Why are there so many disengaged therapists?

As a Clinical Psychologist, occasionally I meet another therapist who blows my mind with their level of interest and commitment to their craft.

But I’m also painfully aware that many therapists are doing the bare minimum.

They’re getting by and are capable, but seem disengaged. Why?

Because they’ve lost a sense of urgency, purpose and intentionality in the work they do.

They are no longer scientists—motivated by cause and effect—and the pursuit of progress. This is true even though they may technically believe in the scientist-practitioner model, which we all heard so much about at uni.

I’m not blaming them. And in fact, I’ve been there myself.

But this isn’t the way forward. When you’re just getting by, it usually isn’t long too long until you burn out.

And that’s why we need a system for continual improvement, one that inspires us, builds our confidence and keeps us accountable—day in, day out.

We need to attempt new and radical therapy interventions, push the limits, innovate and most importantly—RECORD EVERYTHING.

We need to attempt new and radical therapy interventions, push the limits, innovate and most importantly—RECORD EVERYTHING.

Because if we didn’t record, it never happened. And our working memory isn’t large enough to store the results of every experiment we try.

And that’s why we’re no longer experimenting.

And why we feel demotivated.

So let’s start building our own system of experimentation—one that will allow us to try new things, capture the results, and iterate.

We can use a spreadsheet, build an app—or let Measurely take care of it for you.

But we should be able to capture our overall treatment outcomes, feedback and the approaches we have used with each client.

This will be a clinical portfolio—to rekindle our scientific flame and keep it burning.