We have experienced some of the most interesting changes to professional working in recent years. While we continue to adapt, it’s important to take the time reflect on the changes and challenges, and ensure we are not falling into a new version of burn-out.
Dr Leila Davis, GP and Gestalt Psychotherapist, works with lawyers and baristas to overcome perfectionism, anxiety and work-life balance. She recently spoke to InfoTrack about common challenges she treats among working professionals, and how to maintain a rhythm where wellbeing and success go hand-in-hand.
Dr Leila highlights that “developing self-compassion as at the core of wellbeing work. What I see so much in my clients, is what I call the ‘shame and blame cycle’. We live with crushing self-criticism, spiralling anxiety and super-human standards.”
These challenges are commonly associated with the legal, conveyancing and banking industry. Sky-high standards and large workloads are ingredients to anxiety and burn out.
“The root of these self-doubts is based off modelling, negativity bias, culture, unrealistic standards, and an unrealistic belief that unless we are flogging ourselves, we will become couch potatoes.”
Dr Leila further discussed ‘introjects’– the unconscious beliefs that drive behaviour.
“Our brains become Velcro for the negative things that happen to us – an example of one within the legal industry is that ‘I’m only valuable when I’m serving others’. In turn, there exists a working culture of not feeling good enough, and the need to rise above, to be better individuals.”
Dr Leila continued, “when we have a lot of negative self-talk, we become disconnected, we don’t trust ourselves or are confident within ourselves. It often presents as being prickly and hard, or completely collapsed. Within the legal industry, this commonly reflects as being highly strung or armoured-up.”
One way to overcome this is to “identify your inner beliefs which drive your thoughts and actions. If you want behaviour to shift, consider your introjects and make a conscious decision whether they are true or false.”
“At the heart of introjects are feelings of not being good enough, worthy, deserving, valuable or loveable. When you do the self-compassion, you might find that some of these things rise up – and an opportunity opens to shift behaviour and grow – to create the life we want.”
In our webinar, Shifting from self-criticism to self-compassion, Dr Leila shares tools which you can use to implement self-compassion and break down negative introjects.
Developing self-compassion, kindness, and encouragement to yourself is paramount to emotional wellbeing. As working professional, developing these skills are just as important as technical professional development.
