Overcoming the Fear of Becoming a CHT_ Here’s How to Start
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[00:00:00] I get a lot of comments when it comes to studying to become a certified hand therapist, that therapists are afraid. They're just like, I want to study. I want to become a certified hand therapist. But they're like, Something is stopping them from doing the thing that they need to do. They have the years, they have the hours.
I'm going to address some of the biggest concerns. So much of it has to do with wrapped around fear of failure. They feel like they, they just have a lot of self doubt in terms of, you know, can they do it? I get the ones that tell me, Oh, you know, Huang, um, you know, just I'm new in the in the field and I just don't know, maybe I just don't know enough, right?
Maybe I just don't have enough experience. And then I have on the other side of it, people who've been a therapist for 20 years, 25 years, and they're just like, Oh my God, I'm so much older now. I just don't know. I don't know if I can memorize everything. I haven't taken the test in a really long time.
Let's address these concerns. So now I'm [00:01:00] going to share some common questions that I get from people who are fearful or doubtful. Okay, so what common fear or doubts do you see in OTs who want to become CHTs and how do you think that they can go about overcoming these challenges? I think the, the biggest fear is failure, right?
And let's address that. Let's write this shit down. I'm gonna write it down. So when it comes to failure, I think there's a really big umbrella, right? So You're afraid, right? And I think it's really important to address these fears because if we don't address them, then it's really hard to be able to then sort of fix it, right?
So a lot of the fears come from,
fears and self doubt are kind of like [00:02:00] pretty much the same, but majority of the underlining fear, right? The umbrella of it is failure, right? The, the fear of failure is strong. You've heard that the cess is hard. You, um, people tell you all the time. So their story becomes ingrained into your story. And so you have to, essentially cut that out.
When I first started, every single time I would tell someone I wanted to become a certified hand therapist, there was no doubt in my mind that every person told me, Ooh, that's really hard to do. Right? That little like tidbit of shit becomes your story because it was their story because they didn't want to do it because it was too hard.
But 100 percent you're capable of doing hard things. You know why? Because other people have done it. And if other people can do it, you can do it too. Right? That's the biggest thing. [00:03:00] Um, is that other people's story become your story, their fears become your fears. The other thing is because it has such a high path, like it has such a high fail rate, people who have taken it before and then have done it.
to me. I know this sounds harsh, but have given up on themselves. And then they pass that story along to you too. So you have to be careful of other people's stories, other people's fear, right? Other people's fears do not take on other people's fears and their, um, their, you know, failures or past failures, or some people are just like, So that's the biggest one, fear of failure.
So then let's break down, um, why you would be afraid of failing. So the, on the other side of it is just being able to cover topics, right? Can [00:04:00] you cover all the topics, right? Can you cover, of course you can cover all the topics. Can you Memorize the information. Can you remember? Of course you can memorize information.
Can you apply the information to be able to answer the questions? Of course you can. Now, granted, sometimes we need some help to do all those things, right? We live in a busy world. We all work a lot. We have our families. You know, some people just, they would rather, um, invest in themselves. So that they can be able to achieve their goal and bypass this failure and self doubt.
Right? But I think the biggest fear is failure. And here is the truth when it comes to failing. If you were the only person who knew that you failed, you would still do it. But what [00:05:00] happens, I think, It's a fear of judgment, right? Oh my God. So and so is going to know I studied and I fail. Who gives a shit?
They're not paying your bills. They're not treating your patients, right? So there's a fear of judgment. Now you could have your own judgment onto yourself. And I say, I'm the worst person. I judge myself very harshly. I have been working on it. It's a work in progress to be nicer to myself. So I'm going to pass my message onto you.
Be nicer to yourself. If it's something that you want, um, we need to work past that fear in order to be able to cover all of the topics. Fear and doubt, um, is the only thing that's stopping you because you have the years, you have the hours, you have the capacity. You know how I know? Because you have a master's degree.
You have a bachelor's degree. You have a clinical psych degree, you know, clinical doctorate's [00:06:00] degree. You have done other hard things in your life, right? So it's, you're capable of working even within that fear. You're capable of working and doing the hard things, even with the self doubt. You might just need some help and that's okay.
Nothing wrong with getting a little bit of help. Why do you believe that becoming a CHT is more about just passing an exam and how does it change OT's and PT's confidence and sense of achievement? I think that becoming a certified hand therapist is more than just about passing the exam because It gives you the confidence that you can do hard things and it gives you the confidence and at the end of the day that status that you have something that not that many people are willing to sacrifice to do, right?
You, um, it [00:07:00] gives you the confidence and sense of achievement because it's also something that is highly respected. occupational therapy and physical therapy realm because not that many people do it. If everyone could do it, nobody would want to do it. And that's the truth. But because it is challenging, because it takes a certain amount of effort, it doesn't have to be that hard.
It can be easier. Um, but at the end of the day, you, as a therapist, you have to want to do it. Nobody else can make you do it. I don't care if, uh, A company is willing to pay for you. I don't care if they're they're threatening you like Get it or or you know get kicked out like Nobody can make you because you're an adult right you have to to do this thing.
And what I have found in doing this for, you know, over [00:08:00] five years now that majority of the time people come to me for help through my exam prep program is this is a personal goal. This is a personal career goal. Um, whether they're just starting out and they want to have it for the longevity of their, of their career.
Or they are, you know, in the middle towards the end, they don't care, but I, they tell me, well, I've been thinking about it and I think it's my time to do it. You know, it's my turn to become a certified hand therapist. You can totally do it. Being a CHD is more than passing the exam. It's about the respect, you know, a surgeon's gonna see that you have the letters and know that you're capable of being able to treat any patient that comes your way.
It is, it is more than it is more than about the letters because it's about being the best. I don't know of anyone who's like, yeah, I'll just be mediocre, right? Everyone in their profession, they want to be [00:09:00] the best and I know that you want to be the best. You want to be the best for your patients. You want to be the best for yourself.
And why, why, why wouldn't you want to that? Everybody wants that. They might not say it. You might not say it out loud, but you know you want it. I know I do. I'll say that shit out loud. I'm, I want to be the best. I am the best. My program is the best out there, period. Bar none. So the program is all about being able to cover all the topics, being able to learn the information, and being able to apply it.
If you want to join the exam prep program, the exam prep program is opening up October 26th through November 9th. That's when I enroll everyone into the program. We all get started and we all start on the same page. We start on the same structure and curriculum. Grab the details below.
