4Jun

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out New SLP Reduce Stress
Comments Off on

SLP Chronic Stress Pinterest (1)If you are an SLP and starting to feel like you are constantly stressed, and that it just seems to keep building, you might be suffering from chronic stress.

While it would be great to say that SLPs do not suffer from chronic stress, that would be far from the truth for many SLPs, practicing and non. Being an SLP is a wonderful profession and career choice, but it also carries with it a lot of responsibilities each day; ever-changing paperwork, caseloads, and protocols; and requires you to give more of yourself than you might expect to give.

What are the causes of Chronic Stress for an SLP?

Chronic stress is what happens when the daily stressors you face, whether big or small, are left unmanaged over time. They begin to build, until your body and brain are stuck in a “cycle of stress” that has you feeling the constant pulls of stress, as an SLP and outside of work as well. When left unchecked, this chronic stress can grow and eventually turn into full-blown burn out.

It happened to me.

In undergrad, I was absolutely obsessed with what I was learning in my CSD program. Life was good, I had little outside stress and I thoroughly enjoyed my course work. When I went to graduate school, there was a very different vibe – it was much more competitive, while undergrad had a vibe of sharing knowledge. I was also living in a new city, my fiance was preparing to leave the country on a deployment for 8 months, and I was working 5 nights/days a week. I lived alone and was responsible for all of my own household “duties” and errands. I had little to no time for “fun” or going out with friends, or just enjoying the beautiful city I lived in.

Stress started to sink in, rapidly. I felt really disconnected, had little to no passion for my work, and never quite felt like I was achieving or doing anything, especially after years of pushing to get my degree. In the years to come, I never got out of the stress cycle, even when I had more freedom to decide how I ran my days,  and eventually became completely burned out in my third year as an SLP.

I really thought I had chosen the wrong career. No one else I knew seemed to feel this way. Around me, SLPs seemed to be thriving and really “into” their work – staying late and coming in early. I felt alone and isolated, which only fueled my stress more. If I had been able to recognize that I was becoming chronically stressed, I might have been able to prevent burn out and reduce my overall stress levels, breaking out of the cycle of stress.

The thing is, it is really hard to recognize chronic stress for what it is when you are in it, and it can be even harder to explain it to non-SLPs close to you (friends, family, partners, etc), because you feel like they just won’t “get it”. This makes it difficult to work through and to reduce, but once you do recognize it, you can work through it, manage it, and feel that you are finally in control of the stress.

What does chronic stress for an SLP look like?

  • Lack of passion: If you were once really passionate and interested in learning about your career (or future career), but now feel like you don’t want much to do with it, you might be suffering from chronic stress. Chronic stress for an SLP, especially when it is starting to lead to burn out, can make you feel a bit apathetic or disconnected from your work, and often appears as boredom. This can be one of the telling signs that something is off in your work or day, and that stress may be to blame. If you are feeling this lack of passion, try 2 things. First, find some outside hobbies to help you feel engaged in something during your week. This will help some of the stress fade and help you feel more balanced. Once it does, then you can look at your work itself. Second, sign up for some new courses or ask to take on a project that you are interested in at work, in order to start to feel more connected and passionate again. 
  • Pushing through: Chronic stress for an SLP can often time make you have frantic, nervous, hyper energy that keeps you feeling like you need to push through to finish your work. This might look like working up until the point of exhaustion or beyond to get an IEP done or taking on every last patient you can in one day (even if it’s 100% ok to wait until tomorrow). This energy pushed you, but it is not in a sustainable way, and leaves you feeling drained and depleted once you do finish your day. It could also look like showing up early or staying late to finish work, which could lead to feelings of resentment towards your work, or that you’ll “never get it finished”, or just really throw your life out of balance.  If you are feeling this way, make sure to set timers to give you breaks when you are working on projects. Also, set a firm time to leave work (not too late or too long after the end of the day), so you are leaving on time and leaving work at work. 
  • Feelings of isolation: Sometimes, when you know you are feeling stressed, it can make it seem like you are alone. Even though it seems this way, the majority of SLPs, sadly enough, are feeling stressed by their work and the imbalance in their lives. This is true for most other Helping Professionals as well, whether in the education or medical setting. So even though you feel alone and isolated, you most likely are not. To help feel less isolated when you are stressed, reach out to a fellow SLP friend or another colleague and set up a break or coffee date or some kind to talk about your stress. use this as more than just a venting sessions (although that can be helpful to start) and come up with some ways to help each other or to be accountable for each other. Just having someone who understands can be incredibly helpful. And if you are the ONLY SLP at your work, and this leaves you isolated, set up some dinner dates or weekend self-care dates with other SLP friends or people in your area. 
  • Lack of competence and confidence: There are times when you won’t know exactly what to do with a client or student, but those times are rare. Most likely, you’ll need a refresher or to go research something quickly, and be able to treat the patient or refer them to someone else. And if you are the only person they can see, chances are, you do know more than you realize, or you can find the info, to help treat them. SLPs are resourceful. However, chronic stress for an SLP can make it feel like you don’t know what you are doing when faced with a case you are less familiar with, and this stress can continue to grow until it makes you feel like you mist not be a very good SLP. Chronic stress for an SLP can also make it harder to problem solve ad figure out a solution, because stress hijacks some of the problem solving parts of the brain, making it more difficult to work though problems. If you are feeling this way, there are a few thing to do. First, remind yourself that you know more than you think and you are capable of learning even more. Find mantra or have a motto to help you through times like this. Then, you can reach out to a colleague, look through references, or even sign up for some courses to help you learn even more and continue to grow as a clinician. 
  • Changes in your mood: One of the biggest ways chronic stress for an SLP shows up is in your overall mood. When you are stressed, you might notice you feel more annoyed or irritated, you have less patience and you overall have a more cynical attitude or approach to work – or home. Or it might feel like anger, uncertainty or even nervousness, or really any type of change. This is usually one of the first things that people notice when they are starting to wonder about stress. It is also one of the biggest things that seeps out of your work zone and into your family and daily life. If you are noticing that you feel irritated, less patient, annoyed, etc, the best things for you to do are to bring more balance into your life through self-care. Things like meditation, journaling, mindful movement, and reflecting will give you time to take a break from work, shift your focus, and turn your attention inward to work through the feelings and stress that is there. 

Chronic stress for an SLP is something that most SLPs are facing, but it doesn’t have to be something that sticks with you, or that you have to experience as an SLP. Below you can sign up for (FREE) resources designed specifically to help SLPs work through their stress:

For even more insights in to chronic stress for an SLP and what you can do to help manage it, check out these online CEU/CMH courses available now: 

Much Love,

1741931346171517140715

Tags: