The Thriving Therapist has a simple mission: to help the helpers.
Said a bit more poetically, we aim to ignite mental health professionals' passion and skill to care for ourselves as brilliantly as we care for our clients.
Over the years you've trained extensively in how to best help your clients as they come and go from your life. This is for a good and obvious reason, and it's why we all went into this field in the first place.
But far too often what's overlooked and sometimes outright neglected in the pursuit of helping others is the art and science of helping yourself.
This isn't a moral failing nor is it a matter of not trying hard enough. It's often a matter of where we purposely and compassionately place our attention and energy. It's a matter of mindful awareness and of how we're best using our precious resources.
The Thriving Therapist was created to help preserve and cultivate our sanity, our integrity, and our best selves inside and out of the therapy room. This is for you. It's for me. It's for all of us.
The Thriving Therapist was born, like many things, of serendipity and of necessity.
In 2011, an esteemed former mentor and clinical supervisor, Dr. Erica Wise, approached me to write a scholarly paper on the interaction of self-care and ethics for psychologists for the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. Together with VA psychologist, Clare Marks Gibson, we also co-authored a paper on the application of mindfulness, positive psychology, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to sustainable self-care for mental health professionals.
From these scholarly pursuits emerged a deep interest and curiosity in the lived experience of practitioners - the risk of occupational hazards (like burnout and compassion fatigue) and the preventive forces of self-care and mindful awareness .
But a central question kept returning to my mind: if we can promote self-care and important lifestyle changes in our clients, why is it so hard for us to do the same for ourselves?
Through observation, conversation, and experience, I quickly learned that the barriers to self-care often overshadow the self-care itself.
There are historical, personal, familial, professional, and cultural barriers that can be addressed from multiple angles.
But our empowerment lies within an open and curious awareness of these barriers and of what we truly want and need for ourselves.
The Thriving Therapist is here to meet you where you are and then provide that spark for your own meaningful evolution toward thriving and ease.
Matt is a clinical psychologist, a practicing psychotherapist and mindfulness meditation teacher, and a heart-centered entrepreneur. In 2011, he established a private practice for youth and adults struggling with anxiety disorders and stress-related conditions. During this time, the seeds for The Thriving Therapist were also being planted, and Matt's evolution toward integrating Energy Psychology was also set in motion.
Together with colleague and friend, Dr. Laura Ferrer, Matt also co-founded VitalMind, a self-growth company designed to help parents cultivate ease and resilience through the power of mindfulness.
Matt is a Koru Mindfulness certified teacher and a diplomate of Comprehensive Energy Psychology.
