The Stresses of Private Practice

Burnout is an ever-present risk for mental health clinicians and can often be caused by feelings of isolation or a lack of peer support. This phenomenon is especially prevalent among clinicians in private practice, who may spend an entire day working alone in their office—only interacting with their clients. Compounding this situation is the emotional and psychological toll that being a clinician can take; it is never easy to consistently empathize with multiple people, hear about their trauma, and witness their pain and suffering firsthand. Doing all of these things in an isolated environment can be incredibly taxing. 

Avoiding Isolation

Building a community is at the heart of Chicago Minds, as we believe that a community can alleviate clinicians’ feelings of isolation and give them a chance to form networks of support and enrichment. We try to foster community in multiple ways, most prominently, with the design of our office. The co-working space at Chicago Minds allows clinicians to work alongside fellow healers in a clean and professional environment. Not only does simply being in the same room with another person help reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation, but we believe that when clinicians consistently work side-by-side in the same space, they are more likely to gravitate toward one another and form professional networks. These networks open many avenues of support as clinicians are able to share experiences and advice, keep each other abreast of new methods, and provide emotional or professional support when necessary.

Furthermore, we work to accelerate the development of these networks by frequently hosting community-building events. These events–which are focused on games, crafts, and other social activities–are designed to give clinicians the chance to have fun together, break the ice, form friendships, and feel the breadth of the community that exists at Chicago Minds. In 2024, Chicago Minds hosted 10 community building events, all of which provided therapists the opportunity to get to know one another and connect. 

Keeping our Community Informed

Chicago Minds is also committed to hosting events that not only foster community among clinicians but also serve to educate and enlighten them. For multiple years, we have organized countless workshops dedicated to developing clinicians’ skills, many of which also provide CE credits for clinicians or fulfill other requirements. Furthermore, we strive to be intentional with our workshops, and select presenters that will expose clinicians to new, non-traditional, or underrepresented perspectives. For example, 77% of the workshops we hosted in 2024 were led by BIPOC healers. When clinicians attend a workshop hosted by Chicago Minds, they are not only able to form connections–the importance of which we have established–but they are also engaging in a process of professional development while often fulfilling some requirements as well.

Some would argue that a degree of burnout is inevitable among clinicians. At Chicago Minds, however, we have worked to stymie burnout by designing our space to be an incubator for connections among clinicians. The benefits of the networks cannot be overstated, as knowing that one is not alone, and that there are other people present to rely on, can make the experience of being a clinician both less daunting and more efficient.

By Teddy Neer (he/him), Office Coordinator at Chicago Minds