Maximise Your Mentoring Sessions: 4 Key Strategies for Occupational Therapists
Mentoring can be a game-changer in your professional journey, helping you refine skills, build confidence, and gain clarity on your career path. But how can you truly make the most of each session? Here are four essential strategies to ensure your mentoring sessions are meaningful, productive, and focused on your growth.
1. Come prepared: create an running agenda
One of the simplest ways to get the most from your mentoring is to keep a running agenda that you can update between sessions. This doesn’t just mean adding clinical case studies, you can also consider including your professional learning goals, any ethical questions, organisational topics, or areas where you need support managing your workload. A dynamic agenda ensures each session covers what’s most relevant to you, with a clear path to your longer-term goals.
Top Tip: Each week, take just five minutes to add new questions or reflections to your agenda. This small routine keeps you focused on both immediate challenges and ongoing growth, and it helps bring a sense of purpose to every mentoring session.
2. Reflect on your wins and progress
It’s easy to dwell on challenges and overlook achievements. Taking time to reflect on what’s working well can be a powerful confidence booster and a foundation for continued growth. Celebrating these wins, both big and small, reminds you that progress is happening, even on tough days.
Reflection Tip: Try keeping a weekly journal to capture your wins. Before each mentoring session, review these notes, so you’re ready to share and celebrate your progress. This simple habit keeps motivation high and helps you identify what’s contributing to your success.
3. Balance self-compassion with drive
Imposter syndrome and perfectionism are common among health professionals, and mentoring is a safe space to unpack and reframe these traits. Working through challenges with self-compassion doesn’t mean lowering standards, it’s about acknowledging your achievements and growth while letting go of the harsh inner critic.
Growth Tip: Set a mentoring goal to explore one perfectionist tendency you’d like to manage better. Then, work on strategies with your mentor to replace self-criticism with constructive self-compassion, giving yourself a more balanced view of your growth.
4. Prioritise well-being and prevent burnout
A sustainable career in occupational therapy means taking care of yourself. Mentoring is an ideal space to reflect on your stress levels, boundaries, and energy, creating self-awareness and allowing you to make proactive changes when needed. Regular check-ins with your mentor on these factors can help you sustain a healthy work-life balance and career enjoyment.
Well-being Tip: Start each mentoring session with a quick check-in on your current stress and energy levels. This small step keeps your well-being front and centre, allowing you and your mentor to spot early signs of burnout and find practical ways to adapt.
Ready to Maximise Your Mentoring Experience?
If you’re looking to bring more structure, self-compassion, and focus to your career, let’s talk about how mentoring can support you. Book a 20-minute meeting with me to explore how we can work together towards your professional goals.