What Helps Associate Therapists Become Effective Therapists?

• Continually studying, learning, practicing, and researching human development, mental health, therapy, and counseling (those that work harder at becoming effective therapists tend to be more effective therapists)

  • See Supershrink article here

  • According to a 2015 article, data revealed the most effective practitioners devoted 2.5 times more hours to deliberate practicing therapy skills and interventions than clinicians with average outcomes vs. engaging in an activity through reading, listening, etc.

  • According to research, length of time as a therapist does not dictate therapeutic effectiveness

  • According to research, longer amount of time in the field can sometimes lead to poorer and less effective outcomes due to lack of continual learning, studying, and deliberately practicing skills and interventions. See The Dunning–Kruger effect

• Passion and commitment for the work

  • Having a why will sustain the work on days it’s hard and challenging

• Asking for feedback from clients (positive, neutral, and negative) and responding and tailoring treatment accordingly

  • What is working?

  • What is not working?

  • Why isn’t this working?

• Asking questions from more experienced therapists and colleagues

• Being honest and authentic to yourself (congruence)

  • It is exhausting putting on a mask, being the therapist we think we “should” be, putting others on a pedestal and comparing ourselves with others

  • There is a sense of ease, calm, and relaxation in being who we are, honoring our gifts, allowing ourself to be imperfect, and showing up as we are in the therapeutic space

• Practicing self reflection and awareness

  • Understanding our own implicit biases, areas of growth/weaknesses, our countertransference,

• Practicing compassion for Self

  • Harsh judgement, repetitive criticism, shaming, blaming rarely helps someone grow, learn, and transform in effective clinicians

• Practicing patience

  • The client sets the pace of change, not us

• Practicing different levels and types of empathy (cognitive, emotional, affective)

• Practicing flexibility

• Practicing teaching and providing psychoeducation to clients

  • A part of therapy is providing education to clients

• Practicing curiosity

  • Endless curiosity

• Practicing assertive boundaries

• Process vs. content

  • Seeing beyond what the client is saying

  • Scanning for the implicit, unconscious, and what it not being said

  • Looking for patterns and dynamics

  • Making connections

• Being really good at asking a variety of open ended questions

• Being really good at active listening

• Being okay with uncertainty, ambiguity, and not knowing all the answers

  • Practice sitting in silence with a client

  • WAIT: Why am I talking?

  • WAIST: Why am I still talking?