Last week I began a 12-month sabbatical. I’ve stepped back from client work for a while—partly because I needed a rest, partly to deepen my spiritual journey, and partly to give myself space to reflect on and develop my approach to therapy.
Over the next year, these posts will be a way of sharing something of this time away. Some will focus directly on therapy and trauma; others will be more personal, reflecting on my own development as both a person and a therapist.
In many ways, this sabbatical feels like finally taking my own advice. I’ve had so many conversations with clients about burnout, about the strain of always being available, and about the simple truth that we aren’t built to stay connected to others almost 24/7. Looking back, I can see that my own signs started last September, when an ongoing chronic condition flared up and I ignored it for a couple of months. I did eventually get it treated, only to come crashing down early in the new year with a serious viral illness. The effects of that are still with me, and in the end they brought me to this sooner-than-planned sabbatical.
I hope to post at the end of each month, sharing something of that month’s story—rather like A Year of Nothing by Emma Gannon. At the moment, I’m halfway through my second week, so I’m still finding my feet with doing nothing—or at least with not seeing clients. I’ve already had to have a quiet word with the part of me that wants to keep going with courses and training after spotting an advanced IFS course currently being advertised. I am going on an IFS-themed retreat next week, but that was planned and paid for before I brought the sabbatical forward. I’ll see how that goes.
So for now, this is simply a brief opening update—the first post in what I think may become a year of reflection.
