If you have ever heard me tell my “story” of how I ended up quitting being an SLP for nearly 5 years, dropped my license, and let go of my CCC’s, then you know that I often say it was the schools that “broke me”.
I worked in the school settings, after sending 2-3 years in the medical side of things, due to it being the only job available in my area. The school was lovely and my caseload was ok sized – big but not overly so. I took over from another SLP who was leaving to work in a hospital setting, and started with her schedule halfway through the school year. It was a primary school (pre-K thru 2nd grade) and had super supportive admin and staff. And I dreaded every moment of it.
The next school year, I was back on the same campus, but floated between the primary, elementary AND middle school. Again, it was a decent sized caseload and the students were all really great. I had another SLP working with me that I got along with, and the staff was ok to work with. But this is where I ended up leaving.
It wasn’t a big thing, it was a lot of small things that piled up over the year (half of 2 school years) and made me ultimately decide to quit and leave (in my mind forever and ever).
The sad realization is that I am not alone in this. There are a lot of SLPs who are feeling this way or have felt this way, and many do end up leaving or dreading every moment they are there. It sucks for them and for the students. It is especially disheartening when you LOVE the field of Speech Pathology, and enjoy working with students, but the overwhelming amount of “stuff” you need to do each day makes you want to quit.
In my recent interview with the founders of SLP Toolkit (and co-founders of SLP Summit), we talk about how this incredible stress and the desire to quit, despite LOVING the field and working with the students, led them to team up and create something to help other SLPs – SLP Toolkit. While it started as something for their school district, it ultimately became a fantastic tool to help SLPs streamline all of the “other” parts of the job, so they can enjoy the therapy, work with the students, and be the School-based SLP they always wanted to be.
You can check out the episode below or tune in here.
Resources:
If you are looking to dive deeper into managing your stress as an SLP, make sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, enrolling soon for Fall 2020.
You can also check out some FREE SLP Stress Management resources by subscribing to the SLP Toolbox below:
Much Love,
