SLP stress in grad school (and beyond) can be some of the toughest, and longest lasting, that you face in your career.
When I was in undergrad, as a CSD major, I was absolutely in love with the field of Speech-Language Pathology. It was like a door has been thrown open and I had stepped into this amazing world where changes were being made in people’s lives, there was so much to learn and do, and opportunities seemed endless – to learn, grow and create a life as a future SLP. I was so in love with this field, that signed up for extra observation hours beyond the 25 hour minimum, and I raised my GPA from nearly losing my scholarship (because I just didn’t care enough about my classes to go to them before) to graduating with honors, a semester early. I was hungry to learn more and wanted to learn it as quickly as I could.
Grad school – not so much.
For me, this is where my chronic stress and burnout began. The program was amazing and I am so grateful for it and all I learned there, but, it had the typical hyper-competitive culture that so many programs lean into, and was the opposite of my undergrad. It was drilled into us, as it is/was in many programs, that this was now the main focus of my life, nothing else was as important, and only the best and perfect was acceptable. It sucked the passion out of me nearly immediately and was the beginning of leading me to quit for nearly 5 years, claiming I would never be an SLP again. (Which, of course, I came back to eventually when I started using tools that healed that stress and burnout).
It is why I was so thrilled to “meet” and find Kate Van Vuren, an SLP that also felt some of that stress and pressure in grad school, took steps to manage it right away, and now helps other future SLPs, CFs and CCC-SLPs to take the pressure off and love their lives in and out of work again.
And it’s why I am so excited to share parts of her journey and wisdom in this episode of the SLP Stress Management Podcast!
Kate Van Vuren is a licensed speech-language pathologist working to help women reduce stress and increase their energy through sustainable lifestyle change to thrive professionally and personally.
In this episode, Kate shares some of her own journey with stress as an SLP, how she made the decision to shape her job around her lifestyle, and how and why we need to change the competition culture of grad school.
You can tune in below or check out all the episodes here: SLP Stress Management Podcast
More resources from Kate:
If you are ready to finally be DONE with the constant battle of stress as an SLP, check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, an 8-week online course designed to help you manage stress, reduce burnout and find more balance in your life, no matter what gets thrown at you (teletherapy, pandemic, paperwork x 1000, you name it).
Much Love,
