Self-Care for the Therapist: A Schema Therapy Approach by Dr Gemma Gladstone

Self-Care for the Therapist: A Schema Therapy Approach  by Dr Gemma Gladstone

Location: Novotel, St Kilda, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Date: 5^th October, 2018

Time: 9 am – 4.30 pm

CPD: 6

Cost: $ 320 + GST

Trainer: Dr Gemma Gladstone – Advanced level schema therapist, supervisor/trainer & Clinical Psychologist.

Website: www.sydneyschematherapy.com.au

Workshop Description:

You are invited to take some time out from your busy life of giving and healing to create a pause and reflect on how your work as a therapist affects your personal well-being and your on-going effectiveness as a mental health professional.  In this one-day workshop we examine self-care as a personal and professional imperative and examine how our own schemas and modes can influence how we practice as therapists.  We will look at the micro and macro-level strategies a therapist can use to avoid burnout, compassion fatigue (or in fact empathy fatigue) and vicarious trauma and the factors that are internal and external to the therapist that contribute to these experiences.  Both the Person of the Therapist and the Work of the Therapist can place enormous strain upon the individual who listens and bears witness to the pain and suffering of others.  Having such a role means that the therapist is exposed to content that many people simply never encounter.

The workshop incorporates the recent developments in the field of compassion/self-compassion research and examines how we can use these approaches in a practical way to reduce emotional burnout and distress.  The work of the therapist is not only challenging in terms of exposure to stressful material, but also in terms of dealing with the complexity of clients themselves - often managing tricky personality presentations and counter-transference dynamics.  Thus the therapist must manage themselves, the content and the client.  Without a dedicated approach and priority towards self-care, it is hard for the therapist to remain buoyant amidst the multitude of challenges the work can present.

We will explore:

1.Which of your schemas or modes interfere with how you work as a therapist & interfere with your ability to meet your own needs.

2. How you can take care of yourself when confronted with clients’ anger & angry responses, over-compensating modes, distressing histories, expressed hopelessness and other difficult experiences.

3. Old beliefs from your ‘inner-critic’ which might still dictate the way you see yourself or the way you work as a therapist.

4. How you can use self-compassion practices to make a real difference in your life.

This event is suitable for therapists and mental health professionals at any stage of their career.  The workshop will provide: practical strategies for safeguarding yourself in your sessions, experiential exercises, case discussions, therapist self-compassion practices, useful tools to help you assess & address your trigger points (schema activation in session) and opportunities for self-reflection and small group work.