In testimony to Congress the week before last, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a point of emphasizing that if you’re a Facebook user, you own your information. This is meant to reassure users, but it is more than a little misleading. “Your information” is what you personally have uploaded to Facebook. You do not own what other people have uploaded about you. That’s what has privacy advocates so concerned. It’s also why even therapists who don’t use Facebook should be worried about the client confidentiality risks that the company poses.
Podcast episode 6: Psychotherapy’s gender gap
It’s fairly common knowledge that the gender balance of a profession and the pay in that profession are correlated. Jobs populated primarily by women pay less, on average, than those populated primarily by men. But it’s rare to get a clear sense of why that’s the case. The therapy world offers a rare exception. It used to be that most therapists were men. Today, the overwhelming majority are women — and pay is meaningfully lower. But we actually know which change came first.
Three easy ways to collect outcome data
Therapists and counselors are increasingly required to formally gather outcome data on their work. This is good: The more data that we have on our work, the more intentional and effective our clinical decisions can become. Regularly collecting and attending to outcome data, therefore, suggests constant movement towards improvement.
Many therapists struggle, however, with questions about what data to gather, and how to best gather it. Even among those who philosophically agree that regularly collecting outcome data helps to more meaningfully direct therapy, they often don’t do it.
Thankfully, there are a number of easy ways for therapists to collect outcome data. Many come at no cost. The following are just three of the many different tools/assessments therapists can use to collect and interpret outcome data.
“I’m just an MFT student”
Language fascinates me. As therapists, we use language to reframe situations, craft metaphors, and ultimately instill feelings of hope. We recognize how powerful this tool is, so we carefully select our words when in sessions with clients. If only we did the same outside of sessions.
I love speaking with associates, trainees, and students at various events and settings. I’ve heard about the highs and lows of the journey to licensure, the successes and struggles, the hopeful and (seemingly) hopeless situations. One of the statements that always gets to me is “I’m just a(n) ___” (student, trainee, associate).
“Just.” As in “simply,” “only,” “no more than.” Imagine how quickly you would point out the use of this word to a client, drawing their attention to the potential consequences of viewing themselves in a negative light. Unfortunately, we’re not always good at catching ourselves when we do this.
Self-care for therapists who can’t afford self-care
It is advised early on in our schooling to practice self-care as a means to prevent and combat burnout. Preventative self-care is usually along the lines of making sure you are staying healthy. This can mean eating right, working out, or finding something you enjoy in every day, like listening to music or reading before bed. Ideally when you are burned out, self-care would include taking a day or two off to recharge, maybe going on a weekend getaway, or getting a massage.
Realistically, for many therapists that isn’t possible. As Ben discussed here last week, far too much discussion of self-care ignores the practical and financial reality of being an early-career therapist. This recent Counseling Today cover story is a great example of talking about burnout in ways that put responsibility for it on counselors’ and therapists’ own shoulders, without mentioning several of the systemic reasons why mental health professionals early in their careers actually get burned out.