Self-Care for Therapists

An honest reflection on self-care for therapists, counsellors and coaches

Joanne Harrison

6/15/20262 min read

A woman looks over a fantasy garden maze during a golden sunset.

Supporting others begins with noticing how we are doing ourselves.

As therapists, counsellors and coaches, we spend much of our professional lives supporting others. We listen carefully, reflect deeply, and help people navigate some of life's most challenging experiences.

This article is not about teaching therapists how to practise. Most practitioners already understand the importance of boundaries, supervision, self-awareness and professional integrity. Rather, it is a gentle reminder that while we are often focused on the wellbeing of others, it is equally important to occasionally pause and consider our own.

The Hidden Weight of the Work

Therapeutic work can be deeply meaningful and rewarding. It can also ask a great deal of us.

While we maintain professional boundaries, some clients and some stories can remain with us longer than we realise. A particular session may stay in our thoughts. Sleep may become disturbed. We may find ourselves mentally revisiting a conversation or wondering about a client's wellbeing.

Rarely does overwhelm arrive all at once.

More often, it develops quietly through the accumulation of many small experiences. One day becomes another. Sessions are attended. Notes are written. Life continues moving forward. Then, sometimes only in hindsight, we recognise how much we have been carrying.

Remembering That Therapists Are Human

As therapists, we are trained to notice subtle changes in others. Yet we are also human.

Like our clients, we can have blind spots. We can become accustomed to carrying things without fully recognising their impact. This is one reason supervision remains such a valuable part of professional practice. Not because therapists are failing, but because therapists are human.

The reality is that no amount of training removes our humanity. We are affected by life, relationships, responsibilities and the emotional demands of our work just as everyone else is.

Restoration Is More Than Self-Care

The phrase "self-care" is often used so frequently that it risks becoming another item on a to-do list.

Yet genuine restoration is about much more than completing a task.

It may involve physical rest, allowing the nervous system to settle, spending time with family and friends, reconnecting with nature, creativity, or simply remembering who we are outside of our professional role.

Through my own experience, I have come to value regular opportunities to step away and recharge. Every twelve weeks I book time away from work. My family knows it is coming, my nervous system knows it is coming, and I know it is coming.

It is not something I wait until I desperately need. Instead, it forms part of the rhythm of caring for myself so that I can continue offering my best to my clients and colleagues.

Of course, what restores one person may not restore another. We are all different. The important question is not how someone else refills their cup, but how you refill yours.