Value The Basics, Value Yourself

It’s easy to devalue yourself as an early career psychologist.?

You're new to the industry and trying to find your place. You're looking for milestones and markers that let you know you've made it. You don’t know if you're doing the right things, so it's easy to chase the wrong things.?

I think about how, 17 years ago, I chased complexity in my work as if my basic skills weren’t good enough. I wanted to do things that seemed complex because I associated this with advancement. I looked down on the basics and because I was mostly using the basics, I looked down on myself.

I was convinced that senior psychologists had some sort of special knowledge or skillset that I would get once I left the basics behind. I soon found out they don’t.

Sure, with 17 years of experience, I’d definitely know more than you in a general sense. But there's nothing special about that. Everything I know now was built on the same things you're doing right now - the basics. Without it, my practise would rest on shaky ground and it would be unsustainable.

Don’t believe me? Ask your clients. When you get feedback about what helped you’ll hear this:

“It was really nice to have someone listen for once”

“I appreciated that you weren’t judgemental”

“You were very supportive of me and that helped”

It’s rare to have a client compliment your advanced knowledge of EMDR, ACT, DBT or CBT. No one has ever said:

“Denver all those workshops you attended on ACT clearly paid off. I love how you move between the 6 core processes and make ACT concepts accessible”.?

That would only happen in my dreams. Most often, clients are responding positively to the basics. And they’re doing this because the basics are what work the most.

So if you’re an early career psychologist and want to grow and value yourself in the process, do something that feels counterintuitive. Stop looking so far ahead and instead set your sights a little closer to home. Remind yourself of this - the basics help clients and you’re good at the basics. So when you can start valuing the basics, you can start valuing yourself.