What Does a Career in Therapy Look Like?

The challenge of being a therapist falls into one category: burnout. The kind of burnout that affects therapists derives from the potential for becoming emotionally drained.

Therapists not only provide emotional support to their clients, but they also sit on the receiving end of what their clients are working through. As a result, therapists need to be able to handle deep emotional expression and to listen to deep pain.

Therapists need to practice good self-care in how they manage their professional work and personal lives. Creating downtime and healthy habits, and receiving support from supervisors, coaches, and peers, helps keep therapists from burnout.

The high point of working as a therapist is witnessing patients and clients change their lives. Knowing you have helped someone through a difficult time and empowered them to make changes they need is gratifying.

Advocacy is also a high point of being a therapist. Knowing how to direct patients toward the concrete services they need so they can transform their lives is a worthy endeavor.

People who are empathetic, good listeners, and interested in why people behave the way they do make good therapists. Therapists are most effective when they have a curiosity about others and a desire to help their patients and clients understand themselves better.

A therapist provides a safe space for people to share and process their feelings. The ability to provide insight and guidance to someone who is emotionally struggling or stuck in their career is something therapists are trained to do.

The way a therapist’s role impacts others is twofold. First, the therapist helps clients make concrete changes that positively affect the lives of the patient’s friends, family, and colleagues.

Second, a therapist serves as a role model for their patients in terms of professional management. Being on time, handling money, navigating difficult conversations, and setting boundaries are important practices a therapist can demonstrate to their clients.

Since the healthcare industry is growing, graduates with psychology, social work, and counseling degrees will be needed. Schools, social service agencies, clinics, employee assistance at companies, and private practice are all places graduates can find employment opportunities.

Clinical training, education, supervision, and licensing requirements are the basics required by employers. In addition, employers look for enthusiasm, flexibility, communication skills, and a willingness to contribute to workplace goals.

Articulate why you want to go into this profession. What draws you to helping people? Why is it important? What skills, other than what you learned in school, might be beneficial to working with clients? This last question is important because your activities, interests, and training will benefit future employers.

My main experience is in private practice, and that involves meeting with patients, taking notes, scheduling sessions, and completing paperwork for invoices and insurance companies.

As a therapist in private practice, I work four days a week, and my patient load varies. I try to keep a good work/life balance and honor the fact that starting in the late morning and working until the early evening works best for me.

When I first started my practice and was building my caseload, I adjusted to the needs of my patients and was willing to work different hours in order to accommodate them. Flexibility can help you build your practice. As you become more experienced and your practice grows, you can adjust your practice to meet your needs.

I do not have coworkers in my private practice, but I do have colleagues in the profession whom I refer to and consult with when I need perspective.

In addition to being a therapist, I am a coach who specializes in confidence-building. I work with high-level executives who are talented but struggle with self-esteem and confidence. I also coach therapists and other healthcare practitioners, such as nutritionists and fitness professionals, who want to build successful practices. Finally, I use my clinical skills as a speaker to address psychological issues people struggle with in today’s world.