The Therapist's Workbook

Mental health professionals spend their days helping others, but who is there to help them when stress and burnout threaten their own well-being? Filled with self-assessments, journaling exercises, and activities designed to facilitate renewal, growth, and change, this timely book helps clinicians help themselves with coverage of career threatening issues, such as fear of failure, loss of confidence, and the financial stress and loss of autonomy that many clinician's experience as a result of managed care and its constraints. Introduction vii

Part I Confronting the Issues 1

Chapter 1 On Being a Therapist—and the Consequences of This Choice 3

Chapter 2 Joys and Privileges of Therapeutic Work 17

Chapter 3 Identifying Sources of Stress 31

Chapter 4 Acknowledging Doubts, Limitations, and Failures 55

Chapter 5 Clients as Teachers: Reciprocal Effects and Influences 73

Chapter 6 Making Sense of What You Do as a Therapist 85

Part II Taking Care of Yourself 115

Chapter 7 Addressing Countertransference and Other Personal Reactions 117

Chapter 8 Avoiding and Countering Burnout 143

Chapter 9 Travel That Can Change Your Life 151

Chapter 10 Building and Maintaining a Support System 161

Part III Practicing What You Preach 173

Chapter 11 Accessing More Fun and Joy From Therapeutic Work 175

Chapter 12 Promoting Creative Breakthroughs 183

About the Author 197

Jeffrey Kottler is the former chair of the counseling department at California State University, Fullerton where he is currently a Professor of Counseling. He has worked as an educator and psychologist in PreK-12 schools, mental health centers, universities and community colleges, corporations, and private practice settings. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer in Peru, Thailand, and Iceland, and has worked as a Visiting Professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal.