted specifically for psychology trainees?