Nourishing the Healer: Continuing Ed That Sparks the Soul

Staying licensed as a healthcare provider requires meeting continuing education requirements, but for those of us who are healers, deep thinkers, artists, and seekers of health and wellness, it needs to mean more than just checking a box. It must be nourishment. We want what we learn to inspire us and spark change.

At Creativity and Madness, we believe that continuing education can—and should—be transformative, reinvigorating both your clinical skills and nourishing your soul. 

Beyond Burnout: Why Standard CE Often Falls Short

Many of us in the helping professions are living through a quiet burnout. The long hours, the emotional toll, and the isolation, especially for those in private practice, can dull our once-bright passion for this work. And too often, traditional CE offerings feel transactional, sterile, or, worse still, irrelevant.

We log on, listen, and log off, but we don't feel changed.

We are in a field built on a foundation of change. How can we guide transformation if we are static?  

Education That Feeds the Imagination

Healthcare is not just a science; it is an art. Mental health care's focus is story, symbols, and soul. For those of us drawn to psychology and creativity, whether through any theoretical format, Jungian work, somatic therapy, expressive arts, or trauma-informed storytelling, we need an education that speaks to both the intellect and the imagination.

We need spaces where:

Art and analysis are allies.

Laughter and learning co-exist

Theoretical depth and lived experience meet.

We are allowed to be human—not just clinicians.

The Power of Community

At every Creativity and Madness conference, we have witnessed something remarkable unfold: strangers become colleagues, then friends. People gather in Santa Fe courtyards to share time, food and drink, and laugh together. They return home with something they did not even know they had lost: a renewed sense of belonging.

Continuing education can be isolating, or it can be a reunion of soul-level peers. The power of gathering in person or virtually to learn and feel seen is inherently healing.

Reclaiming the Joy of Learning

At its best, continuing education reconnects you to your purpose. It teaches you something new and reminds you of what you already know. It provides you with tools, yes, but it also brings you joy. It permits you to be both professional and poetic, both evidence-based and intuitive.

You Deserve This

You are allowed to want more than PowerPoints and PDFs. You are permitted to crave community, creativity, and wonder. You are allowed to learn in ways that leave you energized rather than exhausted.

So, whether it's through painting, movement, storytelling, or simply being in the room with people who understand, choose continuing education that nourishes you. The healer in you deserves it.

Explore what's possible at the next Creativity and Madness conference.

Where CE meets soul, and healing is a shared experience.

by Dr. Amy Vail and Alli Fischenich