#34. A Coaching Perspective on ASHA's Rate Increase
Episode Shownotes:
If you're an SLP in the United States, then I'm sure you're well aware of the recent announcement regarding the increase in ASHA dues beginning in the 2025 membership year. There has been LOTS of "discussion" (to put it nicely) amongst the members of our field and I felt compelled to discuss the topic in the SLP Support Group on Facebook. In this FB Live, I'm sharing some coaching questions to help sort through the thoughts and emotions that so many of us are experiencing right now. This episode offers a little glimpse into the dynamic of a coaching session as well as some food for thought for those grappling with this recent news.
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Episode Transcript*:
This is Your Speech Path: Mindful Time Management for the Busy SLP. My name is Theresa Harp and, as a mom and speech pathologist turned productivity coach, I know a thing or two about how hectic life can be. If you're an SLP who's overworked, burnt out and feeling like you're constantly falling short as a therapist and a mom, then this is the podcast for you. I cover time management and mindset strategies so you can learn to love your work and your home life at the same time. Let's dive in.
Hey SLPs. Today's episode is a recording from a Facebook Live that I did in the SLP Support Group. I decided to take this audio and share it with all of you here on the podcast because it holds incredible value, and if you want access to more content like this, then be sure to join the SLP Support Group on Facebook so that you never miss a thing. The link is always in the show notes. Can't wait for you to join us. Hello SLP Support Group.
Speaker 1:1:04
I wanted to come on live today because I have been thinking about this ASHA debacle, right? I think for those of you who are in here who are speech pathologists, you are well aware that ASHA sent out notification yesterday that they're raising their rights for their members, right For maintaining your seeds, and everybody is talking about this, Everybody's upset, everybody's angry, right. And I feel like it is something that needs to be addressed both here within the group and also, of course, on a bigger scale, because it's causing a huge uproar and it's bringing up a lot of emotions, a lot of reactions, responses from members, from SLPs, who are feeling all sorts of ways right, and you might have seen a post that I made, I don't know, several weeks ago maybe, that said something along the lines of stop blaming ASHA, right, like it was. Something about this, of course, is before all of these changes happened with the notification about the increase in their rates, but I had made a post about stop blaming ASHA and you can find. If you Google that or search that, rather, in the Facebook group, you I'm sure will find the post if you want to read it. And, to be honest, I'm not really sure if this change in dues and membership dues is, if that impacts my perspective in any way. I don't know if or how it does, but I've, because I feel like this is still it's very new, recent. I'm still sort of wrapping my head around the whole scenario, but I think that one thing I want to point out is with that post.
Speaker 1:3:12
What I was talking about in the context of that post is that when we blame ASHA for not having, you know, caseload caps, not lobbying for caseload caps and not advocating for higher insurance rates and all of that right, I'm not saying that you're wrong to want those things and I'm not saying that it's wrong to expect ASHA to be doing taking action for us on our behalf for those things. But what I am saying is that if we are only focused on what ASHA is not doing for us, we stay in this place where we're helpless. Basically, it's a variation of learned helplessness. In many ways, in my opinion, you can disagree, and that's perfectly, that's perfectly fair. In fact, I would love to hear, if you do disagree, what your thoughts are on this. But I do want to acknowledge the way that people, the way that SLPs, are feeling totally valid, completely valid, right, because what we're hearing people are saying they're angry, they're frustrated, they're disgusted, they're appalled, you know, all sorts of emotions that are less than desirable, if you will. And I was thinking about this In terms of how would I approach this topic if it came up with a coaching client in one of our sessions, right, and I thought that what I would do is sort of share how that would go, what that would look like if it came up in a coaching session, because I think it might, number one, give you a better understanding of coaching and what that looks like and how it works, but number two, more importantly, maybe give you a slight shift in your perspective so that you can maybe decide how you want to move forward and what you're going to do with this information in a way that is going to support you.
Speaker 1:5:17
Okay, so the first thing that I would do, one of the first things I would do with a coaching client, would be to ask what the thoughts are that are generating those feelings. Right, the feelings of anger, the feelings of frustration, the feelings of disgust. I can guess what those thoughts are, but it's really important for you to get really clear on what's the narrative that's going on and like circling through your brain. It's probably a variety of thoughts like Asha doesn't support us, asha doesn't lobby for us, asha's staff makes way more money than we ever will, asha's taking all our money and they're paying themselves. And what are they doing for us? Right? Asha isn't pushing for better insurance reimbursement rates. Asha isn't pushing for caseload caps. Asha isn't supporting us in XYZ. Right, asha's, there's a money. Grab Asha's out. You know they're greedy, they don't care about us, they have no idea, they're out of touch with reality, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:6:30
And it's really important that you look at what those thoughts are and how they are connected to the way that you're feeling. Not because you're wrong for thinking them, not because they might be statements that are false or they may be true. They may be not true, right, I mean, that's a separate issue. But first, just getting really clear on what's creating the emotion that you have as a result of a rate increase, right, and then I might say, okay, so we've identified XYZ thoughts. Are those thoughts supporting you? Are those thoughts serving you and if so, how? And if not, how might they be keeping you stuck right? So we would look at each thought. Is that true? How do we know it's true and verifying, right? Because a lot of times the thoughts that go through our mind are things that are not factually true or 100% accurate. And if we're, if we're staying, if we're keeping or holding onto a thought that is not true or is not entirely true? That's wasted energy, right, that's a waste. That's wasted energy, wasted bandwidth, if you will, in terms of you know your energy and your ability to be able to go throughout your day and have the job that you love and have the family and the household life, the personal life that you love as well, right? So we wanna make sure that, if we're gonna be, if we're gonna hold onto these thoughts, we wanna at least know that they're true, okay. So checking are they true? How do we know that they're true?
Speaker 1:8:16
I think we run the risk, in a situation like this, where there's a big group of people that are outraged, where misinformation starts circulating and it can be very easy to read something or see something and run with it when, in fact, it might not be entirely accurate, right, and we don't want that to be the situation. We wanna know that, whatever the thoughts are that we're holding onto, they are accurate, okay. So we would look at that. Is it true? How do you know it's true? Right? And does that thought serve you, or is that thought keeping you stuck? So, yes, we wanna vent about the situation, right, we wanna complain, we wanna air our grievances, we want to connect with other people, fellow friends, colleagues, professionals who get it right. We wanna know that we're not alone, and that is entirely valid, it's important and that serves a purpose.
Speaker 1:9:24
But the question that I have is what would happen if you took the energy that you're spending on airing the grievances and complaining and arguing and talking about all the ways that this is just absolutely wrong? What if you took that energy and channeled it into something that can make the situation better? And this is not to say that you have to do one or the other. You can absolutely do both. Right, you can share how you feel, talk about what your thoughts are and how angry you are, and use that to fuel yourself into action. Right, because if we don't take that step from airing the grievances to taking action, what happens? We stay stuck, we stay in a situation where we're unhappy. Right, we stay in a situation where we are not being treated in a way that we feel is on par with what our skill set is, what our experiences are, so on and so forth. Right, we just stay stuck. And not only do we stay stuck, but we stay feeling angry, disgusted, appalled, overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, all of those things. Right?
Speaker 1:10:51
What I would ask for what I would ask a client. What I would ask you is what can you control? What can you do? What can you control? Right? Sometimes, simply acknowledging the areas in your life where you do have the ability to make a change is enough to get you to sort of start that shift from feeling stuck and helpless to feeling a bit more empowered. Right, even if what you're acknowledging is a change that you are not willing to make or a change that you are not able to make, right, sometimes, just acknowledging that you could make it, for whatever reason, is it's slightly empowering, right. It can sort of help give you that shift because it reminds you okay, well, I'm in this position, I do have the power to change it. Maybe not in the way I want to change it, but I do have the ability to change it in some way. Right, so you could change careers. I would acknowledge I will acknowledge it Most of you that's not an ideal situation, that's not a realistic situation, but there are many people who are doing that, who are changing careers.
Speaker 1:12:18
You could change jobs, right, you could work in a different setting or work with a different population. You could ask for support from your supervisor or your administrators or whoever. Does that mean that you're going to get those things? No, not necessarily. But it's you taking action, it's you doing something to help create the reality that you want to create the reality that you would like to have, the job that you would like to have, the work-life balance that you would like to have, right. So what do you want to do next? What can you change? If you want to change, right, if you want a change, if you want there to be change in our field, what can you do to begin creating change? Right? So here are a few other ideas, because I'm sure most of you are like I can't leave my job, Theresa, that's absurd. Stop saying that. It actually makes me more angry. Topic for another day. But here there are things that you can do, right.
Speaker 1:13:24
So, in terms of the of ASHA and what's going on with this increase in their rates, you can get informed about what the requirements are at the state level, at your state level, in terms of maintaining your Cs, right? What does your state say about Cs? What does your employer say about Cs? What do they require? Do they require Cs or do they not require your Cs? Right, you can get involved with the group Fix SLP. So I don't know how many of you who are watching this are familiar with Fix SLP, but they are a group that is designed to. Their mission is to shift the way that ASHA. Change ASHA. Let's just leave it at that, right.
Speaker 1:14:15
And so there is a petition that's going around that's urging ASHA to stop implying that the Cs are optional, because ASHA states that implies that, oh, cs are optional, you don't have to have your Cs. But in fact there's examples and you can go on Fix SLP's Instagram page or you can go check out the petition, which I'll link to in the comments later on. But there is sort of a track record, if you will, or a paper trail of actions, efforts that ASHA is taking or has taken to push for Cs to become required by different state licensing boards and so on and so forth. Right, so you can check that out on the petition or through the Fix SLP Instagram page and get on their email list too if you are interested in this topic and want to be more informed. They sent out an email yesterday about this whole issue. I was looking at the petition earlier today and there were over 8,000 people that had already signed, and that includes not just SLPs.
Speaker 1:15:34
But I was scrolling through and I saw some family members on there, so family members of children or clients who are receiving speech services, so they were signing the petition on behalf of their SLP the SLP who works with their family and related professionals too so caseworkers, school psychologists, so on and so forth right, and if they are advocating for us, then we need to be advocating for ourselves, right, and I think about this a lot. We, as SLPs, we spend time teaching our clients the importance of self-advocacy, and not only the importance of it, but how to do it, how to advocate for themselves. Right, this is an opportunity for us to model what we teach. Right, we're obviously well equipped to do this. We teach it. So now we get to practice it, now we get to put it into play and start making a change. Okay, you can also email Ash's board of directors, right, you can express your disappointment with this change. You can inquire about where the dollars, your dollars, are going, so on and so forth. Right, so there are things that you can do in that regard, and I recognize that.
Speaker 1:16:59
I want to acknowledge two things on that. Number one, sometimes it is we're so used to that immediate gratification right as a society, and change takes time, and so sometimes, with those particular actions that I just offered as suggestions, they aren't that appealing to do, quite frankly, because we know that we're not going to see an immediate change. However, we're not going to see an immediate change. However, if we want to see a change, we need to acknowledge it's not going to happen overnight and that we have to play a part in that right. So forget about the immediate gratification and think about what you can do now, right, and the second piece that I want to acknowledge about that is those things like emailing the board of directors and inquiring about the laws in your state, and maybe lobbying with different lawmakers in your area who play a role in what the state's laws are regarding Cs, so on and so forth.
Speaker 1:18:06
Those things are the things that we like to say that we should do, but we don't actually do them. We don't actually take the time to go do them. And if you feel really strongly about this situation, then that is a good use of your time. Take the time to go ahead and do that. If you don't, if this situation does not bother you, if it's not impacting you, okay, then you don't have to right, you don't need to do that. But if you are upset, disgruntled, annoyed, frustrated, angry, whatever that might be, then that's a sign that this is your sign to take that action. Okay, so that's what I will say about those actions that I sort of that I rattled off, but in the meantime, I want to encourage you to continue to explore how you can say no to doing the things that are keeping you, preventing you from having better work-life balance, because this is not all about ASHA. This also involves us, and this is the point I was trying to make earlier I don't know a few weeks ago about the, my post about ASHA, and stop blaming ASHA.
Speaker 1:19:29
There are things that we can do right now to start making changes, to start shifting the narrative that is so prevalent in our field right now, that narrative of stress and burnout and being overworked and undervalued, underappreciated, all of that right. So what can you do in that regard right now? So where are you saying yes when you really want to be saying no, right? I'm talking about working after hours without being compensated. I'm talking about taking on cases that you're not able to handle for whatever reason, or saying yes to a job offer, accepting a job offer where you aren't fairly compensated, right, the things that, quite frankly, are really uncomfortable to address head on. They are. They're uncomfortable to do, especially for those of us who are people pleasers or overachievers, or we don't want to rock the boat, we just sort of want to be liked and we don't want to risk anything in terms of reputation or jobs, status, so on and so forth, right, and Sometimes we think that the easier path is to just say yes to those things longer hours, bigger caseload, so on and so forth just to avoid the difficult conversation.
Speaker 1:21:01
We don't want to have that difficult conversation with our boss and with our administration. Sometimes we avoid it because we think that it's not going to go anywhere. That might be true, but how do you know if you're not having it, if you're not having that conversation, if you're not initiating it, how can it ever go anywhere? It can't. The longer we continue to avoid the conversation, the longer we continue to stick our head in the sand and just say, well, this is the way that it is.
Speaker 1:21:30
All of that we think we're doing because that's the easier choice, but it actually comes at a very steep cost the cost of avoiding having those conversations, of avoiding taking action, of avoiding setting a boundary and enforcing it in the workplace, comes at a really high price. It's costing you time with your kids, it's impacting your relationship with your significant other, it's preventing you from spending time on yourself for whatever your version of self-care looks like. It's even impacting the clients that you're serving, and that might seem a little counterintuitive because we think, well, if I set a boundary, then I'm not going to take on an extra case or I'm not going to be helping this family who needs me. But what about the families that you already are helping? How does saying us to another client impact your ability to serve the clients that you already have? How are you going to be able to serve this new client when you're already maxed out?
Speaker 1:22:40
I understand that you might be thinking I don't have a choice, but remember what I said earlier what can you control? You do have a choice. There are choices there. They might not be the choices that we want to take. They might not be the easy choice, but there are things that we can do to begin making small shifts. We need to prioritize ourselves the way that ASHA prioritizes their salaries. You've all seen the board of directors and the salary information that's floating around on there, whether that's true or not. I'm not here to say don't know, but check your facts. But we need to prioritize ourselves the way that we prioritize everybody else, the way that we prioritize our kids, the way that we prioritize our husband, our wife, whoever our caseloads, even when ASHA makes that incredibly difficult to do.
Speaker 1:23:36
We have to shift the narrative, because ASHA isn't going to shift it for us. We have to do it. It starts with us. We have to do it collectively. We have to do it daily. Even just these little, little things that we think won't make a difference Collectively, cumulatively, that impact is strong. It's there.
Speaker 1:23:56
So if you're feeling stuck, if you're feeling helpless, if you're feeling angry, ask yourself what are the thoughts that are creating those feelings? What can I do about it? What can I control? What can I do about it? Whether that's action that you're taking with ASHA or whether that's action that you're taking you yourself, how you're spending your personal time and taking more time for yourself, whether that's action that you are taking in your work as an SLP and in your boundaries with your employers, whatever that might look like for you. But really be honest with yourself about what you can do to create the change, because until we start making the change, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1:24:45
So that's my take on this whole ASHA increase in rates scenario. Those of you who are watching who are SLPs, I would love to hear what your response is both to this video and to the fact about ASHA raising the rates and all that goes along with it. So feel free to share your comments or your questions in the comments section of this post, and I'm sure this is a conversation that we will have again, probably more than once. Right, this needs to stay top of mind. It needs to stay an ongoing sort of dialogue, if you will, and so I'm sure we'll be talking about it again in the Facebook group, but let me know what you think and I will talk with you all soon.
*Please note that this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.