BY AYESHA HOSSAIN

The novice journey can be very tiring and hard to deal with. The uncertainty of professional work experience is the major catalyst of stress for those that are new to the field of psychotherapy. The key components behind this stress are self-doubt, insecurity, acute performance anxiety, rigid emotional boundaries, the broken and incomplete practitioner-self, glamorized expectations and a dire need of positive mentors.

As new therapists, the initial process mainly focuses on improving their knowledge and gathering data about a wide range of disciplines like psychology, sociology, general human behavior, multiculturalism, anthropology, biology, neurosciences and medical fields. It’s not just about the academic or theoretical approach but rather about listening to people, helping them realize the things they need to work on and change for the better. Therapists are quite often emotionally overcharged since they have so much to work on and that’s the reason why the process can be burdened with depression, anxiety, frustration, doubts and pessimism.

Let’s take a look at the elaborated key-elements given below.

Acute Performance Anxiety and Fear

Initially, the practitioners who start out feel overwhelmed since they lack the professional confidence that buffers the experience of anxiety when difficulties are encountered. They become self-conscious which makes them focus more on themselves while making it difficult to attend to the complex work tasks. It also has a negative impact on their quality of work as attention cannot be directed toward optimally relating to the client which as a result, may hamper his/her reputation. In addition to performance anxiety, new therapists may experience specific fears such as being speechless, with no idea what to say in reaction to a specific client’s concern. Together, anxiety and fear about the unknown are like a one-two punch and can seriously create bigger issues for therapists in the future.

Rigid Emotional Boundaries

There are certain times when the novice therapist may feel lonely due to the work-load and also for not being able to share what happened at work. In order to function optimally, therapists need to have the ability to experience, understand and express emotions at a level that eases their therapy process. It is arduous for the therapist to express emotions as they do not want to disclose their vulnerabilities. Strain and burnout can assist us in understanding boundary problems and boundary regulation. It takes a good amount of time in developing flexible and adaptive boundaries but is not impossible.This skill involves learning to constantly monitor himself/herself. To be more precise, the therapist needs to understand what he/she needs to do to overcome the challenges. 

Broken and Incomplete Practitioner-self

One tends to go through a series of moods as a new therapist such as enthusiasm, insecurity, elation, fear, relief, frustration, delight, despair, pride, and shame. The novice self is broken and, therefore, is highly prone to negativity. Their mind is filled with thoughts of insecurities, anxieties, low self-esteem and depression. They are constantly in a battle with their inner-self with feelings of incompetence, pessimism and dejection. One has to fix his/her insecurities and broken self to thrive professionally in any sector and this can only be possible if the individual is willing to give it a go.

Glamorized Expectations

People often become therapists or counselors to help others in need and to be able to make a difference in the lives of others. We tend to get inspired from our role models that could be our teachers, parents, caring therapists or a nurse who may seem exceptional and so on. These idealized models feed into the idea that glamorized expectations are realistic. A novice therapist is extremely vulnerable since they often tend to measure their professional self-worth closely and coexist with the client's progress level. Sometimes they might set unrealistic expectations 

Without full awareness, the novice often is more hopeful about the impact of his or her efforts than is justified. They experience signs of over-optimism for e.g. If the work is impactful, the therapist will likely feel like a successful practitioner. They may reason: If I am able enough, skilled enough, warm enough, intelligent enough, powerful enough, knowledgeable enough, caring enough, present enough—then the other will improve. And, that’s where they go wrong.

For the therapist, the problem with high expectations, of course, is that they add to the mountain of elevated stressors. You cannot always achieve success for each and every client of yours and this adds on to the stress and pressure of novice therapists who want to have an impact in every session.

The Dire Need of Positive Mentors

New therapists may have the vision but not the knowledge or the tools, and they have feelings of self-doubt and incompetency which is triggering their anxiety, discouragement, anger and frustration. Which is leading to hopelessness, detachment, feelings of isolation and separation and it is causing them to lose their love of therapy and serving others. That’s why there is an acute need for positive mentors who will help them to transform their minds so they can replace their self-doubt with confidence and shaping their lives with positivity. Under the guidance of a mentor, the novice therapists will be able to utilize the tools, people, resources, systems and processes that will help them fulfill their vision of helping a lot of people. 

Although the struggles of the novice practitioner make the early years difficult, professional work as a counselor or therapist can be very positive. In addition, compared to the rapid obsolescence of technical knowledge, counselors and therapists have skills that can increase in value with age and experience and with the help of positive mentors.