Why Healthcare Professionals Avoid Therapy (even when they really need it!)

I love working with healthcare professionals in therapy. You are bright, engaged, and passionate about helping others. However, I’ve noticed that doctors and nurses tend to wait a long time before getting help themselves! If you’re like most healthcare professionals, you may have been considering therapy for many years–but for one reason or another, you just haven’t gotten around to it.

I specialize in helping healthcare professionals, so I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why a doctor or nurse waited so long to seek help. If you’ve been thinking about therapy for a while, take a look at some of the common reasons why healthcare professionals avoid therapy – and then see what you think of my response.

Top 5 reasons healthcare professionals don’t seek help:

Number One

“I learned all about this stuff in school—I can’t imagine there’s much someone can tell me that I don’t already know.”

You probably do know quite a bit about mental health – but knowledge is only half the battle. Just as a brilliant heart surgeon could not safely open their own chest and treat her own heart problems, an expert on mental health cannot cure their own suffering. Knowledge is key–however so is perspective. Oftentimes when the issue is inside of us, we simply cannot see how to appropriately use the knowledge we have.

We all need outside help sometimes – to help us see our blind spots, to share new perspectives, or to challenge us to work on areas we might otherwise avoid. That is what a trained and skilled therapist can offer you. They can see with clarity and precision what may be going wrong and the most appropriate way to fix it.

Number Two

“I may be miserable but in the scheme of things, its no big deal. There are people out there that have much bigger problems than me. I’m not going to waste a therapist’s time talking about my  stupid issues.”

Imagine this—a patient of yours is in a lot of pain. Instead of coming to you, they wait days, weeks (maybe even months) trying to “tough it out.” Finally, they come to see you when the pain becomes absolutely unbearable.

Are you glad that this patient waited until their pain was a “big deal?” Or would you have wanted them to come in as soon as they noticed a problem?

In the same way, I don’t want potential clients to wait until they’re in a crisis before seeking out therapy.  It’s not up to the patient to determine whether the severity of their symptoms is worthy of medical attention. If a patient is sick, injured, or in pain – they deserve your care. And if you are sad, anxious or struggling – you deserve care just as much.

Number Three

“With my work schedule, there’s no way I’d have time.”

I know, your schedule is impossible and it’s hard to imagine fitting in even one hour a week to take care of yourself.

But just imagine – what if you had some painful disease (let’s say stomach ulcers) that caused you constant pain.  (I know, its a dramatic example and you may be thinking “Geez, its not THAT bad”—please see #3 above). Then imagine how much more efficient and productive you would be if you weren’t battling that constant pain. Taking a little time out to get treatment would let you accomplish far more than if you kept forcing yourself to ignore the pain.

The same principle holds true for mental health problems. It’s not easy to make the time to go to therapy. But when you do, it makes everything else easier.

Number Four

“Lots of other people do my job, and they don’t seem to be struggling. Nobody else seems to need any extra support so neither do I.”

It’s very common for me to hear one of my clients say “I think I’m the only one at work struggling with this.” Little do they know, I’m seeing many of their colleagues for similar issues!

As you well know, seeking therapy comes with quite a lot of stigma among some healthcare professionals—and consequently many of you don’t tell each other that you’re in therapy. Chances are if you’ve ever thought about therapy, several of your colleagues have too.

Besides, if you were the only member of your team that had a broken leg, would you insist on avoiding treatment? Even if you were the only one struggling (and trust me – you’re not), it shouldn’t matter. If you’re struggling, you deserve help.

Number Five

“There’s no way someone that hasn’t worked in healthcare could possibly understand what its like or have any way to effectively help.”

You absolutely deserve to work with a therapist who understands life in the medical field. That’s why I specialize in helping medical professionals – because I do understand what it’s like, and I want to help.

While I’m not a medical professional myself, I worked alongside doctors and nurses at a large public hospital. I saw firsthand how hospitals can sometimes resemble a war zone. Everyone is doing exactly what they’re supposed to AND nothing can be done to stop a tragic thing from happening.

I witnessed colleagues bottling up experiences because of the fear that telling their spouse or friends would cause those people harm.

I can assure you, there is nothing you can share with me that will stun or traumatize me. I have the experience and training necessary to truly comprehend where you are coming from—so you can spend less time explaining yourself or worrying about me, and more time healing and moving forward. 

If you hear yourself in any of these common reasons listed above, I hope you will consider reaching out anyway. Together we can determine how to most appropriately support you. You’ve waited long enough.