Breathwork for Therapists
You regulate others for a living. Who regulates you?
Therapists absorb other people's nervous system states for 6-8 hours a day. Mirror neurons, emotional attunement, and the clinical requirement to "be present" with distress create a unique occupational hazard: your nervous system is doing heavy lifting that nobody sees.
Vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue aren't weaknesses — they're predictable physiological consequences of sustained empathic engagement. Your own therapy and supervision help with the psychological layer. But the somatic layer — the accumulated sympathetic activation from sitting with client after client in pain — needs its own intervention.
Breathwork between sessions is the clinical hygiene equivalent of a surgeon scrubbing between patients. It doesn't address the deeper work, but it prevents the session-to-session contamination that degrades your presence and eventually your health.
Recommended Patterns
Between clients. Resets your autonomic baseline so the last session doesn't contaminate the next.
After particularly heavy sessions. The longer exhale ratio actively processes sympathetic activation.
Morning practice. Builds a higher baseline of regulatory capacity for the day.
When to Use It
- Between every client session — non-negotiable
- After sessions involving trauma, suicidality, or intense affect
- Before your first client to set a regulated baseline
- End of day to discharge accumulated somatic load
- Before your own therapy or supervision
Frequently Asked Questions
I already know about breathwork. Why do I need a timer?
Knowing about breathwork and doing it consistently are different things. A timer removes the cognitive load of counting and lets you actually benefit from the practice instead of running it as an intellectual exercise.
How does this differ from the co-regulation I do with clients?
Co-regulation is bidirectional — you're offering your regulated state to the client. Breathwork between sessions refills that capacity. Without it, you're trying to co-regulate from an increasingly depleted baseline.
Should I use breathwork IN session with clients?
That's a clinical decision. Many somatic and trauma-informed therapists use guided breathing as a clinical intervention. The tools here can serve both purposes — your own regulation and as a resource to share with clients.
I do 8 sessions a day. When do I fit this in?
Build 5-minute gaps between sessions. Use 2-3 minutes for a physiological sigh or extended exhale breathing. The quality improvement in your subsequent sessions justifies the schedule adjustment.
Breathwork for Other Professions