What’s in my Therapist Bag?
Put your hand up if you’ve binged “What’s in my bag?” YouTube videos for more hours than you care to admit? Guilty. I even take it a step too far. I’ve watched people give me tours of their closets, bathroom drawers, heck, even their nightstands. I’m not ashamed of it, and neither should you.
I thought about what it would be like to film something like that for my own bag, but the contents come up disappointing and pretty blah. Wallet, sunglasses, extra face masks, that one envelope from March that I think is important (but its not), and keys. The video would have been over before it even started.
However, in my most recent supervision meeting, I had a light bulb moment when one of my peers was asking for feedback regarding a client and explained that she was running out of things in her therapy bag. My ears perked. What’s a therapy bag? She explained that it’s basically a fictional tool kit that therapists commonly carry into their sessions. Items can be theoretical, logistic based, and personal. Here’s what’s in my therapy bag in any given session
Clock/Sense of Time: Sessions are 50 minutes in duration. In this 50 minutes, I am conceptualizing how to carry this conversation, how far, and if the conversation is relevant to pre-established goals. I am constantly mindful of how long we’re spending on a topic, where I want to take this conversation, and how to build on skills or knowledge that have been discussed before. That being said, we do practice discretion, never to rush the conversation and always allowing the client to express themselves, but trying to cram everything in 50 minutes can sometimes be a tall older especially for clients who have a lot to get off their chest or try to be as detailed as possible.
Open-ended questions: And then I have clients who don’t say much in session and look to me to keep the conversation going. I find these sessions a little challenging myself because I generally feed off of the energy of others. If clients are quiet, I tend to want to be quiet as well. Which can also be a therapeutic skill, but one that I am not comfortable with. Instead, I like to gather information about the client and get to know them by asking them several open-ended questions, mixed with summarization and validation, until we land on something that the client shows interest in discussing. Then we get the conversation going.
Psychoeducation: I find that developing awareness of our symptoms and understanding the “whys” are helpful tools in therapy. You work best when you understand the mechanics of the issue, allowing you to be able to work at the root of the problem instead of just handling the symptoms. When I get stuck in conversation or I would like to elevate our session, I pull out knowledge on the subject matter to establish a deeper understanding of the client’s concerns. I often bust out my white board to explain concepts to clients so that it also benefits visual learners.
In-House Activities: Hands-on activities are a great way to solidify your understanding. For different concepts, I have an activity on hand to try out in session. If we’re talking about mindfulness, I may introduce the poem, “The Guest House” by Rumi to you. If we’re talking about wellness, we are using markers to fill out your wellness wheel. If we’re talking about personal values, I get you to do an activity that gets you identify your values without thought. My favourite activities include those with multiple mediums - guided audio, markers, and one time - fake vomit!
Article Recommendations: As a psychotherapist, you never stop learning. There are always interesting ways to learn about theories, discover differing perspectives, or learn about new at-home techniques. I love reading and saving these articles as they can be very relevant to my clients and speak to what we have discussed in session. If applicable, I send these articles to clients to solidify their understanding and to give them something to reflect on. Does it get read? not always, but it’s there if they need it. Books work the same way. Some clients look to me for book recommendations and I always feel pressured to give an answer!
Knowledge of my own triggers: Therapists are not immune to emotions. We may do a good job of not openly reacting to what you’re saying (and sometimes we’re not), but we’re reacting, trust me. I can’t even tell you the number of times I may have fought back tears as my clients cry in front of me or when anger brews within me when I hear of some injustice, but we are very mindful of these emotions. We constantly remind ourselves that this time is not about us but about our clients and we shift our focus back into the present moment. However, it is important to address these emotions after session. That 10 minutes between session? That’s what we use that for. Deep breaths, self-talk, and sips of water are my go-to techniques to handle moments like this.
Stories and metaphors: I have a few select stories that I like to share with my clients to demonstrate a point or a theory. I use the same stories in rotation because I have found great success in using these to enhance our conversation. If you’ve worked with me before and we’ve talked about plasticity in the brain and teaching ourselves to find positives in our day, you’ve probably heard my story about the “POST IT” guy. If I’ve introduced you to CBT, you’ve probably gotten the example of your ignored wave or the story of your first day of work. Talking about worrying? I’m confident that I would’ve shared with you the story of the “Kijiji Lady”. I’ve memorized these stories so much that I most definitely can recite them in my sleep.
The Bladder Switch : It doesn’t matter if you just used the bathroom. We always need to use it. I’m still trying to master the art of allowing myself to hold it in, within reason.
Snacks: I get peckish from time to time and with the lockdown, all restaurants in my building are closed. I have a snack drawer that comprises of healthy snacks that I can munch on between sessions. I learned the hard way though that almonds are terrible just before meeting a client. Dry mouth is no fun in session.
Water: Though the enemy to Point 8 above, water is super helpful in making sure that I am hydrated between sessions. We talk quite a bit in our jobs and it’s important to have a well lubricated, running machine. I’ve suffered through enough laryngitis to want that again.
Well, there you have it. I couldn’t quite film this “What’s in my bag?” but I hope that this gave you some insight on what goes on in the mind of a therapist in the time that we spend together.