How many clients should I see in a day? What’s normal? What’s healthy? What’s ‘right?’ I don’t want to burn out and I have bills to pay.
I get torn between wanting to make a good living and wanting to do a good job and – to be honest – it feels like these are two things someone in our caring profession should not have to choose between.
How do I make this terrible choice?
- Torn in Toowoomba
Dear ‘Torn’,
I do understand your dilemma – there are plenty of external pressures on either side of this one, and the struggle is real.
Ultimately, though, if you prioritise making a good living over doing a good job, you won’t be doing either for very long.
We could go 10 rounds on all the reasons your dilemma is valid and all the forces pulling at you from either side, we could also point to research regarding psychologist caseloads that suggests looking beyond number of cases to case complexity and case support as additional important factors in finding this balance, but at its heart this is a question of values, and the way out, my dear ‘Torn’, is through.
A supervisee sent me this fabulous quote by Iain Thomas:
“And every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, “This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what’s important.”
Come back to your central values, dear ‘Torn’ – come back to your vision for your life and your business, and to the place where the two connect: What is your purpose? What are you here to do? See it really clearly. Take your time. Write it, draw it, paint it. Heck, make a diorama or an interpretive dance if you have to.
If you get crystal clear on your vision, it will tell you not only how many clients you should see per day, but what clients and when and where and how to see them, too. And it will tell you when and how to make changes to this over time (because vision is a living thing – it grows, it evolves, if you nurture it).
Clear vision creates clear decision.
Clear vision makes life simple.
And simple is not always easy, but it is clear.
Hope this helps!
PS. If you have trouble finding clear vision for your professional life, good professional supervision can help…(maybe that’s why they call it super vision :D). Seriously, though, you don’t have to go this alone – find an attuned, responsive supervisor who can help you work through these kinds of dilemmas in a vision-consistent way, tailored to you and your values.
If you know you need this, I have a supervision group that directly addresses these kinds of dilemmas and seeks to support therapists in navigating the often tricky overlap between their personal and professional experiences and needs. It’s called ‘Therapist As Instrument: Self of the Therapist and Self Care.’
If you relate to ‘Torn’s’ dilemma or face other similar struggles between your personal and professional worlds, come journey together with me and some like-minded colleagues in group supervision. We’d love to welcome and support you there.
