File folders piled on the edge of your tiny desk, a group of 5 articulation students due into your room in 6 minutes, an inbox full of unanswered e-mails, and that annoying blinking light incessantly alerting you to those voicemails that await you.  You’re beginning to wonder if SLP stands for Stressed-Language Pathologist!  Taking time for yourself can be difficult but here are a few ways to de-stress in 5 minutes or less and are easy to accomplish at your desk, in your car, etc.

• Green Tea: Sipping on herbal Green Tea (a source of L-Theanine) can help relieve anger!  Perfect for post-IEP meetings or that tough group!  Keep a stash at work and grab a cup of tea when you need it!
• Stress Ball: I’m sure you’ve grabbed a stress ball/object at a conference or the like.  Keep one nearby and squeeze when you’re feeling a tiny bit violent
• Chocolate: You heard me, chocolate!  Dark chocolate can help to regulate your cortisol (stress hormone) levels!  You just need a nibble (1-1.5 oz) so keep a bit of delicious dark goodness in your drawer and nosh on it when you’re feeling a bit stressed!
• Jaw: Release tension in your jaw – where many of us carry stress without knowing!  An easy way to do this is to open your mouth wide for about 30 seconds, breathing normally, and then gently release it back to a closed position.
• Smells: Smelling citrus fruits can increase norepinephrine, a stress-related hormone, and help decrease your stress!   Also, a nose full of coffee aroma helps reduce stress hormones! (you don’t actually have to eat/drink these… just a sniff!)
• Cold Water on your Wrist: Do you have access to water?  Great!  Dab a bit on your wrists and even behind your earlobe.  Major arteries run through those areas and cooling these can help calm your entire body!
• Gum: Now, in full disclosure, I detest gum (misophonia is real!)!  But, a few quick minutes of chewing gum can also lower cortisol!  So, go for it…
• Breathe!: It’s that simple.  Take time for some slow and deep breaths.  This helps to lower heart rate and blood pressure and is easy to do anywhere!  Closing your eyes while you do this helps too! (just don’t close your eyes while driving)
• Take a walk: Get outside, grab some sun, be alone and quiet, and walk.  Just a quick walk around a track or the block can help.  If you can’t take a walk, just stand in the sun or look out the window at the nature around you.  Any of these can help you to de-stress!
• Music: Listening to one of your favorite songs can help you to de-stress!  If needing to relax, try some classical music.  Needing a pick-me-up, try a fun new pop song.  Whatever lifts you up and makes you feel great!
• Laugh: Laughing lowers cortisol as well!  It also boosts endorphins which lighten your mood!  Tons of great funny video clips are easy to find on YouTube.  You can also peruse comic strips, ecards, memes, etc. for a pick me up!
• Clear the Clutter: Organize those piles.  Remove unnecessary bits from view and get everything looking neat.  Keep only the most pressing docs on your desk and move the rest to a drawer or folder.  This can also apply to desktop on your computer if it is overrun with documents and to-dos.
• Shoes: Taking off your shoes and even doing a quick foot massage, stretch, or rolling your foot over a golf ball can help reduce stress.  Plus, if you’re wearing uncomfortable shoes, a break from those will automatically make you feel better!
• Look Up: Take a look at the ceiling and count backwards from 60.  Looking up stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and lowers blood pressure and rate of breath.
• Support/Lift up Another Person!: Focusing on others and spending a few minutes to support them or write a quick note to a colleague helps you to focus on something besides your stressors.  Plus, you’ll probably help them to de-stress too!

 So, take a few minutes to de-stress.  Not only will you feel better, but you will be better at your job.  An important job that can impact lives!  Get de-stressed and enjoy your day at work!

Sources for this post: 40 Ways to Relax in 5 Minutes or Less by Greatist, How to Reduce Stress: 10 Relaxation Techniques that Zap Stress Fast by WebMD, and 20 Ways to Relax & Unwind by PsychCentral

M.S., CCC-SLP

M.A., CCC-SLP

Whichever way you sign it, those 8 letters represent so much.  They represent tuition paid (or still paying).  They represent hours spent studying instead of partying.  They represent clinical hours and SOAP notes and notecards for tests and so much more.  They represent your education.  And I’m sure you went to the best university that had the best program for Speech-Language Pathology.  I know that I did.

But, your university did NOT teach you everything… 

And that’s just fine.

Here’s the thing, it’s nearly impossible to learn about speech, language, fluency, voice, swallowing, cognition, etc. to the extent that you need to know it to be a competent clinician in that area.  Universities are diverse and they have diverse professors who are nerdy about diverse areas of Speech-Language Pathology.  I can still name the professors at my university who were the “phono prof” or the “cluttering prof”.  We all have an area of Speech-Language Pathology that drew us to the field and professors are the same way.  Mine is definitely NOT articulation… It’s AAC and pediatrics.  Your area might be swallowing or aphasia.  I know that I would not be completely competent in all areas of Speech-Language Pathology.  It’s been a few years since graduation and slowly some of that information is being lost or overtaken by new research in our field.

What is important to know, as a clinician, is not only the areas that you are a strong and completely competent (borderline nerdtastic) SLP… but the areas that you are not currently equipped to treat clients in.   Maybe you just have a tricky client who presents with a dx that you aren’t incredibly familiar with.  Maybe your university didn’t spend as much time on a particular area.  Or maybe you weren’t as interested in it at the time.  Regardless, you should not step into a treatment room with a client who presents with that diagnosis/area if you are not completely competent.  “Fake it ’til you make it” DOES NOT apply here!  I’m not saying that you can’t become competent.  That’s one of the BEST things about this profession.  You can move around and continue to learn for the entire time that you practice.  You can eat CEUs for breakfast and sleep with a pediatric swallowing textbook under your pillow at night.  You CAN BECOME competent in any area with enough research and practice.

If your university didn’t teach you everything or if you have forgotten a few things, here are some places to start:

ASHA: Of course.  A very good place to start!  Search, check out journals, etc.  Get your research on!

Blogs: School SLPs aren’t the only ones blogging y’all!  There are medical SLPs out there blogging up a storm too!  Like Gray Matter Therapy for example!  Read up on therapy ideas, ask questions, reach out.  SLPs are friendly!

Social Media: Hop on some of the Facebook groups for SLPs or hang out on Twitter.  Send a question out there, get honest feedback, learn, & then do!  I love my network of SLPs from all over the world.  They have helped me work through those tricky things that come up as a clinician.

Phone a Friend (Or e-mail/text/pigeon): You weren’t the only graduate of your program in the year you received that hood, were you?  No?  Good!  So you have contacts to reach out to.  In my program there were SLPs that went into EVERY type of setting you could imagine.  So ask them!  Plus, you should know by now that after you survive grad school, you have a magical bond with those people and they will surely help you out if you have a question.  Many of the professors you had would also be happy to exchange some nerdy SLP e-mails with you as well!

CEUs: Go to a conference or attend a workshop devoted to the area that you are interested in and/or needing additional information in.  And don’t just be there… BE THERE!  Interact.  Speak up.  Ask questions.  Take notes.  Stay after and introduce yourself to the speaker and get their contact information.  They might be a new person to contact with questions or to get additional information from!

Whatever you do, make sure that you feel confident and competent with your clients.  It’s best practice and in our Code of Ethics!

And just remember, your university didn’t teach you EVERYthing… & that is just fine!

(Now go sing your school’s fight song or something!)

~ “Twick-ow-Tweating”
~ Whatever came flying out of that preschooler’s nose and mouth and landed on my face!
~ Lice, bed bugs, and other creepy-crawlies.
~ A broken Cariboo game!
~ There’s this one mom…
~ Cleaning dentures.
~ Medicaid.
~ Paperwork.
~ Infectious diseases.
~ 60-day timelines.
~ A referral in your mailbox.
~ When your hand sanitizer (a.k.a. Hanitizer) runs out!
~ Accidentally drinking your patient’s water.
~ /r/… need I say more?
~ Realizing you need 10 CEUs by December
~ “Me do it”
~ Running out of Bubbles
~ A new IEP/paperwork system.
~ Data, percentages, and +/-… oh my!
~ An invasion of the Unthinkables.
~ Scheduling that new kid into your packed week.
~ AAC device in a closet instead of with a kid.
~ Boys and ghouls!

So,  what would you add to the list?  I hope you enjoy the spooky holiday with clients and family!