The life of an SLP – bringing work home, staying late, going in early, taking on way more than is possible (not always by choice), never feeling like you did enough, always having more work to do, working on weekends, bringing it home (to either work at night or feel guilty about the pile of papers still in your bag)…and the list goes on.
Yes, there are also super enjoyable and rewarding parts of the job as well.
Things like, helping people communicate more efficiently and with function, educating families and providers and educators on the best practices and the ones that remember to bring humanity back in, that moment when you see the student or patients hard work pay off and they reach that big goal. The feeling that you made a difference in the world and that even bigger feeling that the person you work with is making a difference in the world.
And, sometimes, it’s just fun. It can be a really fun profession to work in.
You can sing songs with kids, have dance parties to follow directions, play silly games, read and make-up stories, and have conversations with adults about alllllll kinds of things while working in their communication.
Unfortunately, those parts that are super hard often outweigh or start to erase the other pieces.
For one – it is how your brain is wired. You are automatically going to look for the negative and the challenge (without looking for the opportunity to grow), and start to focus more and more on these things. It does not mean there is something wrong with you, it is the way your brain tries to protect you and alert you to potential stress and threats that could harm you. But really, its the constant alerts that do the most harm – keeping your stress response turned up and leaving you in a constant state of stress, overwhelm, and , eventually, burnout.
So what can you do to make it better?
This like advocating, changing the system, reworking policies, and the like are always hot topics and ABSOLUTELY need to be done. BUT there will still be stress in them. The real thing to do – so that you can be grounded and ready to take those bigger actions – is to start managing and turning down the stress response, so that you can start to see not only the negatives and challenges, but those good and beautiful pieces again.
A super helpful way to do this, and to create much more ease in your day, is by creating better boundaries as an SLP.
The lines of work and home are often very blurred for SLPs, due to the nature of the work, the workloads that many face (especially in the school systems), and the need to so it *perfectly* or fear that you are not enough (aka Imposter Syndrome, which runs wild in our field – thanks grad schools!). It is more common than not to bring work home or stay late, to work outside of your paid hours, and to not feel you’re able to say “no” – or just not be used to saying “no”, so it is really hard to do.
All of these breakdown any boundaries that help you have time to shift your brain to new things, process your day, and work through the stress, while finding time for joy, hobbies, and just life that is not revolving around being an SLP.
Setting up better boundaries can help you to find the space for other parts of your life again.
Here are 3 Types of boundaries to set as an SLP (and human!):
Physical Office Boundaries:
This is important if you share space or if you are working from home. Having a physical space that has a literal boundary is incredibly important. As SLPs, we like to joke about how we often have a closet, corner or a room, or shared space of 3 SLPs to do our work in, and we joke, because if we didn;t, then we would probably break down. It is really, really hard to do your job without a proper space. But it is also really hard to set boundaries of “sorry, I am unavailable” or “I am working on something and can;t talk right now”, or just having some quiet time to think.
If you are working from home, make sure you have walls and a door, so you can do the work. And, if this is not possible, set up some kind of partition or divider, so you can have more of a room to work in. It helps to send the message of “this is my (sacred) space, you need permission to be here”.
And that, OMG, is a huge thing.
Emotional/Mental Boundaries:
The biggest part of this is being able to set boundaries that help with your mental health and emotional needs – specifically setting the boundary of “No”. This can seem really hard to do, and it is. You are probably not used to being able to say no in your work (again, thanks grad school), or letting someone know that it is not something you want or realistically can do.
I get it. As an SLP, there are so many things that contribute to wanting to say yes to everything. Not wanting to disappoint or upset someone, not wanting to admit you can’t do it (perfectionism), not wanting to seem weak, fear of being fired, wanting to prove our profession is just as amazing as others, not wanting to be overlooked so you do it all to please everyone.
But saying “No” is a huge boundary that does one thing – creates more space.
By saying “no”, you set a boundary that protects your mental health, by reducing stress and the overwhelm of taking on more. It also gives you more room emotionally to recharge and process your day. And it frees up time for really focusing and delivering on the things you are already doing.
And, saying “No” is the best way to advocate. If you take it all on, then it becomes expected of you and other SLPs to do the same, and then take on even more.
PS If you fear saying “no” because of being fired, you should probably get out of there now. It’s toxic, not worth your time and effort, and there are other places to work that would honor and support you.
Schedule/Day Boundaries
When I worked in teletherapy, I once had someone say to me “Isn’t it great you can take your work anywhere?:
I heard this a LOT when more people started working from home, and especially over the pandemic.
And, yeah, at first that sounds great. You could go on endless “vacations” or travel, and at least in the fantasy world. In reality, it means that when you do go on a vacation, you are still working, not really on vacation, and your home-work boundaries get blurred. So there is no break, no breast and no recharge – just the added stress of everyone else checking out for vacation while you sit in a hotel room and type on your computer, or stay up until 11:45pm working after a day of fun.
This happens on a smaller scale in your daily routines, and this is perhaps where it builds even bigger. Taking work home, going in early or staying late, not getting paid for the work outside of therapy time. All of this blurs the lines of work and home, and makes you feel like you are constantly working and constantly underpaid, with no breaks, no rest, and no time to process. This is where stress breeds.
Having boundaries of “this is when I work and after this, even if I am not done, I don’t do more” is a necessity to make it, to survive, and to thrive as an SLP.
It is so important to set some boundaries as an SLP. Focus on these each week, month or school year, however works for you, and stick to them, knowing that you will only feel better about the work because of it.
If you are feeling more and more stressed from your work, or that there is not a lot of time when you are NOT working, try looking at your current boundaries.
Where are the lines between work and home blurring? Where can you make some adjustments?
Then start to put them into practice by taking action – write it down, let someone know if needed, and mark your calendar or set up some reminders.
It will be challenging at first, but this is the type of challenge that helps you stretch, grow, and come out the other side stronger and steadier.
What boundary are you most struggling with? Share in the comments!
Want more tools to help you manage and reduce your stress? Check out the FREE resources in The Resilient SLP Toolbox. You can subscribe below by filling in your name and email, and you’ll get instant access to a library of audios, videos, and more to help you better manage and reduce your stress.
With love and light,
Jessi