The Thriving Therapist Sustainable Self-Care to Prevent Burnout and Enhance Well-Being

The Thriving Therapist provides an integrative, holistic, and developmentally sensitive path to assist therapists in assessing their unique needs and proactively structuring sustainable self-care practices, in alignment with their values.

Self-care shouldn’t feel like a burden. Professional self-care can be enjoyable, personally meaningful, and sustainably integrated into mental health practitioners’ lives.
 
 Included in this book are diverse and vital resources that help practitioners:

• Go beyond one-off activities to create a self-caring lifestyle;
• Strengthen the guiding values by which they live and work, in order to prevent burnout and embody wellness;
• Cultivate mindful awareness of their needs both personal and professional, with special attention to the alignment of the person-practitioner-work environment;
• Build powerful inner resources such as gratitude, self-compassion, forgiveness, and humor to soothe in response to threats and bounce back from daily challenges;
• Implement and sustain healthy lifestyle habits that transform “simply getting by” into more easeful and meaningful living, including neurophysiological supports, meditation and subtle energy practices, mindful media consumption, and community-building.

Matt Hersh, PhD is a practicing clinical psychologist in the Boston area with over two decades of clinical experience, including graduate training. He has maintained a full-time private practice for the past 8 years, working with both youth and adults who struggle with anxiety disorders, executive function deficits, relational conflicts, and stress-based difficulties. In addition to being a psychotherapist, Dr. Hersh holds a consultant (teacher) affiliation with Harvard University's Center for Wellness and Health Promotion, is a certified Koru Mindfulness teacher, and is a diplomate in Comprehensive Energy Psychology. His scholarly interests involve the intersection among therapist self-care, mindfulness, and positive psychology. Visit drmatthersh.com.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Nourishing the Roots of Self-Care
Chapter 1: Exploring Professional Self-Care: Myths, Mistaken Identities, and Meanings
Chapter 2: Our Unique Stressors, Pressures, Challenges
Chapter 3: The “Big Four” Occupational Hazards
Chapter 4: Our Ethical Imperative Toward Sustainable Self-Care
Chapter 5: Why We Become Psychotherapists and What Sustains Us
Chapter 6: Mapping Our Self-Care Values
Chapter 7: Identifying and Addressing the Blocks to Being Our Own Best Allies
Part II:  Flexibly Grounded: Mindful Awareness of Habits, Patterns, and Needs Inside and Out of the Therapy Room
Chapter 8: Developmental and Career Stage Realities
Chapter 9:  Listening to Our Bodies
Chapter 10: Knowing Our Habits of Mind and Emotion
Chapter 11: Relational Patterns and Fulfillment of Needs
Chapter 12: How’s Your Frontal Lobe Doing? and Other Executive Functioning Questions
Chapter 13: Money: Our Unspoken Needs, Beliefs, and Habits
Chapter 14: Spiritual and Religious Beliefs and Needs
Chapter 15: Cultural Influences on Self-Care and Well-Being
Chapter 16: Person-Therapist-Work Alignment
Part III: Intrinsic Self-Care: Soft Strength, Hidden Resilience
Chapter 17: Cultivating Mindful Awareness and Intentionality
Chapter 18: Fostering Acceptance, Equanimity, and Acknowledgment of Impermanence
Chapter 19: Nurturing Compassion
Chapter 20: Encouraging Forgiveness
Chapter 21: Gifting Gratitude
Chapter 22: Inspiring Laughter, Humor, Joy, and Playfulness
Chapter 23: Learning Optimism
Part IV: Extrinsic Self-Care: Powerful Practices, Transformational Habits
Chapter 24: Biological Foundations of Self-Care I: Sleep and Breath
Chapter 25: Biological Foundations of Self-Care II: Movement and Nutrition
Chapter 26: Meditation
Chapter 27: Subtle Energy Practices
Chapter 28: Rest, Time Off, and Recharging Our Batteries
Chapter 29: Supportive Connections and Healthy Boundaries
Chapter 30: Supporting Our Frontal Lobe for Sustainable Self-Care and Well-Being
Chapter 31: Mindful Use of Technology and Media
Chapter 32: Personal Grounding & Growth: Making Space for Creative Endeavors, Self-Growth, and Pursuing Our Own Therapy
Chapter 33: Professional Grounding & Growth: Pursuing Professional Development and Diversity of Experience and Seeking Consultation and Supervision
Chapter 34: Navigating Our Work Environment
Chapter 35: Enhancing Our Workspace for Better Health
Part V: Thriving: Creating Sustainability of Self-Care and Well-being
Chapter 36:  Willingness, Readiness, and Motivation to Integrate Self-Care
Chapter 37: Integration and Embodiment of Self-Caring into Everyday Life
Chapter 38: The Gifts of Stewardship and Paying It Forward: A Communitarian Approach to Helping Our Fellow Helpers
Appendix A: Mindful Self-Care Scale - Clinical version
Appendix B: Selected resources for psychotherapists’ Professional development and well-being
Appendix C: Addressing Our Blocks, Barriers, and Objections to Being Our Own Best Allies
Appendix D: Selected resources for psychotherapists with a highly sensitive temperament
Appendix E: Mindful Check-In
Appendix F: Selected Mindfulness and Meditation Resources
Appendix G: Selected subtle energy resources and practices
Appendix H:  Rapid relief process energy sweep
Appendix I: Selected Self-Care Practices to integrate throughout the (work)day
Appendix J: Mindful Self-Caring Plan & Calendar
Appendix K: Selected resources for healthy habit formation and building a meaningful life
References
About the Author
Index