Part 2: Why It’s Vital to Take PTO as a Therapist and Mom
When was the last time you actually took SCHEDULED time off work?
Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Just take a little looksee through your phone. Calendar. SimplePractice calendar. Are you calling your mom?!
Yeah, I can wait a bit longer.
Can I have some water please!? (hee hee…but am I exaggerating?)
I get it. Taking time off is scary when you’re a Therapist.
When you’re working in community mental health, it often doesn’t do you any good. The shitshow you come back to quickly undoes any good gained from having a few days off.
And if you’re in private practice, who’s gonna pay you? Certainly not the insurance companies! And it’s overwhelming (not to mention not great patient care) to cram a week’s worth of clients into 2 or 3 days just to have a couple of days off. You’re exhausted by the time the vacation days roll around and you’re struggling to enjoy them.
I have dealt with each of these situations over the years.
Who am I?
Hi! I’m MacKenzie, your Self-Care Mompanion. I’m a Therapist and Mom, too. Over the past several years I’ve been working hard to embrace who I am as a Therapist and Mom. I’ve been challenging the societal norms of each role. Something that has helped me tremendously is finding groups of like-minded Therapist Moms to give/get support.
I wanted to bring these women together physically and online so I created TheraMama Haven where I’m dedicated to supporting Therapist Moms like YOU.
Keep reading as we continue to look deeper into this series on PTO. We all know we need to take time off. And it’s so easy to forget how much we benefit from it.
There Are Many Reasons We Take Time Off Work As Moms.
The sad reality is that not many of the reasons are solely for us. These reasons can range from
sick
kids
travel to see family
vacation
holiday
staycation
self care / personal growth & development
I encourage you to think for a few moments about which of those categories gets the majority of your days off?
Which One(s) Truly Benefit You?
If we had to guess, wouldn’t it make sense that you taking time off is due to something regarding your kids? It’s rarely because we’re sick ourselves. Hell no, we work from home in between coughing and naps. But if our babies are sick, we move people to other days and cram them in to where we barely have time to pee.
Or we might change some people around if we’re going to be helping at a party or field trip.
And if we’re traveling to see family, we might work while we’re there…depends on the visit.
Then there are the holidays. Well, the kids are off school so that makes sense that we’re also home. Maybe we’ll throw in a sesh or two here and there, if we can.
Why would we take time off for a staycation? That’s lunacy.
Probably no to the self-care and begrudgingly we’ll take time off for the CE requirements, but mostly because we have to in order to keep our license.
Changing Our PTO Mentality
In Part 1 of this series, we talked about how actually using your PTO can help combat burnout, create more fulfilling time with your family and improve client care. Those are three excellent reasons to make PTO a pretty active part of your schedule. So what keeps us from actually taking the time off?
I want to hear from you on this. Please head to FB or IG or send me an email and let me know what is keeping you from taking well-deserved time away from the office.
If I had to guess, many Therapist Moms feel like they are letting their clients down by not being there for their sessions. Followed by a mentality of “if I don’t work, I don’t get paid.” While that latter statement is true, that doesn’t mean we need to tie ourselves to our chair and plan to die there. We still need to take care of ourselves.
I firmly believe in the reasons I returned to private practice, which was to be more available to my daughter and husband.
To not work for people who don’t even know what my job really is anymore.
To be in charge of my own schedule and keep as much of my own money as possible.
So why would I jeopardize my dream business by burning myself out and not being at my best for my clients…who are the ones who make my dream business run? Seems kinda counterintuitive to me.
Stay tuned for Part 3 where I’m going to share with you my key to making sure my PTO is actually that…PAID!
Here's how you can work with me:
Check out Journey to Self-Care Journaling Workbook to get started on your own self-care journey.
Schedule a Consultation. Reach out for a consultation where we can discuss your specific challenges and goals. I offer individual therapy as well as coaching to fellow Therapists.
Join my FB Community TheraMamas Who Mimosa.
