Podcast Continuing Education
5 Mental Health Professional Tips for Staying Motivated During CEs
Mental health professionals have to complete continuing education to maintain their licenses and better serve their patients. While this is a regular occurrence, it can still be a stressful experience. Knowing how to stay motivated is key to providing the best care that you can for your patients.
To stay motivated during continuing education, it’s important to:
- Establish achievable goals
- Break them down
- Take planned breaks
- Connect with others
- Remember why you’re doing it
Mental Health Professional Tips for Staying Motivated During CEs
Whether it’s your first time pursuing continuing education or your hundredth, it always helps to review some tips for staying motivated. Knowing the best path forward will allow you to progress naturally and provide the best treatment possible for your patients.
1. Establish Achievable Goals
Having a goal is great, especially when it comes to completing CEs for mental health professionals. By achieving these goals, you will keep yourself in good standing with your state as well as be able to provide better care for your patients. However, your goals may not always align with what your work and personal schedule allow, which can be overwhelming.
As a mental health professional, you counsel your patients on tips and strategies so they don’t become discouraged. That’s why it’s so important to strategize for yourself, which typically begins with setting achievable and realistic goals. By knowing what you can handle and acting accordingly, you can take satisfaction in achieving long-term, steady progression in your career.
Click here to learn about the relationship between physical health and mental health!
2. Break Them Down
Once you’ve established your goal, it’s time to break it down into smaller steps. Creating mini milestones for yourself will help make your CE goals more manageable. Take some time and sit down with your planner or calendar and see where you have free time. Hold yourself accountable by committing to open times to work on your CEs.
Time management is a key part of being motivated and successful no matter your phase of life. Think back to when you and your friends were college students. The skills you used in study sessions to stay focused didn’t just help you to succeed. They helped you to maintain your mental health in the process.
3. Take Planned Breaks
Finding time to rest is just as important as finding time to study. You run the risk of burnout without adequate breaks, which could undo all your hard work and effort. You can prevent this by including breaks as you separate your CE goal into smaller parts. This will give you something to look forward to while studying and help you work hard until your next break.
Planned breaks can be just about whatever you want them to be. Just make sure it’s something that will truly allow your brain to rest, such as:
- Going for a walk
- Stretching or doing yoga
- Calling a friend for a quick catch up
It’s also a good idea to have some boundaries when it comes to your breaks. Some activities may actually pull you out of your study mode, making it harder to get back into the groove. This could include scrolling on social media or watching television. When it comes to what to avoid, you’ll need to examine yourself and determine your personal limits.
To learn the answers to 5 big questions about mental health continuing education, click here!
4. Connect with Others
Continuing education is a fact of life for mental health professionals, but that doesn’t always make it any easier. Staying in good standing with the necessary authorities while expanding your skill set can be hard and isolating work. That’s why it’s so important to stay connected to others during this time. Your friends and family will help you stay grounded and prevent burnout.
Your colleagues are another important part of this process. While friends and family are there for you, other mental health professionals will truly understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Find a supportive group of peers that can encourage you as well as keep you accountable. Having positive people as part of your journey in continuing education may be just the motivation you need to succeed.
5. Remember Why You’re Doing It
Sometimes it’s easy to forget why we’re pursuing a certain goal. As the saying goes, it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. In times like these, it’s important to remember why you started in the first place. Sure, you’re doing it because you have to, but that’s not why you entered the mental health profession. You became a mental health professional to help people.
Continuing education for mental health professionals ensures that you stay on top of the latest developments in your field. This allows you to provide the best treatment possible for your patients so they can live better, fuller lives. So when you’re struggling to finish your next CE, remember the help that you’re providing and how you’re helping yourself.
Find Empathy Makes CEs Easier for Mental Health Professionals
Continuing education can be stressful, which is why choosing a qualified mental health CE provider is so important. At Find Empathy, you can access CEs for treating patients with chronic health problems.
This includes courses on:
Our online courses make the CE process as easy as possible. It’s as simple as listening to a podcast, signing up, and completing the course requirements. A post-test assessment and course evaluation is required to receive full credit.
Are you ready to fulfill your CE requirements with Find Empathy? Create your account today!
Establishing an achievable goal is the first step in completing CEs for mental health. You can break them down into smaller parts to help make them more manageable. Make sure to include time for breaks when planning to avoid burning out. Connect with friends, family, and peers to stay motivated. Remember that everything you’re doing is for the good of your patients.
Find Empathy’s purpose is to empower mental health professionals to better serve patients living with challenging chronic illnesses and medical diagnoses. Through our easy and accessible continuing education courses and credits, mental health providers are able to become medically informed on health psychology topics to help improve patient care and clinical outcomes.
Meghan Beier, PhD
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