Discovering Your Brand of Medicine

One conversation changed the way I taught classes, trained staff and organizations and approached my work with clients.

The Crisis of Rigid Models

Students learn to be generalist-eclectic practitioners, where they study the fundamentals of evidenced based processes, assessment and formulation, and the underpinnings of cognitive, dialectical, and behavioural interventions. Well-rounded programs will include information about safe and effective use of self, relationality and professional relationships, trauma-informed practices, somatic-based interventions, and diagnostic understanding. As evidence-based medicine came into focus, psychotherapy quickly followed suit, but the focus has drifted from the original intent of the evidence-based process.

The evidence-based process has become focused only on the evidence-based practice, as if there’s a one-size-fits-all model that works for everyone. For example, hospital and agency programs often water down their treatment (to spend efficiently and to standardize treatment), teaching only coping skills without integrating them into wider therapeutic frameworks or ignoring the contextual aspects of the individual’s life. When skill building isn’t enough and clients don’t improve, our current system labels them as resistant, physicians struggle to find diagnostic clarity, and many people report being dismissed by their health care providers, feeling alone with symptoms that are experienced as real.

I felt stuck and lost because the system seemed to fail people, and the intervention models I had been trained in did not bring transformative change to my clients.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

During this period, I reached out to a mentor who listened and challenged me to face some radical truths about my professional beliefs, attitudes, perspectives, biases, assumptions, and commitments. Once it became clear who I was professionally, I could discover what my brand of medicine was.

Decoding “Your Brand of Medicine”

The theories and modalities that we use come with certain values and assumptions. It is important to understand these underlying assumptions so we can see whether there’s congruency with our own values and assumptions.

Why are you here? Why are you a therapist or social worker? What led you to this profession or field of study? What do you believe about people? The problems they experience?

Reflecting on these questions can help you understand what shapes your orientation to the world but also your practice with individuals/couples/families.

What Shapes My Practice?

Over 20 years of professional practice has required constant training, supervision and professional development, which has included:

• Relational Psychoanalysis

• Developmental Psychology

• Abnormal Psychology

• Jungian Psychoanalysis

• Narrative Therapy

• Attachment-based approaches

• Cognitive and Dialectical Behavioural therapies

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

• Solution-Focused Therapy

• Brief Therapies

• IMAGO

• Tri-Phasic Trauma Treatment

• Forensic Social Work Practice

• Assessment and Formulation Training

• Ecological Systems Theories

• Safe and effective use-of-self

What are some fundamental beliefs I hold because of this knowledge and experience?

1. People are complex, and no one-size-fits-all approach is sufficient

2. My responsibility is to ask good questions that prompt individuals to reflect on their choices, histories, takeaways, and the intersection of thought, feeling, sensation and action and listen so I can best direct an intervention (if required)

3. Firm training in developmental psychology, psychological defence mechanisms and understanding more complex theories about the self are vital to assisting clients in creating meaningful change in their lives

4. The world you live in and the structure of your daily life have a direct impact on your experience of wellbeing and mental health

I’m sure there are many many more beliefs I could list here but it is more important that you refine and understand what your brand of medicine is so you can improve client outcomes, reduce burnout, stay connected to vicarious resilience and create meaningful change in the lives of the people you work with.

Your Self-Assessment

I created a guided reflection process to help the therapists and social workers I work with become clear on how their personal values, beliefs and practices will inform their professional orientation and commitments. Please download your free copy of this self-assessment here.