97. This Is What They Didn’t Teach Us About Being an SLP

Ever feel like burnout is just part of the job?

Like it’s normal to be exhausted, behind, and running on empty — because that’s what you signed up for?

Then you've got to hear this episode. 

In today’s episode, I’m getting real about the unspoken culture of our field — the one that trains us to sacrifice ourselves in the name of being “good” SLPs — and why that mindset has to change.

(And spoiler alert: waiting for the system to fix itself isn’t the answer.)

If you’re tired of surviving and ready to build something better, this one’s for you.

In this episode, we’ll talk about:

• Why burnout feels so normal (and why it shouldn't)
• The mindset lies we’ve been taught (and how to challenge them)
• Why work-life balance doesn’t just "happen" — and how you can start creating it
• How to stop waiting for change and start choosing it

Ready to stop surviving and start thriving?
📅 Book a free consult to find out how we can work together — Click here to schedule!

👉 And make sure you’re in the free SLP Support Group for even more resources and coaching: Join the group here!

To find out how I can help you improve your work-life balance, click here.

Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!

Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp

Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Work-Life Balance for Speech Pathologists. I'm Theresa Harp, an SLP and Productivity Coach, and this podcast is all about how to build a successful career as an SLP and still have time for yourself and the people and things you love. So if you're ready to ditch stress and burnout for a more balanced and fulfilling life than you are in the right place, let's dive in.

Hey SLPs, welcome to episode 97. I'm gonna be talking about something today that is probably gonna get me in trouble. I'll be totally honest. This might come back to bite me in the ass. I don't know. But my disclaimer is that everything that I say here on the podcast is a representation of my own beliefs, my own thoughts, my own opinions.

I am not representing any. Other agency, any businesses besides my own, any schools, any agencies, like [00:01:00] anybody else? This is all me, all my stuff. Okay. Just throwing that out there. But I'm talking about something that is, has been on my mind for a while. This is something, this is not something new for me, but this is something that has been on my mind a lot more lately and I'm feeling really.

Strongly about sharing this message with you because I think it's really important. It needs to be said. It needs to be said over and over and over again. Many different ways. Many different times, because you all need to hear it, you need to hear it, you need to take it in. So take what helps you, what serves you, leave what doesn't.

If you feel called out here, notice that and. Let's just see where this goes. Okay. This is pretty much unscripted, but just something that I am kinda going with off the cuff. And basically the [00:02:00] premise of this episode is about our SSLP culture, the culture in our field. Okay? We're talking about something that, in my opinion, starts from the time that we are studying to become SLPs now.

I was going through grad school in the early two thousands, and so this was, is that right? Yeah. So I had to think for a second. So culturally, generationally, things may have shifted. I hope in some ways they have. I do teach. At the grad and undergraduate level, and again, everything I'm saying here, my own stuff, not representing anybody that I've worked for as an employee, as a, as a consultant, as a contractor, whatever.

Okay. So I do think through my teaching roles, I'm seeing some shifts in the [00:03:00] trends, which is great in my opinion, but from my experience over the years. Both personally and professionally myself, and then noticing people around me, colleagues, coaching clients, LPs. I've coached, even PTs and OTs that I've coached.

More OTs than PTs, but that's another story is this culture of, Hey, this field is really a lot. It is high demand. It is. Not high pay. It's the idea that we as SLPs need to give our blood, sweat, and tears to this field, to the people who we serve, to the families of those we serve, to the people that employ us or the people that we contract for.

And that is what is [00:04:00] expected of us. Smile through the burnout. If you wanna cry, go cry in your car, right? Got a big caseload. Well, yeah. Welcome to the club. Everybody has a high caseload. Are you behind on reports? Yeah. Well, everybody's behind on reports, session notes, documentation time. Nobody has documentation time, not paid.

Documentation time. If you are gonna think about saying no to something, you better think twice because people are gonna judge you. People are going to think less of you. It's going to reflect poorly on you, your work ethic, and might negatively impact your career. Any of this sound familiar? And this is, in my opinion, this unspoken curriculum, if you will.

It's essentially something that has been modeled for us and set up from the time that we are in school. Right from the time that we are in undergrad or grads studying to become [00:05:00] SLPs, it is the idea that this is a very demanding field and you need to give your all to the field. And that's been said in so many words.

It's been implied. Without being said, it's been modeled. It's been. Reinforced, and you know what? It's been incredibly damaging. It has resulted in what I see to be incredibly high rates of burnout, stress, overwhelm, anxiety, doubt, terrible work life balance, people putting their lives on hold for. The field.

And if that's what you love to do, if you love to do that, if you wanna work your ass [00:06:00] off and have a massive caseload and give your all, absolutely. By all means go ahead. But I wanna offer that there. Is another way that perhaps it's possible to be a good SLP without sacrificing your own sanity, your own self.

Help. Health, mental health, physical health, self-care, whatever, right? It's okay to prioritize yourself and your needs and the needs of your friends and your family above. Dare I say, your work. It's possible. And it might not be that bad. In fact, it might not even be wrong. It might be okay. So if you are somebody who's [00:07:00] running from session to session, you're just racing, whether it's in the car or in a clinic or in the school, but you are slammed with sessions, you're praying that someone cancels so that you have a minute to pee, eat lunch, maybe.

Scarf down a a bar of some sort. Breakfast bar, anybody. Protein bar. If you're driving all over the GD world, trying to get from session to session, client to client, and you are racing and maybe stuck in traffic and sweating and you know. Only to show up to a session and find out that the family isn't even there and it's another no-show and what in the world is going on.

I just wanna offer that you are not the problem, however. You have to be [00:08:00] the solution. That is the honest truth. That's the hard truth that I don't think many of you want to hear. I know. I didn't wanna hear it. I know I didn't wanna hear it, but I was just waiting for the field to ease up. I was waiting for my schedule to lighten up and things to slow down, but that's not.

The way that it works. No one is gonna come and fix this for you, okay? You're not wrong for feeling this way. You're not wrong for showing up this way because that's what's been modeled for us. That's what we've been taught. But in order for something to change, something has to change, right? Nothing changes until nothing changes, and you have to be the one to change it because let me tell you, the system is not going to change itself.

It's not, no one's going [00:09:00] to just tap you on the shoulder and say, oh, you look like your caseload is pretty full. Let me just take a few clients off of your caseload for you. Would that be helpful? I'm gonna just. Take these clients for you, or, oh, I noticed that you're very behind on your session notes. How about you just show me your data and I'm gonna help you write those session notes.

I'm gonna help you write this report. You know what? Why don't I take this evaluation for you? I'll do it. No one is going to do that. No one is going to do it. Right. Just like no one can prioritize your self care, no one can take care of you the way that you can take care of you. No one's going to say, oh, you look really tired.

Why don't you just leave early, go home and rest. That's just not the way that it goes. You have to do that. If you want that, you have to create it. Okay. And I'll be honest with you, that's not [00:10:00] easy, but it is a hundred percent your responsibility, and that is good news because that means that you can do something about it.

That means that you have the power to change it. We're not sitting here waiting for the field to change. We're not waiting for insurance companies to start finally. Fairly paying us for our services. We're not waiting for schools to adjust the caseloads to reasonable expectations. We're not waiting for any of those things.

We have to speak up for what it is that we want and what it is that we need. We're the only ones that can do it. So if you want things to change, you have to change them. For some reason, somewhere along the way, we just internalized this, this lie, this very damaging lie that we have to give all of ourselves.

We have to sacrifice [00:11:00] all of ourselves to prove that we are good SLPs, to prove that we are committed to the field, committed to our job, to prove that this matters to us. That the work that we do matters, right? That being on our own list is a luxury. If we even make our list, right? This is just what we signed up for.

That's what we tell ourselves. Oh, this is what I signed up for. I knew what I was getting myself into. Wrong because that mindset, oh, this is what I signed up for. This is just what comes with the process, or this is what comes with the territory. That's false. It's not sustainable, it's not beneficial, it's not noble, it's not necessary.

It's not necessary to be a great SLP, and if this field is going to continue [00:12:00] in the direction that it's been going, then we are going to have a major problem. And in fact, we have a problem now. SLPs are burning out at rates that are higher than ever. People are showing up to work, scrambling, exhausted.

Overwhelmed. Just kind of racing from one thing to the next, giving absolutely everything that they have to give until there's nothing left. Right? And we put ourselves last. We put our families last. I'm talking about our own families now, not our clients. We put the people around us. In our home life, personal life last, because this is just what we signed up for.

But you know what? Burnout busy. They're not badges of honor. You are not a good [00:13:00] SLP because you have a massive caseload and you stay late and go to work early, and you see as many cases as you can and you do as many evaluations as you can, and you write as many reports as you can, as quickly as you can.

That doesn't make you a good SLP. It just doesn't. So if that's not the definition of a good SLP, then what is? Well, that's what you have to figure out for yourselves. You have to figure out what matters most to you as a professional and what matters most to you as a human, as a person, because. If you are constantly behind on work and you are staying up late to get reports done, and you are [00:14:00] bringing work home with you at night and on the weekends to catch up, that doesn't mean that you are better.

That doesn't mean that you are a better SLP than somebody else. And let's flip that. Let's flip that on the reverse right? Flip it on its head. If you don't bring your work home with you, that doesn't mean you're a bad SLP. If you don't stay up late to get reports done, that doesn't mean that you're a bad SLP.

It doesn't, but that's what's been modeled for us. That's been what has been expected, what's been taught, right? You have to decide to live the life that you want to live. Prioritizing yourself, prioritizing your wellbeing. That's not selfish. It's a responsibility. It's an obligation. You need to do that.[00:15:00] 

You are the only one who can do it, right? Work life balance. You know, we all say lots of people have lots of thoughts about that term. And I've even said, I hesitate to use that term sometimes because of what I believe is the misperceptions, I guess misperceptions of that phrase, work-life balance, but work-life balance, whatever it means to you, however you define it, it doesn't just happen.

It doesn't happen because you. You choose the right job or you choose the right setting, or because your boss, your district, your private practice owner decides that, oh, here we go. Let me just check the number of hours that you have at work, and let me check the number of hours and responsibilities you have at home.

And let me just balance the scales here. No, it happens because you get really clear about what you [00:16:00] will tolerate and what you won't tolerate. You have to set the boundaries. You have to advocate for yourself. You have to stop apologizing for needing basic human rights like a sick day, right? Or a lunch break or a bathroom break.

That's just human. That's just, that is a right. That is not a reward. Now I am saying this, please hear me. I'm saying this with nothing but love. This is with love. This is from a place of love. It's from a place of support, because if you don't change it, it cannot change. It's not gonna just change on its own.

It's gonna require you to be uncomfortable. It's gonna require you to take action. Guess what? You're already uncomfortable, that difficult [00:17:00] conversation that you're avoiding because you're afraid that you might be judged or that it might reflect poorly on you or your character. You are avoiding it to avoid the discomfort, but you're already uncomfortable right where you are right now.

So if you're gonna be uncomfortable either way, why not prioritize yourself? Why not advocate for what you need? It's what we do with our clients, right? We coach and teach and treat our clients to communicate effectively, to speak up for what they need. To be their own advocates. We need to speak up for what we need.

We need to be our own A advocates. We have to do it. And the good news again, is not only is it our responsibility, meaning it's [00:18:00] we have the ability to do it ourselves, but also as experts in the field of communication. We're really good at communicating. Most of us, this is what we've studied, right? Most of us know how to do this.

We just don't do it for ourselves the way that we should, the way that we need to, but that's okay. That changes. Now you need to choose you even when your brain tells you. That it's wrong, even when your brain tells you that you can't put yourself first, even when your brain tells you that anybody else at your work, everybody else at your work is choosing work first.

And if you choose yourself, then that means that you're a bad SLP. Your brain's gonna tell you all sorts of shit, quite frankly. Pardon the French. That's the [00:19:00] way that the human brain works, and this is the power of coaching. Coaching works through those thoughts. And if you set boundaries, if you say no, if you get really clear on your own values and your own needs, if you start prioritizing yourself, it doesn't mean that you're not doing your job as an SLP.

In fact. What I wanna offer is that it allows you, enables you to do your job as an SLP. Even better. It allows you to show up as the SLP who loves the work, who is connected to all of the reasons why they got into this field. Who's showing up for the reasons that matter. Showing up because we love what we do.

Not showing up because we feel like we don't have a choice. That's what's possible when you start to make these shifts, when you start to set the boundaries, when you start to identify what you need [00:20:00] and you honor it, that's what's possible. It doesn't make you a bad SLP, it makes you a better one. It makes you a better human.

It's just like those stupid cliches that you've all heard, like can't pour from an empty cup and put your own oxygen, oxygen mask on first. You know what I'm trying to say. Right. We've heard all of that and I know there's super corny. I know it's annoying. I know some of you are hearing it and rolling your eyes, but some of you are hearing it, I hope and saying yeah.

That's right. I have to put my own oxygen mask on first. If I wanna be able to help anybody else. I've gotta do it for me first. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. This is why I built my coaching practice. This is why I started doing what I'm doing. Actually, let me just.

Let me clarify that a little bit. It's, [00:21:00] it's not why I started. I started coaching. I was interested in maximizing my time and creating systems and processes and managing my time at work so that I could have more time at home. But where, where this led, what it evolved into was, oh my gosh. Even when I do that, even when I have those systems in place, I still feel crappy as an SLP because I still feel like I'm not doing enough.

I still feel like I should be doing more. I shouldn't say no to this family who needs services, even though they want services only at the time that I cannot provide because I'm with my family, right? All of those things will still show up. All of those things. Those challenges, those issues will still be there.

But coaching is what helped me learn how to manage it. Coaching is what learned me. It taught [00:22:00] me how to, how to handle it, how to address it. Like I say to my coaching clients all the time, the goal here is not to. Erase these issues from happening. That's not realistic. It's not the goal. The goal is to change the way we respond to these challenges, change the way we think about it, change the way we respond, be able to work through the mind drama that we all have more quickly and more effectively.

That's the goal, and that's what coaching does for you. It helps you manage your mind and your time so that you have whatever your definition is of work-life balance. Instead of just pushing through, just push through, just spring break, just push through to the end of the month. Just push through to the end of the school year.

And you know what happens? The end of the month, the end of the school year comes and nothing changes. [00:23:00] You haven't changed. You're waiting for the circumstances to change instead of changing the situation now, and who wants to live their life just getting through. I know I don't. I've lived that way for a long time.

I definitely still come up against this where I have to really work through it mentally and emotionally, but that's the thing. The thing about coaching is not about changing the circumstances. It's not about making these problems disappear. It's about knowing how to handle them right, knowing how to handle them.

That's where the freedom comes. So if you are ready to stop waiting, stop pushing through till the end of something that never actually comes, and you're ready [00:24:00] to start making changes now, then book a consult. Book a free consult and we'll talk about how you can start changing your thinking and changing your time, your energy, your work life balance right now.

You don't have to do it alone. You don't, but you do have to decide that you're worth it and that you are ready and willing to change it. Alright, I'm getting off my soapbox. I hope that this was helpful. Pop into the SOP support group for more content just like this. And like I said, if you've been thinking about this for a while, if you are ready to be the change, instead of waiting for the change, book a consult and I'll walk you through it.

Alright, that's it for today's episode. Talk to y'all soon. Bye.