For the Up and Coming Therapist
Are you still in graduate school and wondering what it will be like when you finally step out there as a real therapist? Is your graduation date approaching fast with every new assignment, every peer-reviewed article you have to read, and every short-answer exam you have to take?
This week I received an email from someone just like you, who had the universal graduate-school assignment that is given to every clinical student everywhere:
Interview a Therapist.
I thought it would be interesting to turn my personal responses into a new blog post here, and this is the result (see interview questions and answers below). I hope you enjoy reading this, and please feel free to share your thoughts with me, or any additional questions you may want me to answer. I would love to hear from you!
Interview Questions
What do you like most and least about your work?
How has your training best and least prepared you for counseling practice?
What are your duties and functions as a counselor?
What are your greatest challenges and frustrations, as well as your greatest joys and satisfactions in this line of work?
How you deal with mistakes and failures?
How do you practice self-care in your work?
How has your experience as a black woman/bipoc professional harmed/helped you in this field?
What advice do you have for anyone starting out in this profession/and or grad school?
Interview Questions and Answers
What do you like most and least about your work? I love the internal reward I get from being a part of someone else's healing process. To witness the small wins that give people hope and heal their relationships is enough for me to do this work for free, (if only I didn't have to pay bills). The part I least like about the mental health field is how little you are paid by insurance companies, for the amount of hoops they require you and the client to jump through. (i.e. Requiring the client to receive a diagnosis before insurance will pay for services… conducting audits that threaten huge amounts of money for very minor details such as not using updated language in a treatment plan… frequently- daily- changing requirements on acceptable practices). I understand these issues are systemic, but that does not make the paperwork and red tape any easier to navigate as a therapist. This is why I do not directly accept insurance in my private practice, although I do provide superbills that help clients receive reimbursement from their insurance companies.
How has your training best and least prepared you for counseling practice? My graduate school training as a Marriage and Family Therapy student best trained me to facilitate meaningful life changes in the therapy room one on one, with couples, with families, and in group settings... as well as to work alongside other health professionals in the field from various educational backgrounds and experiences. My graduate school least prepared me for marketing my own business/private practice, which is something I am learning on my own now, with the help of additional courses and programs I have plugged into online.
What are your duties and functions as a counselor? I am an expert in facilitating change, and I collaborate with clients in the therapy room to help them identify their therapeutic goals, objectives and measurable steps towards achieving those goals. I provide an emotionally safe space for exploring and applying practical skills towards the client’s goals. Beyond the therapy room, as a solo practitioner, I am required 35 hours of continuing education credits every two years to keep my licensure in good standing. I am required to write clinical notes that accurately reflect the progress clients are (or are not) making after each therapy session, as well as my plans to intervene in their change process. I am also required to practice within the legal and ethical guidelines of my state and federal governing bodies (AAMFT, GAMFT, HIPAA, Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists, etc).
What are your greatest challenges and frustrations, as well as your greatest joys and satisfactions in this line of work? Some of the greatest challenges I faced as a trauma specialist had to do with recognizing my role and limitations as a therapist. When clients shared life experiences that I could not change, how was I supposed to feel? How was I to respond? I learned over time to operate within my locus of control, and to give the rest to God, who I trust to be strong enough to handle that part. I may not talk about my personal beliefs on God to my clients, unless they discuss their faith in therapy and my input somehow helps them, but I had to understand that "extra-therapeutic factors" were scientifically proven to hold more weight in the outcome of therapy than the actual therapeutic relationship. As a therapist, I should not make the assumption that I have the power to change a person's situation. What I do have the power over, is to facilitate a safe space, so that when changes do occur for my clients, we can make the most of those changes, learn from them, and not miss/overlook them (which is my greatest joy and satisfaction in this work).
How you deal with mistakes and failures? I remember my first year working after graduate school, when I met a therapist who was already licensed, and who was about one month behind on her therapy notes (That's four whole weeks! Which is a lot!). At the time, I assumed she was a successful therapist, who was still getting paid every month, based on whatever notes she caught up on retrospectively, which is what she told me... So, in my naivety, I followed suit, and before I knew it, I was behind on my notes 2 weeks, then three weeks, and then four whole weeks! This way of working was making me feel overwhelmed with paperwork everyday (especially when the owner of the establishment was encouraging all therapists to finish their notes within 24 hours of the service completion). So, I pretended like I was back in graduate school, put some earbuds in my ears, made some coffee, and pulled a few all-nighters until I caught up on all of my notes. It felt like studying for a huge exam, or writing a last minute paper. It was awful. But I decided I would never do that again, and five years later, I can proudly say I haven't. I hope that answers your question. To me, failure isn't really failure unless you don't learn from it. So, I handle failures and mistakes by leaning into those memories as they involuntarily pop up, and I choose to value them as lessons I can learn from today.
How do you practice self-care in your work? A major (and simple) piece of advice I got in my first year working after graduate school was this, "Never skip lunch." My first boss and his wife were a wonderful, loving, and very wise couple who had worked together over 20 years. They offered that simple advice to me when I first started working for them, and I still use their advice today! They were right when they told me it is easy to try multitasking by writing notes or getting paperwork done during your lunch hour, and even to skip lunch altogether. You think you're going to get out of the office earlier, or finish with clients faster that day, because you can just push through... but that is not healthy. Day after day of pushing the revolving door will eventually wear you down, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is a solace in taking a real lunch break, even when there is still plenty of work to be done, because that intentional break, where you allow yourself to truly pause and just eat- not check emails, or social media, or anything- that is your way of saying to the world, "Hey world. I am important too. My body matters. My mind matters. My feelings matter. My existence matters. Everything else can wait one hour, or 30 minutes, because not only do I need to eat regularly, but I need to take care of myself overall." Later in my career, I learned to read/pray/hum/sing/dance/laugh/talk/listen in ways that would build me up during those intentional lunch breaks, instead of just eating lunch and worrying about the fact that I wasn't done with paperwork for the day. There are many more ways I practice self care, but this one was most helpful to me when I started out as a new therapist.
How has your experience as a black woman/bipoc harmed/helped you in this field? That's a good question, and honestly, I am not sure how to answer it, because I believe I am still watching my story unfold as a black woman/bipoc therapist... Perhaps it has both harmed and helped me in ways, but not unlike other races/ethnicities, where I can see my biases challenged as I encounter other professionals, black, white, or otherwise identified... I think I am aware of my biases when they come up, and I am in the habit of challenging my own biases now. So, it does not surprise me when I come across another revolutionary breakthrough idea that can help another professional from another social group or population, and vice versa. Our diverse near experiences kind of come as a part of the package I signed up for as a therapist. I’ve had clients who assumed I would connect with them more as a black person, but instead we ended up connecting more so through therapeutic rapport rather than race/ethnicity... I don't know if that is a hindrance per say, or harmful, but it is something I recognize as a bias that people naturally have.
What advice do you have for anyone starting out in this profession/and or grad school? I would say remember that the skills you are learning in grad school can literally be used in ANY career. If you love doing therapy, you will probably know this by the end of grad school, and you should start the process of getting licensed as soon as you finish grad school (go ahead, study hard for 45 days, and take that $500 licensure exam!). However, if you are not sure if you can see yourself going into a counseling office day in and day out, then don't be afraid to apply for other kinds of work!!! There are too many opportunities out there for which your clinical skills make you a great fit, such as law enforcement opportunities, social sciences, non-profits, medical offices, businesses & entrepreneurship, managerial positions, fashion, interior design, dance, music, education, childcare, geriatric care, fitness, nutrition... I know it sounds strange, but the skills you have learned in graduate school will help you bring value to WHATEVER workplace you decide to work for. No matter where you want to work, you will have to learn the new job! So, don't be afraid to branch out and pursue your interests and passions. You can literally make money by pursuing anything you want these days. The possibilities are endless.
Best wishes for you on your journey! Also, feel free to connect with me via email or on IG! I love to connect with and support other up and coming professionals! RenewTherapyGA@gmail.com | IG: @RenewTherapyGA