Additional Thoughts...

What do you need?

Take honest stock of your needs professional. What is most important to you? Status, autonomy, structure and direction, mentorship, flexible hours? As you think about this list of job criteria (and others), is there something you want, but you feel guilty about it? For example, is status important, but you feel you shouldn’t value this criterion? Ask yourself why. If it is a need, why do you feel you should repress this need?

What can you learn from the people in your office?

If you have decided this is where you want to be, and there is not much you can change at present to make it a better fit, then think about what you can learn from the people around you.

Exercise and therapy:

​I am a supporter of exercise in any form (running, walking, swimming, yoga, the list goes on!) Let’s think about when exercise not be enough. If you find relief from the stress, pressure, or emotional load you are carrying during the period of exercise, but then moments later it comes back, psychotherapy may be a good choice. In addition to exercise and psychotherapy, you may want to consider meditation.

Kathryn Dennett Carpenter MAT, LCSW has a background in psychology and art. She conducted 3.5 years of Alzheimer's research with a team at the University of Utah and has published on the aging process. She received a master of arts in teaching and a master of social work. Having worked with the life span (children and elderly), she currently works as an LCSW doing psychotherapy in private practice for adults, and as a adjunct faculty member in the psychology department at Westminster College teaching personality theories and abnormal psychology. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the International Psychotherapy Institute, which promotes a depth psychotherapy approach. You can find more information about her clinical work at  https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Kathryn_Dennett_Carpenter_MAT,LCSW_Salt+Lake+City_Utah_198339.

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