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Reading for Joy in Private Practice
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Reading for Joy in Private Practice
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Business of Psychology. This week is only going to be a short episode and it's a little bit of a self-indulgent one from me! For me, a big part of making sure that I always have inspiration for my work, that I feel motivated and like I'm still engaged in clinical psychology as a profession, is about what I'm consuming. When I find a new Substack that I'm really interested in, or if I read a chapter of a book that I've been wanting to read for ages, I can feel that filling up my inspiration cup! When I make the time to do that, I notice that it carries over into my work. I have more ideas, in the therapy room, as well as creative projects. So, I thought what might be useful is to share some recommendations with you for books that I've started and I'm planning to read over the next three to six months.
Full show notes of this episode are available at The Business of Psychology
Psychology Business School: Start & Grow and Coaching
Is this the year that you take your private practice seriously? Maybe you are just starting out or perhaps you want to grow your practice with a team or passive income. Whatever stage you are at, I would love to support you. For new practices, I have our group coaching programme, Start and Grow where you will find all the support, resources and knowledge you need to create an impactful and rewarding practice.
https://psychologybusinessschool.com/psychology-business-school/
For more established practices come and take a look at my coaching for growth packages. I have a couple of spots left for individual coaching so let me help you get 2024 off to the best start possible.
https://psychologybusinessschool.com/1-to-1-coaching-for-mental-health-professionals/
Links & References:
Books:
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
Dare to Lead. Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. By Brené Brown
Very Brief Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (VBCBC) by Windy Dryden
All That We Are Uncovering the Hidden Truths Behind Our Behaviour at Work by Gabriela Braun
What About Men by Caitlin Moran
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Call of the Penguins by Hazel Prior
Can You See Me by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott
The Business of Psychology Podcast Episodes:
Episode 1: Business planning to supercharge your psychology private practice part 1
Episode 8: Get money IN to your psychology private practice: Business planning part 3
Episode 120: All That We Are: Best Selling Author Gabriella Braun
Rosie on Instagram:
Reading for Joy in Private Practice
We've been talking all about fulfilment in your practice and how to make sure that your practice brings you inspiration and professional fulfilment alongside the work life balance that many of us are looking for when we go into private practice, and for me, a big part of making sure that I always have inspiration for my work, that I feel motivated and like I'm still engaged in clinical psychology as a profession, is about what I'm consuming.
Part of the reason, I think, that I don't really hop on board too much with the shift towards very short form content, is because I don't get much fulfilment out of making it, because there's always more that I want to say. Every time I make a reel, I'm always left thinking, but I wanted to put that in, and that in, and that in, and I couldn't say any of that. So, although I might enjoy it in other ways, it doesn't really fulfil me very much. Whereas when I write something on my Substack, or I record a podcast like this, or I do a longer piece for the media, those things feel really fulfilling to me, like I'm putting something valuable out into the world.
Likewise, if I spend two hours consuming short form content, I often just feel sort of frustrated and antsy, and not like I've done anything worthwhile with my time, whereas when I find a new Substack that I'm really interested in, or if I read a chapter of a book that I've been wanting to read for ages, I can feel that filling up my inspiration cup (that sounds so cheesy!) but I think a lot of people will probably know what that feels like.
It might not be reading that does it for you; it might be listening to a really good podcast, or listening to a great audiobook, or it might be watching a TEDx talk, but you know those things where you really feel like you're getting into the meat of an issue, and it just lights up your brain in a different way.
When I make the time to do that, I notice that it carries over into my work. I have more ideas, in the therapy room, as well as creative projects. When I'm in therapy with somebody, if I've been reading something interesting, I'll notice that I think of more interesting metaphors. I might come up with an adaptation to an exercise, which I pat myself on the back for a little bit, because I'm like, “Oh okay, that was a good way of doing that”. It's like the whole creative part of my brain is more available to me. And I'm sure, when you make the time, you will notice that change as well.
For me, it is a big change, because when I was in the first year of my practice, and probably the second year too, I didn't have any time to do things like read. Not really. I might sometimes, out of guilt, scan read a journal article, but it was rare, it was snatched, and I never really felt like I was indulging the creative part of my brain at all. I wasn't reading any novels, for example. And that's because, frankly, I was overworking. And a large part of that is because I was undercharging and because therapy was the only income in my business.
I've talked about that on this podcast before. We've got tons of episodes on business planning, setting your fees and stuff like that, so if you're in that position right now and you're thinking, I don't have any time, then go back to some of those episodes because actually, upping your fees very slightly can free up a slot, which you can then use to fill up your inspiration cup, as I like to think of it.
I really noticed the difference and I thought what might be useful is to share some recommendations with you for books that I've started and I'm planning to read over the next three to six months. I won't get through all of them, it's not my intention to finish all these books within the next six months, that would be wholly unrealistic. But particularly with some of the professional books, the way that I use them is that I'll have them on my desk, and when I've got an hour slot free, then I'll take that time to read a chapter. So, please don't listen to this list and think, ‘Oh my god, she must be reading a book a day’, of course not, I don't have very much time at all. I do have plenty of time for novels because I have a baby that likes to go to sleep with me lying beside her, so from about 7 till 9 every night I'm reading novels. But I don't have loads of time for other types of reading, it's just that I make sure I have a regular slot every week. Maybe an hour, maybe two, where I do some reading and I'll just work my way through these books slowly, depending on what I need and what feels important on that day.
Self-Development Books
We'll start with the kind of self-development one that I have on the go at the moment. I don't think many of you will have heard of this one, but if I have any listeners from other industries who are maybe small business owners in the creative fields, this is a really famous book, but I hadn't heard of it until really recently, when Janet Murray recommended it on her social media. I always trust Janet's recommendations for books because she really knows what she's talking about, so I looked it up and it's called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and it's a self-development book to help you reconnect with creativity, and as you'll have gathered from the focus of this series this is a big priority for me at the moment and it has these kind of core concepts that you go back to every day. And I'll be honest with you, I'm not managing to do it every day because my life doesn't work that way, but you might be able to make it work and if you can, I can see that it would be really powerful. What I am doing is taking what I can from it, and using that as often as I can, and I am noticing some positive impact. For example, one of the things it asks you to do is every day to write three pages of handwritten prose. It doesn't need to be anything enlightened, you can just literally write over and over again, ‘I don't know what to write, I don't know what to write’, but it's the action of engaging yourself in that task every morning. I love journaling, and so I was like, yes, this will be really good for me. But of course, I get up with young children first thing in the morning, I'm solo parenting, so no, I don't manage it every morning. But when I do, I notice my mind decluttering, and I do have a more creative day. So I do it as much as I can.
The other thing that it recommends you do week in week out, is this weekly artist date where you take yourself off to do something that is outside of your daily grind to fill up that inspiration cup in a novel way. Again, I haven't quite managed to do that yet because of the solo parenting and, you know, the struggle is real, but I believe that will be really impactful because one thing I did do over the Christmas holidays is I went ice skating, which was a real luxury. It was difficult to orchestrate it, but we have an outdoor ice rink, and I felt, because it was outside of my comfort zone, really outside of my usual activities, I just really wanted to give it a go, and I felt more inspired and more creative after doing that.
So, I think there's something to it. I'm going to stick with it, even though maybe it's a little bit unrealistic for me to stick to the course doggedly, but I'm going to apply my psychological flexibility and take from it what I can. So that's one that I recommend if you're looking for more creativity in your life.
On the self-development theme, one I am dipping in and out of is Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. I have read this before, and you've probably heard me talk about Brené Brown a lot in the first series of this podcast, because I discovered her in the first lockdown on audiobook and became a bit obsessed and listened to it a lot. I love her stuff, I've already absorbed it all, but this is a really great one to have on my desk to access when I need to engage with the leader within me. As I mentioned earlier in this series, I don't really enjoy the leadership aspect. Sometimes I feel a bit icky, and I often feel very self-conscious when I have to engage my inner leader. So having that book as a support, where I can just dip in and read a chapter or half a chapter when I'm feeling a little bit impostery and a bit like I want to run away from everything, has been really helpful and really supportive. So, I really recommend that one.
Professional Books
So, coming on to professional books, there are three on my desk at the moment, winking at me, making me feel guilty already because I know realistically I'm not going to read three professional books cover to cover in the next six months. But what I am committing to do is to dip in, especially when I've got a client or a project that it's particularly relevant for.
The first one of those is a book called Generation A by Amy Hurley-Hanson, and it's a collection of autism research on subjects relating to autism in the workplace. It’s a massive book and it's one of those books which is a bit of a research compendium. I came across it for an assignment that I was working on for my MBA, and it really got me thinking about the work that I do with organisations and supporting parents in the workplace. I'm thinking about the kind of support that parents of autistic children will need in the workplace and how very often those same parents go on a journey where they then start to recognise their own autistic traits and how they may then recognise that they need further support in the workplace as well. So this is quite a new area of interest for me, but I thought I would start by diving into the research base as it is. This is a really nice up-to-date book that summarises a lot of that, so I'm dipping in to it when I've got time to do so and just letting the ideas from it percolate through my mind, and inform some of the perinatal work I do in the therapy room as well, because these issues of neurodiversity, neurodivergence, they're coming up more and more in my therapeutic work, just as they are in my personal life. So a very interesting one for me at the moment.
The next one, which I suspect I will read cover to cover is Very Brief Cognitive Behavioural Coaching by Windy Dryden. I have read quite a bit of Windy's work before. My coaching supervisor put me onto their stuff quite a while ago, but this is a book which I think I'd really benefit from actually reading cover to cover, because I already offer single session coaching for psychologists and therapists who want to come and maybe fix one very simple and contained problem in their business or their marketing plan. But I've not really considered what I might be able to do from that perspective for parents in the workplace. And in conversations I've been having with organisations, a few people have mentioned to me that they feel that it would be really helpful for parents returning to the workplace to have some coaching around how to look after their mental health in that setting, and I'm interested in that idea, so I'm going to immerse myself in a few more, books and articles around how coaching could work in that way, and I'm going to look into some CPD in that area as well, and think about whether that's something I want to offer or not. I find I'll get stuck in my head and just think about it for hours and hours and hours until I take some action like picking up a new book and starting to really investigate it that way. So, I'm really looking forward to that book and I suspect that one will be a cover to cover for me.
Another one that I'm really interested in, which I'm probably not going to get to until the end of this six month period, but I am really interested in, is EMDR Group Therapy which is edited by Robinson and Kapton. You can only get that in electronic formats in the UK, which is a bit of a downside for me because I find it difficult to read professional books electronically. I'm fine with novels but I do find it easier to read a professional book in hard copy. It was recommended to me by my EMDR supervisor because there's something that I'm working on which is not group therapy, but it is an intervention to support people going through severe pregnancy sickness using EMDR, and one of the concerns that I have is, in certain circumstances, wanting to stop trauma processing from happening, which sounds a bit odd. So, there's something that you can do called EMD, which for those of you who don't do EMDR therapy, you might not have heard of this, but it's where you can desensitise to present day triggers without reprocessing past trauma. So, in theory, this could be a way of giving people some relief who, for whatever reason, it's not indicated for them to go back and do reprocessing, possibly because they don't have access to a trained professional to help them do that. There's been lots of controversy around apps doing EMDR with people, mainly because we're all a bit sceptical of how you could actually stop somebody from going on to reprocessing if you're doing bilateral stimulation. I'm not sure, and neither was my supervisor, so she's put me on to this book...
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