Have I arrived? Am I a proper therapist yet?
What training should I do? This is a question that is continuous for most therapists from the moment they decide they want to become a therapist. Your university education pathway is the first decision made on this journey.
For some, it’s a shock to find that gaining your professional qualification does not leave you feeling competent to practice and is just the beginning step towards an ongoing search for how to help the humans we serve.
Coming at professional development from a point of view of wanting it to prove you’re a proper therapist now or that you have somehow “arrived” is unhelpful for at least two reasons.
One, professional development has the potential to be a doorway to curiosity and expansiveness and to make this career invigorating and exciting not just for us but for your clients.
Two, if therapists get to a point where they feel like they can shut the door on professional development they’ve lost their edge. They’ve lost the curiosity and healthy self-doubt that we need to do this job adequately.
(I’ll never forget a peer’s shock when her placement supervisor said she couldn’t think of anything worse than attending professional development. She said “I’m really worried about learning from someone who has stopped caring about learning”)
When I see broad questions like “what training should I do in 2023?” or “what professional development should I do next?” I realize that some therapists have lost sight of the need to progressively and flexibly shape their professional development towards their own learning needs and interests.
So – stay curious, stay flexible and explore what’s next. My personalised learning plan will not serve you and neither will your buddy’s.
It’s time to get excited!
Ask yourself what do I want to explore? What will help me grow?
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