Session 0040 - Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks on Therapists Self Care

Today, we're thrilled to have Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks, a distinguished hypnotherapist, trainer, and conference speaker, join us. With a Master’s degree and a Doctorate in Education specializing in hypnosis, Kate brings a wealth of knowledge cultivated through over six years of dedicated research on how people learn and how hypnotherapy is taught.

In this episode, we dive deep into the crucial topic of therapist self-care. Kate shares her insights on the often-overlooked challenges faced by self-employed therapists, such as isolation and burnout, and underscores the importance of both proactive and reactive self-care strategies. We'll discuss reflective practice, combating negative self-talk, and developing effective self-care plans. Moreover, Kate elucidates the significance of supervision, its various forms, and why it is indispensable for maintaining high standards in hypnotherapy.

Additionally, we'll touch upon legal considerations, the importance of informed consent and proper documentation, and the diverse approaches within hypnotherapy practice.

Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks also shares resources for therapists, including her latest self-care course available on hypnosiscourses.com, and provides practical advice for sustaining professional excellence and personal well-being in the field.

So, sit back, relax, and join us for an episode brimming with valuable insights and essential tips for hypnotherapists and mental health practitioners alike.

https://www.drkatehypno.com
https://hypnosis-courses.com
https://eaph.ie

Introduction to Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks

• Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks' Professional Background
  • Hypnotherapist, Hypnotherapy Trainer, Conference Speaker
  • Academic Achievements: Master’s Degree and Doctorate in Education
  • Specialization in Hypnosis

Research Background

• Six Years of Research on Learning and Teaching Hypnotherapy
• Two Years of Writing on Findings

Conference Mention

• Meeting at the Irish Hypnotherapy Conference
• Impressions of Dr. Beaven-Marks: Generosity and Kindness

Focus on Therapist Self-Care

• Prioritization of Well-Being for Self-Employed Therapists
  • Isolation in Practice
  • Necessity of Scheduling Self-Care Activities
• Proactive Self-Care
  • Regular Weekly Time Allocation for Self-Care
• Reactive Self-Care
  • Recognizing and Addressing Early Warning Signs of Burnout or Fatigue

Reflective Practice

• Importance of Reflective Practice After Sessions
• Recognition of What Was Done Well

Self-Talk

• Addressing Negative Self-Talk Among Therapists
• Promoting Positive Reinforcement

Developing a Self-Care Plan

• Practical Steps for Addressing Areas of Criticism
• Long-Term Habit Changes

Supervision

• Definition and Importance of Supervision
  • Guidance from a More Experienced Individual or Group
• Kate Beaven-Marks’ Personal Experi

Hi there, thanks for listening and please like this podcast where you listen to your podcasts.

The European Association of Professional Hypnotherapists is a group of like-minded hypnotherapists who are accredited professionals in their field. Many of our therapists have many many years of experience behind them which means you are probably in the best possible hands, available to you.

Why not pop on over to eaph.ie and choose the hypnotherapist that suits you. Many provide online hypnotherapy. eaph.ie

We welcome feedback on your listening experience at eaph.ie

Transcript

Aidan Noone [00:00:03]:
Dr. Kate Beaven Marks, thank you so much for joining me today on The Professional Hypnotherapist Podcast.

Aidan Noone [00:00:10]:
Thank you, Ada. It's lovely to be here.

Aidan Noone [00:00:13]:
Well, doctor Kate, you're a force to be reckoned with. You're a phenomenal resource and force to be reckoned with from being a hypnotherapist to a hypnotherapy trainer, from a a conference so highly sought after conference speaker. You have master's degree, and you have a a doctorate of education specializing in hypnosis. Tell us a little bit about that.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:00:35]:
I'm impressed with your research skills. So, yeah, I I think I disappointed my my supervisor for my doctorate when I told him exactly what I was gonna be researching. And then he realized exactly the scope of it and he was quite excited. So I spent about 6 years sitting in on pretty much every course that I could find to watch how people learn hypnotherapy and how it's taught. And sometimes those 2 align very nicely and other times they are miles apart. I was incredibly fortunate to spend those years researching. And then I spent 2 years writing it. I maxed out my research time to the day.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:01:35]: I got every ounce of value out of it. And then I spent 2 years writing up and doing all of the the admin bit and being asked questions about my research and stuff. Wow. It meant that I had the opportunity to get a really diverse training. I was already a hypnotherapist before I started, but I got to sit in on classes that I might otherwise not have been able to sit in. So for example, the medical training, it was a real it was really interesting to sit in that.

Aidan Noone [00:02:13]:
Yeah. Excellent. Now I met you at the Irish Hypnotherapy Conference in Dublin, and it was there that I asked you, you know, or, well, I thought about well, I I consider doing a podcast interview. And I was impressed. And I'm not just saying this because you're sitting in front of me here on the screen. I was really impressed by how kind and generous you are and how magnanimous you you you you give of your time. So thank you for that.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:02:43]:
Yeah. You're welcome. Thank you.

Aidan Noone [00:02:46]:
Now, today, we're going to talk about, therapist self care. And, you know, I think perhaps this is an area that many therapists out there, whether they be hypnotherapists or indeed psychotherapists or counselors, whatever you want to call it, that in many, many ways, you know, we somehow you know, we are the carer, but who looks after the carer? So what are what specifically are we talking about when we talk about self therapist self care?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:03:22]:
Well, for context, I think being a hypnotherapist can be quite an isolating experience. You're there with your client. You tend not to be working in a therapy practice with other therapists, so you're on your own. And it's easy to just get up, do your work, get on with your day, and not really notice when something isn't quite right. And I'll I'll give you an example.

Aidan Noone [00:03:53]:
Yeah. Thank you.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:03:54]:
If you if you drive the car, every day you drive your car, you may not notice that one of your tires is getting a little bit bald. And it's only when you put it in for a service Yeah. Does somebody else look at it and go, dangerous or unhelpful or this won't help you get through the winter driving on ice and snow? So this links into therapist self care. There is a thought of if it isn't broken, don't fix it. And in a way, I understand that. However, we would still probably service our cars even though they're not broken down at the side of the road. And actually, good maintenance can prevent problems. So I'm a big fan of self care both proactively and reactively.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:04:45]:
Proactively doing all of those sensible things that almost become swear words as, for self employed people. And this is the thing. As a hypnotherapist, you're usually self employed, So you're going to want to work when there's work fair. It might be that you're in a busy time and you've got 9 clients that want an appointment on a Monday. And you know that your threshold is normally 5, but the work's there. And it can be really tempting to just push through and push through and push through. And without realising it, you can start to get tired, depleted, worn out, even burned out. So it's good to start thinking about the proactive side of maybe having some self care actually scheduled into your calendar.

Kate Bevan-Marks [00:05:43]:
And that means that it's not gonna be depleted. You're not gonna be depleted. I always say that as a minimum, give yourself a third of a day every week. So either morning, afternoon, or evening, and that's your self care time. And that's if you choose to literally just lay in the bath for an hour or sit in the garden with a muck of coffee just looking at the clouds. But you've got time. It might even be that you treat yourself as a client and you book in a client appointment for yourself so that you've got time allocated because if you don't allocate it, life will fill up your schedule. So proactive self care is one side of it.

Kate Bevan-Marks [00:06:38]:
And I think there's also reactive self care. And that's where you are able to notice your early warning signs and then do something about it. So there there's a lot to self care, I think.

Aidan Noone [00:06:56]:
As, you know, human beings, we have this what we all know this self reflective consciousness, you know, where we reflect and we ponder on what has just happened or what is about to happen. Perhaps you'd comment on on the quality of the thoughts and indeed, you know, we as therapists, you know, all this, but just from a perspective of self care, to monitor the quality of our thoughts and how that affects how we feel about ourselves. But not only how we feel about ourselves, but how we feel about what we can do as a hypnotherapist with our clients and etcetera. Does that make sense?

Kate Bevan-Marks [00:07:37]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Totally. I'm a massive fan of reflective practice. Uh-huh. So after every client, even if it's just a minute, sitting there and thinking, what did I do? Did I get what I expected? What can I learn from this? And the bit that people often forget, what did I do well? And it's so important to recognize what you did well. That isn't being egotistical. It's actually a part of developing good professional practice.

Kate Bevan-Marks [00:08:10]:
The other element that comes into this though is self talk. And sometimes the therapists that I supervise and mentor have self talk which isn't helpful. And some people will say, oh, I don't wanna get too big for my boots. I don't wanna have a big ego. Self talk that's critical, that's mean, that's unhelpful is not gonna enable you to become the best therapist that you can be. And sometimes people will talk to themselves in a way that if their friend had talked to them like that, there'd be a massive great deal argument. There'd be a falling out. Because how dare you talk to me like that? That's that's horrible.

Kate Bevan-Marks [00:09:01]:
But actually, what makes it acceptable to talk to yourself like that?

Aidan Noone [00:09:05]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Kate Beaven-Marks [00:09:06]:
And I again, when I think of having a self care plan, I think it's about sitting down and just every now and then reflecting, how do I talk to myself? Where where are where are the areas where I'm most critical? And actually, then you come into the whole cognitive side of things, is there any evidence for that? Because if there is, if I'm not if I'm not particularly good, say, at timekeeping, luckily, I'm okay. But if I'm not particularly good at timekeeping, then what do I need to put into place? So can I be practical about this? If there's evidence for it, then that negative self talk is actually useful to get you to do something about it. If it's not evidenced and if it's just one of those negative habits that you've got into, then it's worth asking yourself, how does it help? How does it help you to beat yourself up over something that isn't evidenced? Is it actually gonna help you become a better therapist? Is it gonna help you live a happier life? And if it isn't, then it's down to good old fashioned habit change. And every time you hear yourself saying something, they'd go, no. Actually, my timekeeping is adequate and just correcting it. And I think that works really well over time.

Aidan Noone [00:10:38]:
Excellent. I always, you know, ask how big is the stick you have to beat yourself with. You know? No. Excellent. I I love the way, I mean, you you you you give give us, something to ponder about there and valuable stuff. Perhaps you'd comment, from your perspective on on the benefits of supervision.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:11:08]:
Yeah. Supervision is an area that you might have guessed already. I'm really fond of.

Aidan Noone [00:11:16]:
Sorry. Can I just clarify may I just clarify? When we say I beg your pardon. When we say supervision, what specifically do we mean?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:11:25]:
That's a great point, really. So supervision can come from any or several routes. Classically, we think of supervision as speaking with somebody trained as a supervisor, perhaps, but who's more experienced than you are, or has a different, perhaps a broader perspective than you have. And that's your classic one to one supervision. Now personally, I grew up with having to do a supervision hour with my supervisor. And when I first started out, I thought that was a terrible waste of money. Because I'd have one client, and I'd go and chitchat about my one client, and then we'd just gossip for 45 minutes. It's like, I'm paying to gossip.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:12:13]:
This is not good value for me. I think that's where sometimes people fall out of the supervision habit. I know when I do supervision to the people I supervise, I just do it in 15 minute chunks of time. So they pay for what they want and, you know, you get in, you focus on what you want, you stop. And it works a lot better, I think. But there's more to supervision than just 1 to 1. Group supervision gives you a different dynamic. There's different supervision groups all over the place.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:12:47]:
I do one that's online. And we had between 4 8 therapists, sometimes even experienced students coming in. And we start off with a case to warm everybody up, just to get the mind working. And then everybody presents a case that they're working on, maybe a marketing or business query, and all of the people there dive in with their thoughts on it. And group supervision gets a different perspective to the individual and I think it isn't an either or. I think there's places for both of them. There's also peer supervision, which I think is useful, although with peer supervision, I don't think it's all that there is. I think you need the others as well.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:13:41]:
So peer supervision is where you're speaking to perhaps the people that you trained with So they understand the techniques that you're talking about, and they may well have worked with a client like you. You might have, you know, Michael who's coming in and he's really stuck improving his golf game. He's got impostor syndrome, and you're really not sure how to progress with him. You've done the usual. You've done parts therapy and done a bit of cognitive work, and you might take it to a group of your peers and say, have you had anything like this? What did you do that worked? Or what did you do that really didn't work? Both of which are useful bits of information. So peer supervision can be really handy as well. And ideally, you've got access to all 3 and then you can pick from those what it is. I would say sometimes be careful about using Facebook as your only form of supervision because not everybody there will have the same agenda.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:14:47]:
Sometimes people have a brand or a model on Facebook and their answers will be flavoured to suit their brand or model. So it might be super controversial as part of their brand, and their answers have to align with their brand if they're on social media for them. So having alternatives to that can be useful. But supervision overall, very helpful.

Aidan Noone [00:15:16]:
Yeah. And not only helpful, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most, you know, valuable, how where would you rate it? 11. 11. Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Excellent.

Aidan Noone [00:15:30]:
Okay. Now, what type of questions, you know, we we're today, we're talking about self care therapist self care. What are the questions, you know, we may have touched on it earlier that we should be asking ourselves as hypnotherapists. Or what should what specifically get get down into the nuts and bolts of it. Do we need to be really, you know, conscious of?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:15:59]:
I think you mentioned about reflection earlier. Yeah. And I think something to be really conscious of is to spend a moment before you start therapy with a client and be aware of what you're going into that session with. What's your stuff? What emotions are you feeling? What are you feeling within your body? What are you taking into that therapy space?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:16:27]:
And then at the end of the session, check-in with yourself again.

Aidan Noone [00:16:32]:
Yeah.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:16:33]:
And what are you feeling? And what's your stuff? And what might you have picked up from your client? Having a method of letting go of what you've picked up from your client is really useful. Whether that's you're writing up your post session notes and that's your point at which you draw a line, you have a break, and you move on. Or whether it's you use a formal technique, whatever you choose to do. But having this system, this this checking in is really useful. And again, as part of your proactive self care, if you can schedule some time to maybe just sit down. Sit down and have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. Sit in the garden, go for a walk, and check-in with yourself. How are you feeling?

Aidan Noone [00:17:30]:
Yeah. Yes.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:17:31]:
Because we get caught up with life. We you know, you have to get up and do things and get through your day, and you don't always have time to just sit there and think, well, how am I feeling? Am I excited to see the next client? Or is it a case of, oh, are you clock watching? And thinking, oh, gosh, I've got so much of what to do with this client. I've only got 45 minutes left. Are you thinking, 45 minutes with this client? Oh, I can't bear it. It's it's where you are or somewhere in between those two extremes. So checking in is so important as part of self care, I think.

Aidan Noone [00:18:10]:
Yeah. Excellent. And, you know, I come from a I suppose, a school of hypnotherapy that is hypnoanalytical. You know? And that was some well, 30 years ago at this stage. And, you know, the emphasis was always on, you know, transference and counter transference and the supervision. So I can I can I can get where you're coming from and important because I I am concerned that, you know, out there that there are people operating in the world in as therapists, and they never even think about supervision? It doesn't even come into their model of the world. You know?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:18:53]:
I know. I it makes me think of somebody that very in the early days, I actually I learned from. And they ended up being one of my supervisees, which was very bizarre in some way. And I was chatting with him about his work, and he presented, I think, 5 different cases. And I knew that at the time, because he told me, that he was This is

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:19:31]:
Yeah. He he was having relationship issues with his wife.

Aidan Noone [00:19:37]:
Okay.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:19:38]:
And he was presenting his cases. And one was an OCD, one was a phobia, one was issues at work. They were very distinctly different cases. And yet when he reported how he'd focused his therapy, all 5 were treated for relationship issues. Now was that the way any other therapist would have gone? Possibly not. Could it have been that he was treating those clients in the way that he wanted to be treated himself? Yeah. Now he may never have spotted that, with reflection because he's looking through the situation with particularly focused glasses. In supervision, a supervisor can pick up the big picture.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:20:35]:
They can look at trends. They can look at what's underlying the behavior. And is there transference that they're responding to? Is there countertransference?

Aidan Noone [00:20:46]:
Yes.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:20:46]:
Is there something behind their choices for how they conduct therapy? Because the hypnotherapy world is vast. And generally, there is no single right or wrong way to conduct therapy. We use over 200 different psychotherapy models. So put 10 people in a room with 1 client and they will likely all come up with different ways that would be equally successful, but just different. So supervision can be very helpful. And I love the fact that you come from an analytical background. So well done you.

Aidan Noone [00:21:29]:
Well, thank you. That's there are many, many, many of us around, indeed. And, it it it was always the case, you know, where that, you know, you you you always had a supervisor and you always you have a supervisor. And, you know, as from the perspective of the EAPH, European Association, we're we're a sort of a self governing body where, you know, we have, rules and regulations. And members, it must have had training in hypnoanalysis and subscribed to the, engage with a supervisor. Do you think, Kate, do you do you think that hypnotherapy will ever achieve or get the credit it actually needs in terms of the mainstream, orthodoxy, that's out there for there to be psychologists and, you know, medical area. Do you think we'll ever get any type of, you know, recognition or accreditation?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:22:34]:
So a great question. I don't think we'll ever be legislated. I don't think it will ever have the type of statutory regulation. And actually, I don't think that's a bad thing.

Aidan Noone [00:22:47]:
K.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:22:48]:
Because what will happen if we had statutory regulation is that all of the dodgy ones would just call what they do something different. So they could have been caught by statutory regulation anyway.

Aidan Noone [00:23:02]:
I love it. Love it.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:23:03]:
I was speak speaking to somebody on Friday, in the hypnotherapy world. And he was saying, you know, what do you stand for? I'm really passionate about standards. Truly passionate about standards. Kate, nobody's interested. And in a way, it is true. People aren't interested in standards until there's a problem.

Aidan Noone [00:23:29]:
Yeah.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:23:30]:
And then then we look into it. I'm on the board with the complimentary natural healthcare council and representing hypnotherapy. So from time to time, I get to write expert opinions on cases where people have been complained about.

Aidan Noone [00:23:50]:
Yes.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:23:51]:
And a lot of this does come down to communication and people not necessarily have communicating the stanzas that they have within their therapy practice. So standards, I think, are important. Recognition is an interesting area. I was really fortunate to be invited to present at the 22nd World Congress for Clinical and Medical Hypnosis in Krakow this year. And I was surprised at where their level general level of training was compared to our standard level of hypnotherapy training. And that really did surprise me. Some of the the basics that my students would have on weekend 1 of a training course, they hadn't been exposed to. So I think that is something part of this I think is also the fact that as hypnotherapists, we don't work to make hypnotherapy visible.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:25:06]:
Every few days, I hear somebody talk about the work they did and they'll say, oh, I just said it was a guided visualization. If hypnotherapies won't stand up and call what they're doing hypnotherapy, we're never gonna get all of these positive outcomes recognized as being associated with hypnotherapy. And even Michael Yap co wrote about that, I think, in Trans

Aidan Noone [00:25:32]:
Works. Yeah.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:25:33]:
And that hypnotherapy has this vast body of evidence, but people aren't actually calling it hypnotherapy. And I don't know whether it's the case now. I haven't checked recently. But I think it was the College of Anesthetists had some recordings up that were actually hypnotherapy to help people prepare for surgery, but they call them guided visualisations. Yeah. Yeah. And if if they're not standing up and saying, we're using hypnotherapy. If they think there's something dodgy about it, then we're not gonna get the public recognising how powerful hypnotherapy is.

Aidan Noone [00:26:15]:
Yes. Yes. It's it's a powerful methodology to help clients. And, indeed, you know, hypnosis and hypnotherapy is not magic, but yet the results are magical. You know, I'm keeping in the whole theme of therapist self care and the ethical, background that we all must do. I know you agree that we all must have within our our wheelhouse as it were. Perhaps you comment on the importance of, note taking.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:26:58]:
I really like where you're going with this. So you mentioned I I sorry. I just mentioned about being an expert opinion writer. Oh my gosh. If only you took good notes, it would make such a difference. I think there's a couple of things here. It's really important to take good notes to protect yourself as a therapist, but also they're an invaluable learning tool. Really invaluable.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:27:28]:
One thing that I suggest everybody practices is writing without looking. Yeah? Interesting. So being able to have a notepad by your side and being able to write notes without actually looking down. So you're not breaking rapport looking down at your notes, but you're just making a note. It's super easy when you're working online because all you need to do is to open up a Word document, treat yourself to a silent keyboard and a silent mouse, and then you can take notes all the way through and your client isn't even gonna notice. So you can take superb notes that way. But note taking is really, really important, not just at the intake, but as you go through. Because clients will often yeah.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:28:19]:
Ericsson and Carl Rogers and so many other people say that the client has the answer within them. And actually, it is true. The client often will say something, and you think, oh, wow. And then a few minutes later, they'll say something else. And if you jot down these little gems, these moments of insight, even if it's at the end of a session and you're reviewing your notes, you can start to build a picture, which gives you a really great starting point for the next session. So note taking is incredibly important. I think it's also important these days, sadly, so that if your client does come back to you and says, oh, well, it didn't work and you didn't tell me what hypnosis was like, you can actually refer to your notes and say, well, we discussed this and you said this, and then I said that and you said that. It doesn't have to be verbatim.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:29:22]:
But then generally, clients can forget as well. Yes. Having this information can be very useful for you. But from an insight perspective, note taking can be such a valuable tool as well.

Aidan Noone [00:29:37]:
No. I I just want to counter something, if I may. And, you know, just purely just in the interest of, you know, of getting to the good argument or good, you know, material so that we can all chew on it as it were. You know, there there is a a a group out there or people out there who would say, look. Well, I don't take notes because, you know, I I don't want to end up in court. And, anyway, if I ended up in court, you know, the the, the lawyer for the opposition would completely piss me because I'm just a a hypnotherapist. I'm not a recognized professional out there in terms of from a university. You know, that's legislated for us.

Aidan Noone [00:30:20]:
We've spoken earlier. Would you comment on that, please?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:30:24]:
You're not working as a psychologist. You're working as a hypnotherapist. So be honest about the work that you're doing.

Aidan Noone [00:30:32]:
Yeah.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:30:32]:
Don't give people the impression that you're working in a psychological or psychotherapy field if you're using hypnotherapy. But you could get called into court whether you've got good notes or not. What would you want to have? Do you wanna have good notes that support you? Or do you want to go into court and say, oh, well, I didn't take notes. That's that's not gonna stop you going to court. No. It is incredibly rare that hypnotherapists will end up in court. Incredibly rare. But it's more likely that somebody will complain about you, particularly if you haven't got a good record system, if things aren't organised.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:31:18]:
And if you're not a notetaker, you may not have good admin systems. So for example, you may not have a good method of checking that you've got a therapy contract. And if you haven't got stuff like that, how can you demonstrate to a client and how do you even know that they have an understanding of what to expect? And really commonly, people seem to get complained about because the information about what hypnosis is and isn't, the whole pre talk and all of the bit that goes before wasn't understood. People still watch movies and think that hypnosis is you're fixed, you're

Aidan Noone [00:32:02]:
cured,

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:32:03]:
you're out, healed. And it isn't the case. And clients need to be able to give informed consent.

Aidan Noone [00:32:13]:
Yes.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:32:14]:
And that includes, you know, knowing what hypnosis is and what it isn't. And whilst I'm firmly in agreement, I think it was London in 1947, said don't dispel myths that are helpful. Yeah. So if people think that they've got to work hard to get a positive outcome, that could be useful. But do dispel myths that are unhelpful and make sure that your client has an understanding of what hypnosis actually is before you even get started.

Aidan Noone [00:32:47]:
And you mentioned you touched on it there, the whole area on the importance of having a therapy contract. You know, I think that's really important also. And, indeed, the eaph.ie, we would insist or or, you know, we would demand that, you know, our client our our our therapist perhaps would have a contract. What do you say to somebody out there? I said, well, sure, everything's on my website. You know?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:33:17]:
Show me the evidence that your client has interacted with your website. Maybe they haven't got access to to your website. Maybe they don't remember. I would also say, let me give you a bit of paper and get you to sign it. Are you going to sign it without reading what's on that paper? And I think 99 people out of a 100 would insist on reading what's on that piece of paper, and the other one out of a 100 would at least glance at it before signing it. A therapy contract ensures, as much as you possibly can, that doing your due diligence, that your client has read and understood what they're committing to. I think a therapy contract protects the therapist and the client, but it also is a valuable tool in achieving change. Because when people sign something, they commit to it.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:34:21]:
They've put their name on it. So it all it elevates their perception of what they're engaged in.

Aidan Noone [00:34:30]:
Excellent. I I love it. I think this it's really, really important that to be as professional as one possibly can be and to have the standards, that that, to have the highest possible standard in your work is essential. And and thank you for for all of this, today, Kate, because I found it really, really beneficial. And I know that our viewers and and listeners out there will find this also beneficial. Is there anything else that you you really believe or feel that is important in in the area of therapists, self care that you we need to mention here today?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:35:15]:
I think there's there's just so much. Ironically, I think ironically, or perfect planning, last night, I actually launched an online course on self care for therapists. I did write it weeks ago. Just saying. And that's on hypnosis courses.com. And what I found in writing that is that it's about finding the things that work for you. So I'm suggesting that you schedule time into your calendar. And it might be that the day before, you just go, you know what? I'm checked in with myself.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:35:48]:
I feel fine. I don't need to use that time. But scheduling timing, I do think it's so important to have both proactive and reactive strategies, which is why I put both of those into the training. I also put some stuff in there for hypnosis because you know what? As hypnotherapists, how often do we get hypnotised? So the final thing that I would say is if you can, get together with a peer who you're happy to work with and every now and then, have a therapy swap and actually sit down in the client chair and be a client and work through the stuff that you would benefit working through. Because life happens to all of us. Yeah. And it's really good to be able to to engage. I say working with a peer because it's a really good way of having ongoing care rather than popping in and seeing a therapist and you're having to build rapport with somebody new.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:36:58]:
Working with a peer tends to be really effective. You've already got that level of trust, mutual understanding. And that way, it can also be a growth experience for both of you.

Aidan Noone [00:37:12]:
It's growth experience. And that's a wonderful way to bring this really awesome, podcast to a close. And I'll I'll say till the next time. And, Kate, doctor Kate, how can we contact you? How can people contact you?

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:37:34]:
Very easy. You can find, Kate Beaven Marks. It's, oh, it's b eaven, commonly misspelled. So Kate Beaven Marks. On Facebook, you can find me on hypn0tc.com, which is hypn0tc.com, and also hypnosiscourses.com. So you can contact me via any of those emails. And I'm more than happy to speak with anybody. If you've got any queries about self care, then feel free to get in contact and we can chat.

Aidan Noone [00:38:08]:
Wonderful. So that was Kate doctor Kate Bevan Mark. I won't say anything more. This was just superb. And, you can check out everything. And I did. I put all the links in the notes below, for this podcast along with the the transcript. Doctor Kate, thank you so much.

Aidan Noone [00:38:28]:
Until next time.

Kate Beaven-Marks [00:38:30]:
You are more than welcome, Aidan. Thank you. I've really enjoyed this.

Aidan Noone [00:38:34]:
Thank you.