If you've ever found yourself color-coding your therapy materials, setting five reminders an IEP meeting, or mentally editing a colleague's SOAP note , congratulations, you might be a Type A SLP!
Dr. Michelle Boisvert - November 18, 2025
Type A personalities are known for being organized, driven, and goal-oriented—exactly the traits that help SLPs juggle documentation, therapy planning, and caseload management. Research on SLP personality traits shows that conscientiousness, creativity, and self-control are consistently high in our profession (Leonard, 2015; MacPherson & Ventry, 2017). That is science confirming what your to-do list already knows: your precision matters.
Fun fact: Many SLPs fall into "helper" personality types like ESFJ or ISFJ (Red, 2019). Translation? You thrive when structure meets service.
Organization Ninja: Caseload? Check. Reports? Uploaded. Therapy materials? Laminated and alphabetized.
Goal-Driven Precision: SMART goals are your love language.
Adaptive Problem-Solving: Even when a session derails, you pivot with grace (and maybe a backup activity…or three).
High Energy: You bring the spark that keeps students and sometimes coworkers engaged.
Type A traits can also lead to stress, burnout, and perfectionism if left unchecked (Cherry, 2023). As one Reddit SLP put it: "I am a Type A by heart, but had to evolve into Type B to survive my 100+ caseload." Translation: even superheroes need boundaries.
That is where tools like easyReportPRO come in. Automating documentation, streamlining smart report templates, and tracking progress frees you up to focus on what you do best: helping students. Instead of drowning in report writing, you get to channel your Type A energy into clinical excellence (and maybe even leave work on time).
Being a Type A SLP is not about being "too much". It's about bringing structure, energy, and purpose to a demanding field. Lean into your strengths, set boundaries, and let tech take some of the load. Because, let's be honest, who else could manage a 60-student caseload, back-to-back therapy sessions, and a mile-long evaluation and referral queue…and still laminate for fun?
References:Friedman, M., & Rosenman, R. H. (1974). Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Knopf.
Cherry, K. (2023, November 14). Type A personality: Traits, advantages, disadvantages & treatment. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/type-a-personality
Leonard, M. V. (2015). The role of personality in career preference of speech-language pathology students (Master’s thesis, Auburn University). Auburn University Theses and Dissertations. https://auetd.auburn.edu/bitstream/handle/10415/4536/MLeonardFinal_Draft_Thesis.pdf
McLeod, S. (2023). Type A personality traits (vs. Type B). Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-a.html
Schurr, A. A. (2018). Personality type and the SLP’s employment setting: Is there a connection? (Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University Moorhead). Red River Graduate Studies. https://red.mnstate.edu/thesis/13
Scientific American. (2019, June 10). The stressful discovery of Type A personality. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-stressful-discovery-of-type-a-personality
Weber, C. (2023, September 25). What does it mean to have a Type A personality? Health. https://www.health.com/type-a-personality-7970924
About Michelle: Michelle is the co-founder and lead clinical developer of easyReportPRO, a powerful software that helps speech-language pathologists (SLPs) create high-quality diagnostic reports quickly and easily.
Michelle's expertise in telepractice and technology-enabled strategies, combined with her personal experience of burnout and considering leaving the SLP profession, gives her a unique understanding of the challenges SLPs face, especially when it comes to the high workload of writing diagnostic reports. With this blog, Michelle aims to share her knowledge and experience to help SLPs use technology to optimize their report writing process, save time, and achieve a better work-life balance.