Let's make everyday a win ...
go from 'struggle bus' to generating a win / win / win
You became a therapist to touch lives. To make a difference. To guide others through their darkest moments toward light.
But somewhere between the 15-minute documentation requirements, back-to-back client sessions, clinical meetings, client breakdowns and organizational demands, you lost something precious: access to the very presence that makes You possible.
You're not alone. Across behavioral health organizations, talented clinicians are operating from survival mode, doing their best to support others while stuck in their own reactive patterns. The irony is heartbreaking—and it's costing everyone.
The Exhaustion Behind the Expertise
Let me guess: You start your day already behind. Racing through sessions, mentally preparing for the next client while still with the current one. Documentation piling up. The constant inner voice saying you should be doing more, better, faster.
By noon, you're running on fumes. By evening, you have nothing left for your own life, let alone your own healing. You go home depleted, knowing tomorrow will bring more of the same.
You're caught in what I call the "therapeutic paradox"—using your humanity to help others while neglecting your own Being. You're giving from an empty well and wondering why everything feels harder than it should.
The Difference Between Human Doing and Being
Here's what most people don't understand: there's a profound difference between operating from your humanity and operating from your whole self.
When you're in human-doing mode, you're reactive, time-pressured, mentally scanning for the next task. You're managing symptoms—both your clients' and your own. You're surviving the day rather than thriving in it.
When you're clear, you're present, grounded, accessing the deeper wisdom that makes you an exceptional facilitator. You're not just managing symptoms—you're leading transformation from a place of authentic presence.
The change isn't just personal. It's professional. Clients can feel the difference between a therapist who's present and one who's striving to go through the motions.
The Morning Routine That Changes Everything
Start with 5 minutes of conscious transition.
Before doing anything: checking your phone, thinking about your day, getting something to eat or drink—apply these genuine essential oils: palmarosa, frankincense and cedarwood atlas to your belly and under your nose. (work with these oils ~ there are distinct reasons for these essential oil suggestions which I'm happy to explain should you want to know why)
Take this time to reconnect with who you are beneath the character you play at work. Place your hand on your heart. Take three slow deep breaths. Ask yourself: "How do I want to show up today?"
Recommended reading: "Breathe How You Want to Feel"
Cortisol is at its highest first thing in the morning and unfortunately, the cultural ‘get up and go’ amplifies this natural wake up call by hijacking our hormonal system. Changing how you begin your day, changes everything. Use these five minutes to shift your energy and enhance your ability to be a witness to your day rather than be controlled by it.
Between Sessions: The Two-Minute Reset
You have 2-3 minutes between clients. To assist others in their recovery, we must recover. Try this:
Minute 1: Apply one of the oils from the previous suggestions and close your eyes. Feel your feet on the ground. Focus on the aroma. As thoughts come and go, see them as waves floating in and out from shore. They’ve served their purpose and are free to go.
Minute 2: Take three to five slow, deep breaths. With each exhale, feel yourself empty more and more. With each inhale, notice how expansion becomes easier and easier.
Recovery is expansion.
This is exquisite and expansive self-care—you’re retraining your brain to free itself and you from reactive patterns so that you get to feel the peace of inner stillness and clarity.
The Documentation Shift
Documentation doesn't have to feel draining. Again using one of your oils, remind yourself of ‘how you wanted to show up today.’ Play with how it feels to say: ‘I have to do this’ versus ‘I get to do this’. You are contributing to your growth as well as that of other people
What are a few ‘not so pleasant beliefs’ you have about doing this part of your job? Do you see similar beliefs mirrored back to you from your clients? Take this into consideration as you write notes. This is where transformation happens for you both!
You're no longer just recording—you're integrating the session's wisdom.
Lunch: The Sacred Pause
Your lunch break isn't optional self-care—it's a necessary recovery moment. Your clients are putting off cortisol and your nervous system needs time to re-calibrate itself.
Even if you only have 20 minutes, spend 10 of them in ‘recovery mode’, preferably outside. Plants emit chemicals that soothe your autonomic nervous system. Let your mind drift. Don't fix, plan, or process. Clear yourself.
This pause is the oxygen mask—you must disconnect in order to reconnect with yourself so that you can clearly connect with your clients.
Working with Difficult Clients from Clarity
We all have clients who trigger our reactive patterns. The ones who make us want to check the clock, who leave us drained, who seem resistant to every intervention.
Here's the Being-centered approach: Instead of trying to fix their resistance, get curious. What are they rejecting about their humanity?
What if their "difficult" behavior is actually a wealth of information about their survival patterns? How can you guide them to see these reactions as valuable resources for their growth?
As you develop your ability to witness your own humanity, you’re better equipped to assist them with witnessing theirs through compassion and understanding. You’re giving them the gift of safety without being judged or managed. This is the medicine they've been craving!
The End-of-Day Ritual
Before you leave work, take five minutes for conscious completion:
Acknowledge what you gave: "Today I witnessed pain and held space for wholeness."
Release what isn't yours: "I am free of all heavy energy"
Appreciate your humanity: "I showed up imperfectly and that was perfect."
This practice creates closure so work stress doesn't follow you home.
The Neurobiology of Presence
Here's what happens neurobiologically when you operate from Presence rather than surviving:
Your nervous system shifts from sympathetic activation (fight/flight) to parasympathetic restoration (rest/digest). Your heart rate variability improves. Your cortisol levels are down.
But more importantly, your clients' nervous systems respond to your regulated state. Healing happens in the space between nervous systems. When you're present, you create the safety that allows transformation.
This isn't just good for you—it's good for all.
Small Shifts, Exponential Impact
You don't need to overhaul your entire life. You need to reclaim yourself throughout the day where you remember who you are beyond your role.
These micro-moments of Clarity create what I call "neurobiological momentum"—a cumulative effect that elevates your capacity to be present with whatever arises.
The therapist who integrates genuine essential oils with conscious breathing between sessions shows up differently than one who rushes from client to client.
The clinician who takes a recovery break has more clarity for clients than one who pushes through.
The professional who ends their day with conscious completion goes home present to their own life rather than depleted from giving everything away.
The Ripple Effect
When you operate from Clarity rather than surviving, everyone benefits:
Your clients feel the difference between managed care and safety.
Your colleagues experience you as a peaceful presence rather than a stressed influence.
Your organization benefits from a clinician who prevents their own burnout rather than heading toward it.
Your family gets YOU instead of the exhausted shell that work sometimes creates.
The Professional Development You Didn't Know You Needed
Most continuing education focuses on new techniques, updated diagnoses, evidence-based interventions. All important.
But no one teaches you how to maintain access to the presence that makes all those techniques effective.
Learning to operate from Clarity isn't just personal development—it's the most important professional skill you can develop. It's what transforms good therapists into exponential facilitators.
What's Possible
Imagine walking into work feeling grounded rather than anxious.
Imagine being fully present with each client rather than mentally 'running around.'
Imagine documentation feeling like reflection rather than burden.
Imagine going home with energy for your own life rather than depleted from giving everything away.
This isn't fantasy. It's what happens when you learn to access yourself throughout the workday rather than just white-knuckling it until 5 PM.
The Choice You Make Every Moment
Every moment of your day, you have a choice: operate from reactive humanity (which has its place) or clarity.
When you choose clarity—even for seconds at a time—you're not just taking care of yourself. You're accessing the deeper capacity that makes you an agent of transformation rather than just a provider of services.
Starting Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, before you check your schedule or review your notes, take five minutes to remember why you chose this field.
Not the practical reasons or career considerations. The deeper calling that drew you to this work.
That calling is still there, beneath the administrative demands and organizational pressures. It's accessible through the simple practice of remembering who you are when you're not trying to be anything else.
You have the power to Be (Dorothy). You always have.
The question isn't whether you're good enough or doing enough.
The question is: Are you clear enough to access the ability you already possess?
Because when you bring Yourself back into your day, you don't just survive your work—you remember why it chose you in the first place..