WEBVTT
00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:13.480
In the dark days of the election and early pandemic I began cultivating my Twitter feed to voices that brought me joy.
00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:15.070
Or at least not dread.
00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:22.300
One day, I realized that my narrow down Twitter feed was primarily made up of therapists and those in the mental health field.
00:00:23.050 --> 00:00:24.820
These are my people.
00:00:25.355 --> 00:00:36.395
These voices filled a void that I was desperately missing from connecting with my coworkers in the hallways and from the greater therapy community through my doctoral program and at conferences and classes.
00:00:37.085 --> 00:00:42.755
This community of therapists on Twitter know the unique struggle being a counselor in a dumpster fire.
00:00:43.594 --> 00:00:54.515
It reminds me of a meme that was going around with a picture of the string quartet playing on the deck of the Titanic with the caption "counselors, trying to teach mindfulness in 2020".
00:00:56.104 --> 00:01:04.016
There are messages every day, where counselors question if they come maintain this pace or some joke about the absurdity of managed care.
00:01:04.436 --> 00:01:06.659
There's encouragement, galore.
00:01:06.923 --> 00:01:10.033
And endless ribbing about unfinished progress notes.
00:01:10.203 --> 00:01:12.602
Which leads to the title of this podcast.
00:01:13.191 --> 00:01:16.521
So out of all of this came the idea for this podcast.
00:01:17.001 --> 00:01:21.381
I am Kristi Cash White and this is the podcast, "Are your notes finished yet?
00:01:21.831 --> 00:01:24.290
Conversations for today's mental health professionals".
00:01:30.661 --> 00:01:33.510
I'm so thankful that you have chosen to join me today.
00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:34.381
I'm excited.
00:01:34.614 --> 00:01:36.454
And a tad nervous to be doing this.
00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:43.039
But setting those nerves aside, it's my goal to produce a quality meaningful source of information and connection.
00:01:43.712 --> 00:01:45.331
It's a hard time to be a therapist.
00:01:45.841 --> 00:01:53.769
We are professional mental health counselors who are facing the unique challenge of helping people through trauma that we ourselves are experiencing.
00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:56.569
Hey, you're feeling isolated from the pandemic?
00:01:56.810 --> 00:02:03.159
Me, too! You have issues with family members who think different than you about politics or the vaccine?
00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:03.969
Yep.
00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:04.930
I've got those too.
00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:11.189
You find yourself staring in the mirror as you are overwhelmed by existential dread?
00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:12.990
Tell me about it.
00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:19.979
The opening lines from a USA today article titled, "Mental health professionals are the ones taking care of us.
00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:22.349
Who's taking care of them?" says,.
00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:27.379
" When a world in pandemic shuts down, the mental health professionals did not.
00:02:28.009 --> 00:02:33.620
They kept working, many more than ever, counseling patients on how to survive something they'd never seen before.
00:02:33.979 --> 00:02:36.139
Something they feared themselves.
00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:49.855
They counseled while the virus ravaged their neighborhoods, with their children in the background, through months of racial unrest, and a presidential election that was the most polarizing in many of our lifetimes." end quote.
00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:56.229
So how will this podcast help?
00:02:56.849 --> 00:03:02.069
I want to have a space where counselors and others come and chat about issues that are important to us.
00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:22.966
Some of the topics I hope to cover this season are burnout and self care, counseling as a minority, mindfulness for counselors, teaching the next generation of counselors, laws impacting therapy, therapist in specializations, leadership and advocacy, and social justice.
00:03:23.596 --> 00:03:33.825
My hope is to provide a place of listening and learning for those who have been in the field for 25 years, like myself, or for those fresh out of undergrad or looking to start their master's program.
00:03:34.966 --> 00:03:38.325
This will also be a great resource for those who are counseling adjacent.
00:03:38.716 --> 00:03:45.469
Those who are interested in topics related to counseling and psychology or who are a cheerleader for someone in the field.
00:03:46.641 --> 00:03:48.021
So a little about myself.
00:03:48.473 --> 00:03:54.082
I knew I was going to be a counselor well before I went to college, so I was on that psychology track from day one.
00:03:54.562 --> 00:04:02.409
I earned my master's degree in counseling education back in the previous century from a university in Portland, Oregon, my lifelong hometown.
00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:12.712
I worked in the field for the next 25 years at a nonprofit, at schools, and in private practice, primarily doing play therapy with children and working with teens.
00:04:13.673 --> 00:04:19.012
I supervise master's level counseling students and taught as an adjunct professor for about a decade.
00:04:19.663 --> 00:04:28.012
I'm currently in my fourth year of my doctoral program, pursuing a PhD in counseling education and supervision, as well as working full-time.
00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:37.120
I now work mostly with teens and adults around issues related to anxiety and depression, grief and loss, identity development and more.
00:04:37.937 --> 00:04:45.797
My husband, Allan and I live in the Portland area still where we're working diligently to launch our three children ages 15 to 21.
00:04:46.576 --> 00:04:50.000
So, what is it like to be a therapist in 2021?
00:04:50.533 --> 00:04:56.023
Of course, there are many variations in the format, the clientele and the struggles of being a counselor right now.
00:04:56.713 --> 00:04:59.862
But I thought I'd give an example of what it looks like from my angle.
00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:07.300
If you've tried to find a counselor in the past year or two, you know that it is a frustrating and difficult endeavor.
00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:12.639
I was looking for a referral for someone and made dozens of inquiries without any success.
00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:15.389
Therapists are stretched thin.
00:05:16.153 --> 00:05:39.120
There've been a couple of really great articles about this, one in the New York times this past December titled,"why 1,320 therapists are worried about mental health in America right now." They highlight the stress that counselors are bearing, with nine out of 10 therapists saying that they have seen a surge in calls for appointments, longer waiting lists, and difficulties meeting client demand.
00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:46.492
One in three say that the wait list is three months or longer, if they are even open to new clients.
00:05:47.283 --> 00:05:52.853
Saying no and putting people on wait lists brings a hefty dose of guilt to many counselors.
00:05:52.942 --> 00:05:56.333
We are used to helping people and it tears us up to turn people away.
00:05:56.783 --> 00:05:59.992
Especially when there are not a lot of referral sources to provide.
00:06:01.177 --> 00:06:05.379
So I generally see six clients a day, Monday through Thursday.
00:06:05.757 --> 00:06:07.947
And reserve Friday for paperwork and school.
00:06:08.937 --> 00:06:13.047
That's about all I can manage while feeling balanced and providing my best service.
00:06:13.706 --> 00:06:18.776
The organization I work for closed its onsite counseling offices and March, 2020, like many.
00:06:19.826 --> 00:06:24.747
Much to the dismay of some of my clients, we have not been back in the office since.
00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:27.160
That seems so crazy.
00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:32.050
I have this cozy, pretty little office that I hardly remember at this point.
00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:40.629
Like so many others, that March of 2020 sent us into an overwhelming scenario of learning to do online counseling on the fly.
00:06:41.076 --> 00:06:51.442
Thankfully my doctorate program had online teaching and counseling classes that I'd already completed, so I at least had some introduction into the nuances and ethics of it.
00:06:52.642 --> 00:06:55.372
But dang, if that adjustment, wasn't a challenge.
00:06:56.302 --> 00:07:01.942
My kids were all home with their schools and colleges moving online, so my office was a little corner of my bedroom.
00:07:02.663 --> 00:07:08.173
Figuring out the blurred boundaries of where work ended and home began took some deliberate effort.
00:07:08.552 --> 00:07:09.603
Two years later.
00:07:09.617 --> 00:07:11.836
I have my own little office in my house now.
00:07:12.257 --> 00:07:14.146
And we're all in better routines.
00:07:14.857 --> 00:07:23.396
As I touch base though, with colleagues and read from peers online counselors seem to be collectively struggling at this point two years into the pandemic.
00:07:24.057 --> 00:07:26.396
As much or more as when we were first sent home.
00:07:27.476 --> 00:07:28.857
So I thought we should talk about that.
00:07:29.997 --> 00:07:33.026
What are counselors and counselor educators struggling with?
00:07:33.807 --> 00:07:40.557
What can we do to be healthy and resilient so that we can continue to bring excellent services to those with whom we work?
00:07:41.536 --> 00:07:43.906
It's not enough to just take a periodic bubble bath.
00:07:44.487 --> 00:07:49.887
How do we truly live in a state of self care of peace, contentment and gratitude.
00:07:50.637 --> 00:07:53.740
Then how in turn do we make bigger changes in the world?
00:07:54.603 --> 00:08:00.663
How do we train the next generation of therapists to prepare for a career with challenges we don't fully understand?
00:08:01.166 --> 00:08:07.995
How do we adjust the ways that we advocate for laws that support the field of counseling and our clients?
00:08:08.134 --> 00:08:13.264
And how do we help those who've been held back from mental health services through social justice work?
00:08:14.153 --> 00:08:15.233
Those are big questions.
00:08:16.134 --> 00:08:23.218
Over the next few weeks, I will be interviewing intelligent, engaged professionals that can help us wrestle with some of these issues.
00:08:24.088 --> 00:08:27.598
I'll be talking to a professor about her work with master level students.
00:08:28.288 --> 00:08:32.937
With a marketing professional, who's become a cheerleader and advocate for the counseling profession.
00:08:34.018 --> 00:08:38.548
With a trauma therapist who is working deep in the trenches of human experience.
00:08:39.327 --> 00:08:44.548
And a professor and author who has literally written the book on being a resilient therapist.
00:08:45.658 --> 00:08:48.957
I truly hope you'll join me in these conversations.
00:08:49.498 --> 00:08:58.144
If you have anything to share a topic you think should be explored or someone you think would be a great resource or if you have any questions or feedback, you can find me on Twitter.
00:08:58.644 --> 00:08:59.964
Or you can send me an email.
00:09:01.193 --> 00:09:03.774
However you managed to come to this podcast.
00:09:03.984 --> 00:09:05.663
I truly do appreciate you.
00:09:06.053 --> 00:09:07.614
And I think you should come back for more.
00:09:08.423 --> 00:09:14.004
To quote, the beautiful Eric Erickson, "Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence.
00:09:14.153 --> 00:09:15.234
We all need each other.
00:09:15.474 --> 00:09:21.264
And the sooner we learn that the better for us all." And I have to ask.
00:09:21.264 --> 00:09:22.644
"Are your notes finished yet?"
00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:13.480
In the dark days of the election and early pandemic I began cultivating my Twitter feed to voices that brought me joy.
00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:15.070
Or at least not dread.
00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:22.300
One day, I realized that my narrow down Twitter feed was primarily made up of therapists and those in the mental health field.
00:00:23.050 --> 00:00:24.820
These are my people.
00:00:25.355 --> 00:00:36.395
These voices filled a void that I was desperately missing from connecting with my coworkers in the hallways and from the greater therapy community through my doctoral program and at conferences and classes.
00:00:37.085 --> 00:00:42.755
This community of therapists on Twitter know the unique struggle being a counselor in a dumpster fire.
00:00:43.594 --> 00:00:54.515
It reminds me of a meme that was going around with a picture of the string quartet playing on the deck of the Titanic with the caption "counselors, trying to teach mindfulness in 2020".
00:00:56.104 --> 00:01:04.016
There are messages every day, where counselors question if they come maintain this pace or some joke about the absurdity of managed care.
00:01:04.436 --> 00:01:06.659
There's encouragement, galore.
00:01:06.923 --> 00:01:10.033
And endless ribbing about unfinished progress notes.
00:01:10.203 --> 00:01:12.602
Which leads to the title of this podcast.
00:01:13.191 --> 00:01:16.521
So out of all of this came the idea for this podcast.
00:01:17.001 --> 00:01:21.381
I am Kristi Cash White and this is the podcast, "Are your notes finished yet?
00:01:21.831 --> 00:01:24.290
Conversations for today's mental health professionals".
00:01:30.661 --> 00:01:33.510
I'm so thankful that you have chosen to join me today.
00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:34.381
I'm excited.
00:01:34.614 --> 00:01:36.454
And a tad nervous to be doing this.
00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:43.039
But setting those nerves aside, it's my goal to produce a quality meaningful source of information and connection.
00:01:43.712 --> 00:01:45.331
It's a hard time to be a therapist.
00:01:45.841 --> 00:01:53.769
We are professional mental health counselors who are facing the unique challenge of helping people through trauma that we ourselves are experiencing.
00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:56.569
Hey, you're feeling isolated from the pandemic?
00:01:56.810 --> 00:02:03.159
Me, too! You have issues with family members who think different than you about politics or the vaccine?
00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:03.969
Yep.
00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:04.930
I've got those too.
00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:11.189
You find yourself staring in the mirror as you are overwhelmed by existential dread?
00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:12.990
Tell me about it.
00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:19.979
The opening lines from a USA today article titled, "Mental health professionals are the ones taking care of us.
00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:22.349
Who's taking care of them?" says,.
00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:27.379
" When a world in pandemic shuts down, the mental health professionals did not.
00:02:28.009 --> 00:02:33.620
They kept working, many more than ever, counseling patients on how to survive something they'd never seen before.
00:02:33.979 --> 00:02:36.139
Something they feared themselves.
00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:49.855
They counseled while the virus ravaged their neighborhoods, with their children in the background, through months of racial unrest, and a presidential election that was the most polarizing in many of our lifetimes." end quote.
00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:56.229
So how will this podcast help?
00:02:56.849 --> 00:03:02.069
I want to have a space where counselors and others come and chat about issues that are important to us.
00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:22.966
Some of the topics I hope to cover this season are burnout and self care, counseling as a minority, mindfulness for counselors, teaching the next generation of counselors, laws impacting therapy, therapist in specializations, leadership and advocacy, and social justice.
00:03:23.596 --> 00:03:33.825
My hope is to provide a place of listening and learning for those who have been in the field for 25 years, like myself, or for those fresh out of undergrad or looking to start their master's program.
00:03:34.966 --> 00:03:38.325
This will also be a great resource for those who are counseling adjacent.
00:03:38.716 --> 00:03:45.469
Those who are interested in topics related to counseling and psychology or who are a cheerleader for someone in the field.
00:03:46.641 --> 00:03:48.021
So a little about myself.
00:03:48.473 --> 00:03:54.082
I knew I was going to be a counselor well before I went to college, so I was on that psychology track from day one.
00:03:54.562 --> 00:04:02.409
I earned my master's degree in counseling education back in the previous century from a university in Portland, Oregon, my lifelong hometown.
00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:12.712
I worked in the field for the next 25 years at a nonprofit, at schools, and in private practice, primarily doing play therapy with children and working with teens.
00:04:13.673 --> 00:04:19.012
I supervise master's level counseling students and taught as an adjunct professor for about a decade.
00:04:19.663 --> 00:04:28.012
I'm currently in my fourth year of my doctoral program, pursuing a PhD in counseling education and supervision, as well as working full-time.
00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:37.120
I now work mostly with teens and adults around issues related to anxiety and depression, grief and loss, identity development and more.
00:04:37.937 --> 00:04:45.797
My husband, Allan and I live in the Portland area still where we're working diligently to launch our three children ages 15 to 21.
00:04:46.576 --> 00:04:50.000
So, what is it like to be a therapist in 2021?
00:04:50.533 --> 00:04:56.023
Of course, there are many variations in the format, the clientele and the struggles of being a counselor right now.
00:04:56.713 --> 00:04:59.862
But I thought I'd give an example of what it looks like from my angle.
00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:07.300
If you've tried to find a counselor in the past year or two, you know that it is a frustrating and difficult endeavor.
00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:12.639
I was looking for a referral for someone and made dozens of inquiries without any success.
00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:15.389
Therapists are stretched thin.
00:05:16.153 --> 00:05:39.120
There've been a couple of really great articles about this, one in the New York times this past December titled,"why 1,320 therapists are worried about mental health in America right now." They highlight the stress that counselors are bearing, with nine out of 10 therapists saying that they have seen a surge in calls for appointments, longer waiting lists, and difficulties meeting client demand.
00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:46.492
One in three say that the wait list is three months or longer, if they are even open to new clients.
00:05:47.283 --> 00:05:52.853
Saying no and putting people on wait lists brings a hefty dose of guilt to many counselors.
00:05:52.942 --> 00:05:56.333
We are used to helping people and it tears us up to turn people away.
00:05:56.783 --> 00:05:59.992
Especially when there are not a lot of referral sources to provide.
00:06:01.177 --> 00:06:05.379
So I generally see six clients a day, Monday through Thursday.
00:06:05.757 --> 00:06:07.947
And reserve Friday for paperwork and school.
00:06:08.937 --> 00:06:13.047
That's about all I can manage while feeling balanced and providing my best service.
00:06:13.706 --> 00:06:18.776
The organization I work for closed its onsite counseling offices and March, 2020, like many.
00:06:19.826 --> 00:06:24.747
Much to the dismay of some of my clients, we have not been back in the office since.
00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:27.160
That seems so crazy.
00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:32.050
I have this cozy, pretty little office that I hardly remember at this point.
00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:40.629
Like so many others, that March of 2020 sent us into an overwhelming scenario of learning to do online counseling on the fly.
00:06:41.076 --> 00:06:51.442
Thankfully my doctorate program had online teaching and counseling classes that I'd already completed, so I at least had some introduction into the nuances and ethics of it.
00:06:52.642 --> 00:06:55.372
But dang, if that adjustment, wasn't a challenge.
00:06:56.302 --> 00:07:01.942
My kids were all home with their schools and colleges moving online, so my office was a little corner of my bedroom.
00:07:02.663 --> 00:07:08.173
Figuring out the blurred boundaries of where work ended and home began took some deliberate effort.
00:07:08.552 --> 00:07:09.603
Two years later.
00:07:09.617 --> 00:07:11.836
I have my own little office in my house now.
00:07:12.257 --> 00:07:14.146
And we're all in better routines.
00:07:14.857 --> 00:07:23.396
As I touch base though, with colleagues and read from peers online counselors seem to be collectively struggling at this point two years into the pandemic.
00:07:24.057 --> 00:07:26.396
As much or more as when we were first sent home.
00:07:27.476 --> 00:07:28.857
So I thought we should talk about that.
00:07:29.997 --> 00:07:33.026
What are counselors and counselor educators struggling with?
00:07:33.807 --> 00:07:40.557
What can we do to be healthy and resilient so that we can continue to bring excellent services to those with whom we work?
00:07:41.536 --> 00:07:43.906
It's not enough to just take a periodic bubble bath.
00:07:44.487 --> 00:07:49.887
How do we truly live in a state of self care of peace, contentment and gratitude.
00:07:50.637 --> 00:07:53.740
Then how in turn do we make bigger changes in the world?
00:07:54.603 --> 00:08:00.663
How do we train the next generation of therapists to prepare for a career with challenges we don't fully understand?
00:08:01.166 --> 00:08:07.995
How do we adjust the ways that we advocate for laws that support the field of counseling and our clients?
00:08:08.134 --> 00:08:13.264
And how do we help those who've been held back from mental health services through social justice work?
00:08:14.153 --> 00:08:15.233
Those are big questions.
00:08:16.134 --> 00:08:23.218
Over the next few weeks, I will be interviewing intelligent, engaged professionals that can help us wrestle with some of these issues.
00:08:24.088 --> 00:08:27.598
I'll be talking to a professor about her work with master level students.
00:08:28.288 --> 00:08:32.937
With a marketing professional, who's become a cheerleader and advocate for the counseling profession.
00:08:34.018 --> 00:08:38.548
With a trauma therapist who is working deep in the trenches of human experience.
00:08:39.327 --> 00:08:44.548
And a professor and author who has literally written the book on being a resilient therapist.
00:08:45.658 --> 00:08:48.957
I truly hope you'll join me in these conversations.
00:08:49.498 --> 00:08:58.144
If you have anything to share a topic you think should be explored or someone you think would be a great resource or if you have any questions or feedback, you can find me on Twitter.
00:08:58.644 --> 00:08:59.964
Or you can send me an email.
00:09:01.193 --> 00:09:03.774
However you managed to come to this podcast.
00:09:03.984 --> 00:09:05.663
I truly do appreciate you.
00:09:06.053 --> 00:09:07.614
And I think you should come back for more.
00:09:08.423 --> 00:09:14.004
To quote, the beautiful Eric Erickson, "Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence.
00:09:14.153 --> 00:09:15.234
We all need each other.
00:09:15.474 --> 00:09:21.264
And the sooner we learn that the better for us all." And I have to ask.
00:09:21.264 --> 00:09:22.644
"Are your notes finished yet?"
