Welcome to the third installment of The Vibrant Therapist Spotlight. This series of posts highlights interviews with therapists from across the world who are taking actions consistent with those of a vibrant therapist. I imagine many of you may recognize this month’s featured therapist; Laura Reagan. Laura is a social worker from Maryland and the host of a popular podcast; Therapy Chat. Laura is an expert in the treatment of trauma, so I was especially intrigued to learn more about how she avoids burnout while juggling many projects and doing such intense work in her therapy practice.
The Vibrant Therapist Spotlight Interview with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C
Please Introduce yourself to the readers and tell us a little about the work that you do.
I’m Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, an integrative trauma therapist practicing outside of Baltimore. I own a growing group practice serving children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma. I’m also the host of Therapy Chat, a podcast focused on mindfulness, psychotherapy, self care, attachment, relationships, worthiness and perfectionism.
Can you tell us a little bit about the process you went through in deciding to start your podcast and eventually create the Trauma Therapist Community?
It sounds crazy, but it was totally on a whim that I decided to start Therapy Chat. But the process from there to here was lengthy. I was in the process of completing my consultations to become a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, and my consultant, who might be a Millennial, suggested that I consider doing a podcast. Although I was aware of what podcasts are at the time, I had never listened to one, but I was trying to be open and tap into my creativity, so I figured, why not? It seemed easy to start (which it is, though it’s not easy to sustain!) and I figured most likely no one would listen, but at least it might drive more traffic to my website. Thinking of keywords, I started out with the name The Baltimore Annapolis Psychotherapy Podcast, which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It made sense to me at the time, but I later realized that it sounded regional, which it wasn’t really; plus the logo was super boring and uninspired. Nevertheless, some people were listening. In the first 6 months it was downloaded about 1,700 times. There were probably about 200 listeners then. But it has grown, and in April, 2016 I re-branded the podcast to be called Therapy Chat and created a better logo. Over time it has grown and I realized there are a lot of therapists who want and need to improve self care. Many listeners from around the country and the world were e-mailing me asking for therapy, consultation and referrals to therapists, which led me to create the Trauma Therapist Community because I realized that I have been frustrated for years at the number of therapists who don’t “get it” about trauma, and the negative impact this has on clients. I figured rather than waiting for someone else to change that, I might as well use the platform I have to raise awareness about trauma and about bottom-up approaches, which is what I talk about a lot on the podcast and in my consultation groups. So I have the consultation groups in person and online, and the Trauma Therapists Unite Facebook group, which is free and a place for trauma therapists to gather and talk about trauma work. But not a place for clinical consultation. But we can connect with other trauma therapists in our area and maybe make connections to develop in person relationships, which combats isolation.
What types of doubt and fears have you encountered in your career and how have you addressed them?
My biggest challenge has been feeling not good enough, feeling afraid to do something new, fearing making a fool out of myself or being seen as a fraud. All of those fears come up whenever I push myself outside of my comfort zone or when someone who I perceive to be more knowledgeable than me challenges me – like if a psychiatrist questions my way of working with a client. Even though I know I am doing good, ethical and sound work with my clients, having that “authority figure” question me tends to poke at some tender areas. I address them by sometimes getting a reality check from trusted peers and colleagues, or a supervisor, or my therapist. My husband is always on my side, so he’s great for support but he doesn’t know enough about clinical work to be able to give me the reality check I’m looking for in that situation. To be honest, one of my personality traits that I’m most proud of is that although I feel scared as heck to do new things, I do them anyway, but instead of pushing through, I allow myself to feel the vulnerability and be with the scared feelings. Then when I feel those emotions I mentioned earlier, I remind myself that I always feel this way when I step out of my comfort zone. I’m proud that I continually push myself outside of that space, because I know “that is where the magic happens.”
How do you personally manage overwhelm when working on multiple projects?
I try to check in with what’s happening with me, notice how I’m feeling, breathe deeply, and sometimes I am just overwhelmed so I ask for help when I need it. That might be support from my husband or friends, from someone I pay to help me, like my Virtual Assistant, or other family members. Who I ask depends what I need.
How do you approach your work and self care in order to avoid becoming burnt out or depleted?
I focus on being very intentional about self care and if I am working too much, I know it. Recently I’ve been working a lot, but I am aware that I’m doing it because I have some trips coming up in the next couple months which will take me away from work. I keep in mind that there are seasons in our work with ebbs and flows. Right now is a flow but in the summer there will be some ebb. I also try to protect my weekends. I sleep in as much as I can. My weekends aren’t so “productive” because I am trying to rest as much as I need to rest, and I don’t feel bad about it. I try to get in regular exercise and don’t beat myself up if I can’t get to it. I try to limit reading work related materials outside of work hours. This means I am behind on all the things I want to read because there are only so many hours in the day. I recently hired a private yoga instructor to come lead me through a class once a week at the office, which gives me a nice break on that day, because I won’t do it on my own.I do Zumba on Friday nights. It is quite joyful. I practice mindfulness, I go to my own therapy weekly, I get supervision and consultation often, I’m building a supportive network of colleagues in person and via Facebook groups. I spend time with friends and family when I can. I have a regular gratitude practice and I practice self compassion, which has changed my life. I eat whole foods and I recently installed a refrigerator and microwave at the office so I can keep snacks there for long days and bring food from home. Avoiding burnout is an ongoing practice that must be intentional daily, hourly, minute by minute. I am well aware of the impact of vicarious trauma and though I’ve never fully had burnout, I was definitely headed that way shortly after earning my MSW. There was a time when I was doing crisis work even before I finished my B.S. that I was almost taken out by burnout as well. I’ll add that I am focused on setting up my group practice in a way that helps my associates avoid burnout too. I encourage them to schedule no more than 5 clients a day; I offer them supervision even if they’re independently licensed; I support them in obtaining high quality training by providing a stipend for them to use annually; they can join me in the private yoga class, and they are invited to my in person consultation group as a perk of working there.
If you could go back in time, what tip or advice would you share with yourself at the beginning of your career?
It’s okay, you don’t have to know everything. Try to accept feedback without feeling defensive. Learn and practice self compassion.
Thank you, Laura, for sharing your experiences and the lessons you’ve learned! You can learn more about Laura by visiting her website: www.laurareaganlcswc.com
We all have the potential to be vibrant therapists if we slow down and allow ourselves the space to reflect on what we want and need in order to feel energized by our work and less depleted at the end of the day. I hope Laura’s story and the specific examples she shared helped inspire you to start thinking about changes that you could make in order to be more vibrant this week.
Take Care,
Sarah