Favorite Strategies for Managing Therapist Overwhelm

Over the past 7+ years of being in private practice, I’ve experimented with a variety of strategies to manage my personal and professional responsibilities with more ease.    These strategies have allowed me to move away from a state of constant overwhelm.

Some have worked.  

Some haven’t.   

Some have worked at some points and not at others.     

At this point, I’ve refined the strategies that I know work best for me and adjust as needed.   This allows me to operate from a place of relative ease most of the time and to know exactly what I need to do when I start finding myself a little overwhelmed.

I’ve also had the privilege of sharing and teaching these same strategies to the therapists who I have interacted with through the Vibrant Therapist Consulting. LLC in order to better understand which strategies resonate best with other therapists, too.

As therapists, we are holding a lot of heaviness and we need to do what we can to support ourselves in making this work more do-able and to ultimately tend to our own well-being.

In order to help you move to a state of a little more ease, I wanted to share a handful of some of my favorite strategies for managing therapist overwhelm with you.

Brain Dump

The brain dump is a list (or combination of lists) where you record everything that is on your mind.   All the things you want or need to do can go on this list.   Once you’ve recorded all of these ideas you can then prioritize them and create a plan of attack.

Choose One Area of Focus 

Multi- tasking does not work!   When therapists try to multi-task they are inefficient and do not make the progress they desire.   Focusing on one area of focus at a time allows therapists to see results and build momentum.   This doesn’t mean you won’t work on multiple areas of your practice in a given day or week, but it does mean that you’ll only work on one at a time.

Time Blocks

Tasks that you have identified as a priority should have dedicated time on your schedule just like client appointments.    Hoping that a client may cancel so you can do your paperwork or return a call is not a reliable strategy.   Types of activities that you may want to consider implementing time blocks for are; documentation, email, phone calls and marketing tasks.

Batching

Batching is a strategy of doing similar tasks at the same time.   This allows therapists to be more efficient as they are not switching their focus between different types of tasks.   Examples of tasks that can be batched for therapists include; writing notes, responding to emails and writing content.

Ask for Help

When we are feeling overwhelmed, it is important to remember that we don’t have to do it all alone.    Depending on the circumstances, asking for help can be one of the quickest ways to reduce overwhelm.  Asking for help may mean asking a colleague for advice about how they navigated something in their practice or it may mean delegating/outsourcing a personal or professional task to someone else.   

As you start to play around with these strategies, don’t hesitate to reach out if I can support you in finding the right combination of strategies for your unique practice + life circumstances.   Access my schedule to claim a complimentary Vibrant Therapist Clarity call.

Take Care,

Sarah

P.S.  Ready for more? Read about another handful of my favorite strategies for managing therapist overwhelm here.