Earlier today, I met with two colleagues to plan for an upcoming event we are co-hosting for mental health professionals in our area. We were brainstorming discussion questions for the event and one of the topics that came up was goal setting. Setting professional goals is an essential part of getting us to where we want to be in our professional development as mental health providers. Yet, some times in the day to day busy-ness of seeing clients and juggling our personal and professional responsibilities we can find ourselves on auto-pilot and may lose sight of where we are going. And more importantly, we may lose sight of where we WANT to be going.
Initially in my career as a mental health provider, I the goals were really clearly outlined for me by my graduate program and my state licensing board. They likely were laid out nicely for you as well. The run down on the goals looked something like this: take all required courses, find a practicum placement, acquire all needed practicum hours, graduate, acquire all hours needed for licensure, take and pass all exams and get licensed. And then what? Yes, there are the steps needed to maintain our licenses (for those who are licensed), but overall the path seemed a little more open after I had completed all the requirements for licensure. In fact for awhile, I remember feeling like I wanted to do absolutely nothing other than seeing clients. It was such a relief to have jumped through all the hoops successfully. I was tired.
For me, that “just see clients mode” didn’t last too long. There were a lot of things that I wanted to learn more about and a lot more that I wanted to do. It’s been interesting to think about how my goals have shifted over the course of my career as a mental health provider. I personally, tend to set weekly goals and have somewhat of a bigger picture of my goals in my mind. Sometimes, I find my goals are very narrowly focused and other times I dream of lofty, broad goals that haven’t been clearly defined yet.
As I was reflecting on the conversation I had with my colleagues on my way home, I realized it is now September and it would be a great time for me to re-focus on my goals and determine where I want to focus my energy for the rest of the year and also to start thinking about what I need to be doing now that would help me accomplish my goals for 2017.
What is the approach to setting professional goals that works for you?
How often do you reflect on your professional goals?
What type of time frame do you use when setting goals? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Yearly?
How do you track your progress towards your goals?
How do you prioritize your goals?
In what way are your professional, personal and family goals related?
What are your current professional goals?
What are the professional goals that you want to work on before the end of the year?
How can you start to prepare for the goals you have for 2017 now? What groundwork needs to be laid, so that you’ll be successful in achieving those goals.
Where do you see yourself in the coming years? What is your 5 or 10 year plan?
What are possible barriers you anticipate to achieving your goals and how will you work around them?
I’d love to have you share some of your professional goals in the comments below. There is definitely some accountability in sharing your commitments in a public way. Also feel free to share any tips that you have found helpful in setting professional goals and accomplishing them!
Best of luck to you in setting and accomplishing your goals! Feel free to let me know how I may support you in doing so by emailing me at sarah@sarahleitschuhcounseling.com
Sarah
Thank you for this article. I can really relate to it. I’ve been a therapist licensed for 3 years and am working to identify my career goals and finding it a bit challenging since, as you mentioned, the road has been mapped out for me. Some of my professional goals as a therapist are to write books, create a podcast, create an online course, and obtain more cash clients. I find it helpful to look at my goals daily to stay focused. I’ve found a site that’s been helpful in the goal setting process which is https://www.angstrom.life/goals#health-goals-examples. I’m learning that goal setting is an ongoing learning process in figuring out what works and eliminating what doesn’t. Goal setting is imperative if we are ever going to accomplish what we set out to achieve. Success doesn’t happen by default. It’s an intentional process.
Hi Jill-Thanks for sharing your thoughts about goal setting. I agree that it is important for therapists to regularly check in with our goals and commit to making small steps towards our larger goals. Good luck as you continue to work towards your professional goals.