The end of one calendar year and beginning of a new one is a natural time for mental health providers to slow down, sit down and reflect on a few key areas that affect our professional development. I have identified five year-end considerations for mental health providers, although I acknowledge that everything on this list can be (and perhaps should be) considered throughout the year.
As I sit down to write this post, I realize there are now only 24 days left in 2016. In the midst of managing the day to day tasks of taking care of my family and my business, it seems another year is quickly coming to a close. As we near the end of the year, I have been reflecting on the past year and what is coming up in 2017, both personally and professionally. This list of year-end considerations incorporates much of what has been on my mind professionally.
Year-End Consideration #1: Finances
The end of the year means that tax season is just around the corner. It is time to start gathering and organizing all of the documents we will need for taxes. As you take a closer look at your finances, I encourage you to consider the intersection of your professional goals and your finances. Consider the following examples:
- If you are a student nearing graduation or a recent graduate working on acquiring post-graduate supervision; how many supervision hours would you like to get in 2017 and how will you budget for the cost of supervision?
- If you have plans to launch a private practice in the coming years, how does that affect your financial picture right now?
- Would you like to attend a “big” training you want to attend in 2017 to build a specialization and how does the expense for this training fit into your budget?
Year-End Consideration #2: Continuing Education
I am a strong advocate for being purposeful in thinking about how we spend our time, energy and dollars when planning for our ongoing learning. It is easy to spend a lot of money and time on continuing education courses and it is so disappointing when we find that they don’t meet our professional needs. When attending conferences, I’ve made the mistake of attending sessions that I thought I “should” attend versus focusing on what I was really interested in or would have been the most valuable for me. It is also easy to miss out on a wonderful learning opportunity because we didn’t plan ahead enough in order to take the time away from work or to cover the expense of the course.
Continuing education is one of my year-end considerations because now is the time to start planning for 2017 continuing education in order to make sure we get what we want and need out of our continuing education in the coming year. A couple of questions to consider as you look ahead to continuing education in 2017:
- What are you interested in learning about in 2017?
- What do you need from your continuing education in 2017? (hours, topic, etc)
- How do you want to grow as a mental health provider in 2017?
Year-End Consideration #3: Documentation
Yes, many mental health providers are not a fan of documentation, but it is certainly a necessary part of our work. I personally like to use November and December as an opportunity to take a look at where I am at with any outstanding documentation and make a plan of attack to get caught up on my paperwork. If possible, I like to start the new calendar year with all of my documentation in order. For example, I am a person who stays pretty caught up on my session notes, but I recently realized that I had fallen behind in closing out older files in the timeframe that I prefer, so I set up a plan to get caught up with all of my closings by the end of the year.
This is also the time of year that I encourage mental health providers to examine whether they may want to revise their routines around documentation in the new year in order to establish systems that make it easier to stay on top of paperwork.
Year-End Consideration #4: Goals
There are a variety of types timeframes that can be used when setting professional goals including; weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual goals. It is important to figure out what type of timeframe for goals work best for you. For purposes of this post, I’ll be focusing on annual goals. The following questions may help you reflect on your goals:
- What were your goals in 2016?
- What progress was made on your 2016 goals?
- If you didn’t complete all of your goals this year, what were barriers to completing your goals?
- Are there any loose ends that you need to tie up on your 2016 goals? Anything to carry over into 2017?
- Where do you want to focus your energy in 2017? What goals would you like to set in 2017?
- What information, support and resources do you need to accomplish your goals in 2017?
Read more about setting professional goals here.
Year-End Consideration #5: Self Care
I think most mental health providers would agree that self care is something that we should be mindful of all year-round. But, since I have your attention, I thought I’d throw out that gentle reminder here, too. I love Laura van Dernoot Lipsky’s work on Trauma Stewardship for the guidance it has offered me in figuring out how to take care of myself while supporting others.
So, now you know the five year-end considerations for mental health providers that I identified. What did I miss? What else do you consider important year-end considerations for mental health professionals? What is on your mind at this time of year? Feel free to leave me a comment below.
Sarah