Taking Care of My Own Mental Health
Written by Dr. Liz Matheis, published on Psychotherapy.net
In August 2021, history was made at the rarely visited intersection of the worlds of Olympic sport and mental health. Renowned gymnast Simone Biles intentionally chose to self-select out in an effort to protect her emotional well-being. Wow. Just wow. She respected that she was not strong enough emotionally to be able to perform at her best and decided to support her team from the sidelines.
I often ask myself, “When was the last time that I, as a clinician, ‘sat out’ because it was creating too much of an emotional struggle for me? And what does it mean to ‘sit out’ as a therapist? To not take on a new client? To limit the time I spend in my practice? To block out thoughts of clients when I am not with them? To do less? To be less?” While it may not always seem so, especially when clients are not in crisis, therapeutic stakes are typically high for them most, if not all, of the time. And I don’t want to do less at the cost of the therapeutic relationship, let down my guard or put either my client(s) or myself at risk or in a potentially libelous situation. Yet how this constant pressure to perform at the highest clinical and professional level does impact my physical and mental health.