Admittedly, this list is a little more tricky to address. After all, all of these components are often things that involve other people. Therefore, the solutions rely (in part) on the cooperation of your coworkers and patients to change.
However, we do have some basic things you can try before resorting to more drastic measures.
Make sure that your continuing education courses talk about things that are actually relevant to your work -- or introduce you to a whole new perspective! -- instead of just taking whatever’s fastest or convenient.
Ask for formal evaluations when you can. That could mean asking a supervisor to review you, or requesting service reviews from your current patients. Figure out ways to see how others view your performance so you know where to improve and what you’re doing well.
If you’re at a larger organization, talk to your HR department or your supervisor about possible growth opportunities that involve increases in responsibilities and pay. Then, establish the benchmarks you need to hit to reach that next promotion.
Larger organizations should have some sort of standardized goals or baseline expectations against which all therapists are measured. If you don’t know them, then compare notes with a coworker to see if what you think you’re supposed to be doing is right.Otherwise, therapists -- all healthcare professionals -- are held accountable by their patients. If you’re not sure you’re meeting your patient’s expectations, then just ask them! Make a point of figuring out what they’re expecting you to do and what they want to accomplish, and then do everything you can to make it happen.
Reporting structures are extremely important to the long-term success of any business. It’s a bad sign if your coworker or your supervisor can’t explain who reports to who, and what everyone does. Still, you may have missed that in training, so feel free to ask again.
If people feel like their work has no value, then it’s easier to become burned out. By knowing the company’s goals -- even if it’s as simple as, “We want to make money so we can all retire before we’re dead” -- then you can reverse-engineer that goal and apply it to your daily actions, giving them greater meaning and context.