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Dream job or nightmare?
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It's hard to know if a career that looks
great on paper will actually lead you
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to the life you want to live. So welcome
to DreamJob Cafe. I'm Larry Port.
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I'll be asking different professionals
the questions you won't find anywhere
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else. So grab a coffee, settle
in. This is Dream Job Cafe.
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Sponsored by Wastepark.co,
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where we help people navigate careers
in a crazy world. Hello everybody,
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and welcome to another
podcast of The Dream Job Cafe.
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Today I have Liza Brackbill with
me. She is a psychotherapist,
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and this is a continuation of
our healthcare series. So Liza,
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thank you for being with us today.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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So this is pretty cool. So Liza,
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she just went out on her own and
her firm is called the Pathways and
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Possibilities Counseling
Services. And so Liza,
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tell me a little bit about what it
is that you do as a psychotherapist.
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I think I know, but I'm
not a hundred percent sure.
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Sure. Yeah. So I am an
outpatient psychotherapist.
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So what that means is I'm doing mental
health counseling sessions with folks.
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Many of my clients meet with me once a
week. Some people are every other week.
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Some people are once a
month or less than that.
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And therapy is interesting because
it can be so many different
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things. And every week can be
different. Every person is different.
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The needs are always different.
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And there are a lot of different
approaches to therapy as well.
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But what I do is kind of a mixture
of supporting people through
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learning about their own patterns,
figuring out what they want to do,
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and also teaching them
skills to better regulate
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themselves, to strengthen
their mental health.
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So it's really kind of a mix of things.
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But I would say if I had to boil it down,
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it's talking to people to help them.
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That's great. Okay.
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So I've actually used
a therapist on and off.
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And what I find it very useful,
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and one thing that I learned about
the whole space is that there's many
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different types of them.
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There's people that work in
cognitive behavioral therapy.
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And I used one of those people when I
couldn't find my keys and misplacing them
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and to change behaviors
and so on and so forth.
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And I know there's people
that specialize in addiction.
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So do you kind of have a focus
or do you use certain techniques?
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Or I don't even know how
to ask this question,
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but go ahead and
Take a shot at it.
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Yeah, sure. Yeah.
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So I focus primarily on
anxiety and anxiety related
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disorders, kind of anxiety adjacent
disorders. So things like panic disorder,
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social anxiety disorder,
hoarding disorder,
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obsessive compulsive disorder.
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Hoarding disorder?
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Yeah.
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People who collect too much stuff.
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Yeah. It's an anxiety related disorder,
which a lot of people maybe don't know.
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I think sometimes we
think about these things,
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why can't that person let
go of a lot of their things?
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And it's like there's an anxiety basis
around throwing things away. Yeah. Yeah.
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So anxiety is kind of my sweet spot.
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Well, it seems like there's a
lot of that these days out there.
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So I would think that you might be busy.
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Is it my imagination or is it just
part of what's going on right now?
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Yeah, it's definitely
not your imagination,
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but I think that there's also
just a lot more awareness.
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And I think we saw a huge change
th mental health awareness in:
2020
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when COVID happened and all
of a sudden it was like, "Hey,
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it's okay to not feel okay." And there
was really just a lot of campaigning
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around mental health awareness where
we really realized as a society,
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this is happening.
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I think we're all feeling it right
now to some degree in different ways.
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And so yes,
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I think with different things that are
going on in the world and different
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pressures and the way the world
is changing, there's more anxiety.
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But it's also always been
there, I think to some degree.
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And now we just have more awareness
of it and we're saying, "Hey,
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it's okay to come out and
say, you need some help.".
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That's fantastic. Yeah.
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And I know that something that's been
really popular on the bookshelves lately
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has been Jonathan Hate's
book, The Anxious Generation,
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which kind of attributes a lot of things
to social media and that kind of usage.
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Do you play in that space
too, just out of curiosity?
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In the space of social media?
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Social media... kind of ... I don't
even know what his really argument is,
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but I suppose that that is an actual
phenomenon that's happening to people.
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Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I see it,
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especially with teenagers.
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I think they have just such a different
ballgame going on with social media.
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I think even for me,
when I was growing up,
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it was like we had social media maybe,
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but it was kind of adjacent to our social
life. And for people growing up today,
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it is their social life.
It's fully integrated.
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And so a lot of their social life is
sort of looking at these feeds where
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it's a highlight reel and it's not
a realistic representation of their
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peers, but they're comparing it
to everything about themselves.
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So that's not a good comparison.
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And I think that does create
a lot of anxiety for sure.
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And there's other things.
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Social media acts in a way the
same way drugs and alcohol act.
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It's a dopamine hit for our
brain and it becomes addicting,
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but it's not really good for us.
It's not a healthy use of our time.
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And so over time, we don't feel
good because we're using it so much,
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but we want more of it
because of that dopamine.
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Interesting. So between the
awareness and the different factors,
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societal factors, I would
think that there's a lot of,
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this is a bad way to say this, but
there's a lot of need for this field.
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I was going to say opportunities,
but that sounds a little callous.
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But it sounds like there's a lot of need
for psychotherapy in the world these
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days. Would you say that there's ...
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When you were looking for work post or
while you were finishing up school and
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thinking about the next phase,
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is that a challenging thing to do or
is it not so hard to get placed in
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your first initial job?
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Yeah. Well,
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so I can speak from the perspective
of a therapist because I'll say my
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background is in social work and there's
just so many different jobs that you
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can do within the field of social work.
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But as far as outpatient therapy goes,
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I didn't find it hard to find jobs.
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I think there are more
open offices than there are
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clinicians to fill and
work in those offices.
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The last practice that I worked
at, I think, let's see here,
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there were five office spaces and at the
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most in the three years I was there,
we only had four clinicians at a time.
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So there's always an open office
and that job posting was there.
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So I think in terms of
there being job openings,
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they're out there and I think that
that's only going to continue to progress
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more as the need does continue to grow.
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Yeah, I think so too.
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I have a friend who is from
Argentina and in their society,
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therapy is just part of life.
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Everybody talks about their therapist,
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everybody goes to therapy
and so on and so forth.
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And I feel like we're not there,
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but I feel like we're kind of tiptoeing
in that direction. So I don't know,
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but it just seems like it's becoming more
accepted, less stigmatized for people.
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So it does seem like it's trending in
the right direction. Can I ask you,
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along these lines, when
it comes to mental health,
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there's a lot of different jobs.
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There's the psychiatrists and they're
the ones that can prescribe medication,
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I think. There's psychologists,
you're a psychotherapist.
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Can you kind of break down the different
kind of fields that there are and
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what you know about the paths that
people have to take to get there?
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Yeah, totally. Yeah. So my
background is in social work.
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I'm a licensed independent clinical
social worker, which in each state,
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the designation is like some
variation of that, slightly different.
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In Massachusetts, that's
what it's called, LICSW.
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And so what I'm able to do is
I can do things like diagnose,
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I can do things like treat through
therapy and clinical interactions,
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but I can't do something like prescribe
or administer neuropsych testing.
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So those are reserved for different
designations and they do require more
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schooling as well. So with what
I do, it's a master's degree.
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If you wanted to be a psychologist,
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you need a PhD and psychologists
can do everything that a
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social worker can do. They
can also administer testing,
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so like neuropsych testing and that
kind of a thing to diagnose some
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specific conditions. And then
the other one you asked me, oh,
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psychiatrist.
Yeah.
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So psychiatrist is a doctor and that's
somebody that's gone to medical school
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with a psychology angle basically
as their specialization.
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And so there are sort of different
things that you can do within
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the allowance of your license.
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Okay, gotcha. So yours
is a master's degree.
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So is that like two years?
And then is there also a ...
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I know with these medical
and health related fields,
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there's the schooling part and there's
like a practicum or some sort of lab
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experience. Is it all
academic or how does the ...
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Tell me a little bit about your
degree, what that was like.
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Yeah.
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So the master's degree full-time takes
about two years to complete for social
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work, and it's not all academic.
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It has field experiences with it.
That kind of varies by program.
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So some programs have one
longer internship that you
complete throughout the
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duration of your program.
Mine actually had two.
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So I did about six months in
one experience and then another
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year in another internship.
So that's part of it.
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And I think it's actually an essential
part of the schooling because especially
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with therapy, it's you and another
person behind closed doors, right?
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So you're just kind of going into it.
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And it's kind of weird at first
because you've never done it.
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You're kind of trying to apply these
concepts from the classroom now with a
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real person in front of you and you
don't know what they're going to come in
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there with or say or ask you for.
So it's really essential that that's a
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part of school because then you go back
to class and you get support about it.
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And usually there is a designated class
that you take alongside your internship
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where the purpose of the class is to
discuss your internship experiences and
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discuss clinical interactions.
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And so you're really getting a lot of
support that way to help you learn through
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your experiences and also hear
about your classmates' experiences.
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So at some point you are sitting across
from a patient for the very first
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time. How does that happen?
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Are they aware that you're in training
or do you foreshadow a psychotherapist?
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Tell me about just jumping in.
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Yeah. I think that's one of the
hardest parts about entering the field.
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I remember when I was first getting
started and thinking to myself like, "Man,
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I cannot wait for the day
where this feels comfortable.
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I'm not kind of working myself up for
every session that I'm about to go into."
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And so it is hard at first.
Shadowing can happen.
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I was lucky enough to be able to do that.
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I had a supervisor who was more
than willing to let me sit in on
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her sessions and also her clients
were willing to let me do that too,
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which is really special because they
have to be willing and this is like-.
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Yeah.
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It's a lot of trust. Yeah,
definitely. So it does happen.
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I don't think it's a super standard part.
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It's not always happening, but it can.
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And then you just go into
it and you've got to try.
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And there is something called-
Jump right in. Jump right in,
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right into the fire. And there is
something called process recordings.
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And what that is,
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is after you have a clinical
interaction in your internship,
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so you do a therapy session, for example,
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you actually write out as much
as you can remember a script
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of exactly what happened in that session.
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And then you kind of reflect on
that and your supervisor also
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provides you with feedback and
reflections on the interactions.
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And of course that's all from memory
because we're not recording these things,
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but yeah,
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that's a big part of processing
all of it too and getting feedback.
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Tell me, so you've been
doing this now for a while.
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When we were introduced,
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you mentioned something about you worked
with people with severe mental health
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disorders.
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So you've been in the field for a
little bit before you started your own
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practice. Tell me a little
bit about your path.
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Were you a psychology undergraduate
or just can you speak to that a little
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bit?
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Yeah. Yeah. When I was a kid,
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this was one of the things that I
always thought I would like to do,
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but I'm very indecisive.
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So I went to college and I
did major in psychology and I
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just always was drawn to it. And I
thought if I go further with this,
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then that's great. If not, psychology is
maybe a good background to have anyway,
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it could probably be applied
to a lot of different jobs.
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So I did major in psychology,
but right after college,
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I didn't do anything even
remotely related to this field.
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I actually was a guide in
Yellowstone for three summers. Ooh.
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That.
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Sounds like.
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Fun.
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It was a lot of fun,
yes. But it was seasonal.
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And then I would do other stuff
at other times of the year.
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And I think after a few years
of doing that, I was like, "Man,
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I don't want to have five
different tax documents anymore.
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I just want to have my one
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W2." So I decided to go
back to school from there.
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And
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the job that I had working with
adults with severe mental illnesses,
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that was actually part of my schooling.
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So that was one of the
internships that I did was that.
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Let me ask you a question because I like
the fact that you took some time after
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college to really explore and take your
time before you made that next move.
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Is that something that you
would recommend that people do?
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Or looking back on that experience
now, how do you feel about that?
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Yeah, I'm so glad that I did that. I mean,
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I just wasn't ready, I don't think,
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when I first got out to make
a decision to go invest more
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finances and time and everything
into something more specific.
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So it's hard because it's got
to be a balance. At some point,
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if you want to go further,
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you have to decide and you have
to commit and you have to do it,
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but why does it have to be right
when you get out of school? I mean,
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I think it's a lot to think
about if you're not really sure,
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then take that time, go do something
else that seems interesting.
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What I did was guiding.
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And I think there was a part of me
that thought maybe I would do that
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long term, but I think there was
also a part of me that was like,
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"You know what?
This seems like a cool job.
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I'm going to go have some fun
summers and meet different people and
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see animals and stuff,
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and let me do that before I
give some more thought to this.
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" So yeah,
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I think it's a good experience
to have if you're not sure yet.
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You don't have to commit.
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Yeah.
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So I think for people who are listening
to this podcast or trying to figure out
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their career direction, I think that
there's nothing wrong with that.
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You get mixed career advice from
people where you need to hit it hard,
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you need to do your thing in college,
you need to get your internship,
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you need to get your job. But you know
what? It's like at the end of the day,
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life is kind of short and you really
need to have these experiences if you can
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in your life. And they really
inform your next chapters really,
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really well, especially
if you're not dead set,
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100% set on which path
you want to take. I mean,
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I think it's really good to back
up and really see things and
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explore the world because you never
know how things are going to play out or
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who you're going to meet
or what experience is going
to lead to what experience.
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So I think it's phenomenal that you did
that. So tell me a little bit about,
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if somebody's maybe thinking
about going into this field,
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I'm trying to put myself in
the shoes of that person.
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00:17:14
Maybe they'd be concerned
about like, okay,
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it's a pretty serious endeavor to
take somebody's mental health into
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my hands or sit across from them.
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Who do you think will succeed in a field
like this and who do you think should
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not be in this field?
Speaker:
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Okay. I'm going to start with
people that I think will succeed.
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00:17:36
I think if you want to help,
Speaker:
00:17:39
you're like at least 50%
of the way there. I mean,
Speaker:
00:17:43
you have to be somebody
that wants to help people.
Speaker:
00:17:47
And I think if you are
that kind of person,
Speaker:
00:17:51
you will find that almost everybody else
in the field is that kind of person.
Speaker:
00:17:56
And that's something that's so great
about this field because there is so much
Speaker:
00:18:00
support, especially when you're just
starting out. I mean, therapists,
Speaker:
00:18:04
they want their clients to succeed, but
they also want each other to succeed.
Speaker:
00:18:07
And a big part of the field is talking
to each other and getting support.
Speaker:
00:18:13
So I think if you think
of yourself as a helper,
Speaker:
00:18:16
if you think of yourself as
someone who is empathetic and maybe
Speaker:
00:18:22
can feel for people who
have not just the same,
Speaker:
00:18:25
but different experiences as you.
I had a professor one time say that
Speaker:
00:18:30
therapy was a mixture of science and art,
Speaker:
00:18:32
and I always really loved
that and that stuck with me.
Speaker:
00:18:36
And I think it's so true
because it is the science of
Speaker:
00:18:42
an evidence-based modality, like you said,
Speaker:
00:18:45
cognitive behavior therapy or
motivational interviewing or something.
Speaker:
00:18:50
And these concepts that you learn
in school, that's the science,
Speaker:
00:18:53
but then the art is how do you apply
it to a real person in front of you
Speaker:
00:18:58
that's going to say things
to you you can't prepare for.
Speaker:
00:19:01
So I think if you are a helper,
Speaker:
00:19:05
if you describe yourself as empathetic,
Speaker:
00:19:08
and if you're someone who kind of
likes a mixture of science and art,
Speaker:
00:19:11
then this could be a good field for you.
Speaker:
00:19:15
Oh, wow. Okay. That's fantastic. All
right. So people who shouldn't go into it.
Speaker:
00:19:19
Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:
00:19:22
you've got to have patience and you do
Speaker:
00:19:26
have to sometimes think on your
feet as well. I mean, again,
Speaker:
00:19:30
you just can't really prepare
ahead of time for a session.
Speaker:
00:19:35
I mean, you're learning over time,
Speaker:
00:19:38
but you have to be
patient with your clients.
Speaker:
00:19:41
You have to be patient with
yourself because you don't know
Speaker:
00:19:45
everything. And so it's
a learning process.
Speaker:
00:19:48
And I hope that I'm always going to be
learning as long as I'm in this field,
Speaker:
00:19:52
I would hope that I'm
still sharpening my skills.
Speaker:
00:19:54
And so I think if you can have
that open mind, it's helpful,
Speaker:
00:19:58
but if you feel like you want to go into
something and sort of be an expert at
Speaker:
00:20:02
it right away and climb
the ladder really fast,
Speaker:
00:20:06
then it's going to be hard for you.
Speaker:
00:20:08
Interesting. Oh, that's a great answer.
Speaker:
00:20:09
So what about some of the stuff I assume
that you deal with is pretty heavy.
Speaker:
00:20:15
How about dealing with
it? When you leave work,
Speaker:
00:20:18
are you able to just shut it off or is
it something that you think about or do
Speaker:
00:20:23
you develop skills around
that? How does that work?
Speaker:
00:20:26
Yeah,
Speaker:
00:20:27
I think I've always been pretty lucky
in that I just kind of went into it with
Speaker:
00:20:32
the mindset that, okay, I'm not the
end all be all in anybody's life.
Speaker:
00:20:37
I'm not going to come in
here and save anybody.
Speaker:
00:20:39
I'm just trying to make their
life a little better and
help them make their life
Speaker:
00:20:43
a little better. People's lives are
going to go on with or without me in it,
Speaker:
00:20:48
but if I can do my best to
make their day or their week a
Speaker:
00:20:53
little bit better or help them to have
a skill that they didn't have before,
Speaker:
00:20:58
then I'm doing my job.
Speaker:
00:21:00
And so I think you do have to
sometimes have kind of thick skin and
Speaker:
00:21:05
situations do come up. And
again, it connects back to,
Speaker:
00:21:10
it's a learning process and some
of it's learning through doing.
Speaker:
00:21:14
And if you can say at the end
of the day that you've done your
Speaker:
00:21:19
best and you're trying to get
better, then you have to be able to
Speaker:
00:21:25
let that just be and know that it's not
going to be perfect every single time.
Speaker:
00:21:29
And to connect back to who should
or shouldn't be in the field,
Speaker:
00:21:34
I think if you're a person who's not going
to be able to do that and not be okay
Speaker:
00:21:38
with you not going to do it perfectly
every single time, it will be hard.
Speaker:
00:21:44
Yeah. I would think also just hearing
about somebody's troubles or like
Speaker:
00:21:50
if I was in your shoes, I might have
trouble, I might be thinking about,
Speaker:
00:21:54
"Oh my gosh, that poor guy," or
whatever like that after work.
Speaker:
00:21:57
But I guess from that perspective,
Speaker:
00:21:59
you're able to just hang out on a hook
at the end of the day or something like
Speaker:
00:22:03
that?
Speaker:
00:22:03
Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:
00:22:05
you do have to take care of yourself and
I think that that's a big part of when
Speaker:
00:22:09
you say are there kind of strategies
for being able to leave work at work?
Speaker:
00:22:14
Part of it is just your own mental
wellness and get yourself a therapist if
Speaker:
00:22:18
you're feeling like you're struggling
with that kind of thing or it's hard to
Speaker:
00:22:21
leave work at work because
it can be hard. And certainly
Speaker:
00:22:28
when you have people on your caseload
who are maybe struggling a little extra,
Speaker:
00:22:33
you can worry about them.
Speaker:
00:22:35
And I'm not going to say it never
crosses your mind. It definitely does,
Speaker:
00:22:40
but then I think you have to come
back to what's my role in their life?
Speaker:
00:22:44
And my role is to show up for them
once a week or more if needed,
Speaker:
00:22:49
if they are struggling.
Speaker:
00:22:50
And I'm going to do that and I'm going
to do that to the best of my ability. And
Speaker:
00:22:55
then part of it is sort of trusting
that they are also going to be able to
Speaker:
00:23:00
take care of themselves. I
remember once when I was going,
Speaker:
00:23:04
this was when I was in school,
Speaker:
00:23:06
I was going on vacation
for one of the first times.
Speaker:
00:23:09
I hadn't taken a week off
from my clients before.
Speaker:
00:23:13
And I remember talking to my
supervisor about it and saying,
Speaker:
00:23:17
"I'm just really worried. Are people
going to be okay?" And this and that.
Speaker:
00:23:20
And she said to me,
Speaker:
00:23:22
"It's a little infantilizing to your
clients. They can take care of themselves.
Speaker:
00:23:27
You have to trust in them and believe in
them." And so I think that that's a big
Speaker:
00:23:31
part of it too,
Speaker:
00:23:32
is just recognizing what your role is
and believing in the people that you're
Speaker:
00:23:36
trying to help.
Speaker:
00:23:37
Right. Well,
Speaker:
00:23:38
if you've seen Freaky Friday a thousand
times like I did with my kids growing
Speaker:
00:23:41
up, then you see Jamie Lee Curtis running
into problems with their client, Evan.
Speaker:
00:23:46
But in any case, tell me
what your day is like.
Speaker:
00:23:51
Is it regular nine to five or
talk about that a little bit and
Speaker:
00:23:56
just how many patients do
you see, that kind of thing?
Speaker:
00:24:00
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:24:01
So most psychotherapists full-time
is considered somewhere between
Speaker:
00:24:06
maybe 24 to 30 clients a week.
Speaker:
00:24:11
And with that,
Speaker:
00:24:12
it does come out to about 40 hours of
work because there's other stuff that has
Speaker:
00:24:16
to be done, like documentation
and that kind of a thing.
Speaker:
00:24:19
It's not really nine to five,
although I would say it can be.
Speaker:
00:24:25
And I think with COVID and
everything moving online,
Speaker:
00:24:29
it has changed to look more
like that because traditionally
Speaker:
00:24:34
therapy hours were after work.
Speaker:
00:24:37
They were in the evening or
they were on the weekends.
Speaker:
00:24:40
And I think that therapists were kind
of required to work those hours a lot
Speaker:
00:24:45
more than they are now.
So after COVID happened,
Speaker:
00:24:51
we started doing teletherapy and that
wasn't really a thing before COVID.
Speaker:
00:24:56
I mean, maybe it was, but insurance
didn't really think it was a thing.
Speaker:
00:24:59
They weren't covering it.
Speaker:
00:25:01
And now it's covered up in the
same exact way that in office
Speaker:
00:25:06
therapy is because people have the
flexibility to take an hour out of their
Speaker:
00:25:10
workday to come see their therapist.
And so because of that,
Speaker:
00:25:14
it can look a lot more like daytime hours.
Speaker:
00:25:16
And I think from a work-life
balance perspective for therapists,
Speaker:
00:25:20
that's probably been great. I mean,
Speaker:
00:25:22
I entered the field
while that was happening.
Speaker:
00:25:27
You do have to do some evening hours.
At the last agency I worked at,
Speaker:
00:25:31
we were required to work until
7:00 PM on two nights a week,
Speaker:
00:25:35
but other than that,
Speaker:
00:25:36
we could work any hours that we wanted
as long as we were fulfilling our
Speaker:
00:25:41
productivity requirement of that, again,
Speaker:
00:25:43
between 24 and 30 client hours.
Speaker:
00:25:48
So there's a lot of flexibility with that.
Speaker:
00:25:50
It can kind of look like whatever
you want it to look like.
Speaker:
00:25:54
Well, and also let's point out
that you went out on your own.
Speaker:
00:25:57
So you have pathways and possibilities.
You're an entrepreneur now,
Speaker:
00:26:01
so you also have to take
care of your own billing,
Speaker:
00:26:03
and you have to take care
of your own marketing,
Speaker:
00:26:05
and you have all these other
things you have to do. So I mean,
Speaker:
00:26:07
I guess there's ...
Speaker:
00:26:09
And I don't think that's that uncommon
for psychotherapists either to open their
Speaker:
00:26:14
own shop. It's kind of like
attorneys or something.
Speaker:
00:26:17
So that's also something I guess
that is a factor. Are you using AI?
Speaker:
00:26:23
AI, the hot topic of the field.
Speaker:
00:26:26
Hot.
Speaker:
00:26:26
Topic.
Speaker:
00:26:27
I do.
Speaker:
00:26:28
Use some of that.
Speaker:
00:26:29
Are you worried about AI impacting
the field? I mean, my take is no,
Speaker:
00:26:34
because I want to talk to a human
being. And as far as I can tell,
Speaker:
00:26:37
you're a human being and
not ChatGPT right now.
Speaker:
00:26:40
Not a robot.
Speaker:
00:26:42
Right.
Speaker:
00:26:42
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:26:42
Okay. So what are your thoughts? I.
Speaker:
00:26:46
Was worried. I was very worried initially.
Speaker:
00:26:50
I was like, oh my God,
this is going to take over.
Speaker:
00:26:54
Why are they going to need us?
Speaker:
00:26:56
Especially to connect what we were
talking about with teenagers and stuff
Speaker:
00:27:00
earlier. These younger
generations, unfortunately,
Speaker:
00:27:06
I think they're a little more comfortable
talking to a robot than they are a
Speaker:
00:27:09
real person. It's easier for them to
sort of dump their problems on a robot.
Speaker:
00:27:14
And I was worried about it. And
Speaker:
00:27:19
I realized that we kind of have
to normalize AI being a big
Speaker:
00:27:24
part of our society. And they'll
come to therapy and they'll tell me,
Speaker:
00:27:30
I ran it through chat and I
asked Chat what I should say.
Speaker:
00:27:35
And I'm like, okay, it's a tool.
People are going to use it.
Speaker:
00:27:39
People are going to ask
Chat what they should say.
Speaker:
00:27:42
Let's talk about what Chat said you
should say. And let's still have
Speaker:
00:27:47
this human to human connection
where we can normalize that AI is
Speaker:
00:27:51
becoming a part of life that is
integrated and many people are
Speaker:
00:27:56
turning to as a tool, but it
shouldn't be the only tool.
Speaker:
00:28:01
So I think I was initially more worried
than I am now. I've kind of realized,
Speaker:
00:28:05
okay, people use this, but I
don't think they're relying on it.
Speaker:
00:28:09
Yeah. I think it's like,
from my perspective,
Speaker:
00:28:12
I think that the field is probably pretty
insulated against it because I just
Speaker:
00:28:16
think that this is a human field.
Speaker:
00:28:19
And my perspective is that we're
on the threshold of a really
Speaker:
00:28:24
great human age where we
kind of rediscover it again.
Speaker:
00:28:28
So I think that you're in pretty
good shape. It's also like,
Speaker:
00:28:32
I think they're a ways
away from truly figuring
Speaker:
00:28:37
out that true feel.
Speaker:
00:28:39
I don't know if you saw the newspaper or
the article when it was either the Wall
Speaker:
00:28:42
Street Journal or it
was the New York Times.
Speaker:
00:28:44
It was a front page headline
about somebody getting
involved with a delusional
Speaker:
00:28:48
relationship with an AI. I read it.
Speaker:
00:28:52
And whenever the bot would be
like, "Wait, I'm just an AI.
Speaker:
00:28:57
You need to adjust your behavior because
... " And the guy would freak out.
Speaker:
00:29:01
So people don't know how to interact
with these things. So long story short is
Speaker:
00:29:06
that I think the need for,
Speaker:
00:29:08
and I'm not sure my opinion counts
for anything, but I think you're.
Speaker:
00:29:13
In good shape. I think it does. I think
it does because you're a person, right?
Speaker:
00:29:16
So it's like, what do you want?
Yes. And I do think you're right.
Speaker:
00:29:20
And I will say that, I mean, there is not,
Speaker:
00:29:24
like we were talking about open offices
before and there not being enough
Speaker:
00:29:28
clinicians.
Speaker:
00:29:29
There are not enough clinicians right
now for the number of people that want to
Speaker:
00:29:34
have therapy with a real person, right?
Speaker:
00:29:37
There's not a shortage of
that. At my last practice,
Speaker:
00:29:41
the group practice I worked at,
Speaker:
00:29:42
we didn't have a wait list because
it would've just been too long.
Speaker:
00:29:46
It was just like, you can call and
if we have an opening when you call,
Speaker:
00:29:50
then you can get it,
Speaker:
00:29:50
but there's so much demand that
we're not even keeping a wait list.
Speaker:
00:29:54
So I think at least right now,
Speaker:
00:29:58
it's not showing signs of stopping
to Just because AI is here. So
Speaker:
00:30:03
I think, and I hope that you're right.
Speaker:
00:30:05
Is it my perception correct,
Speaker:
00:30:06
but it seems like there's
this field skews more
Speaker:
00:30:11
female than male.
Speaker:
00:30:13
Is there an issue getting
male psychotherapists into the
Speaker:
00:30:18
workforce or is that not an issue?
Speaker:
00:30:20
Yeah, you're definitely right. I mean,
Speaker:
00:30:22
it's mostly white women out here and I'm
obviously part of that demographic and
Speaker:
00:30:27
we need some diversity.
So if you're a guy,
Speaker:
00:30:31
if you're anything that's not a
white woman, come on in because
Speaker:
00:30:36
people sometimes they want to
identify with their clinician.
Speaker:
00:30:40
They want to see a clinician that looks
like them or maybe has had similar life
Speaker:
00:30:43
experiences based on their
demographic and that's fair.
Speaker:
00:30:48
So yeah,
Speaker:
00:30:50
I think it's less common to
see men for sure in the field,
Speaker:
00:30:55
but we need them. We need you guys.
Speaker:
00:30:57
Okay. Well, noted. If the podcast
doesn't work out, I may enroll.
Speaker:
00:31:01
Sounds good. Okay. So let's
talk a couple other things.
Speaker:
00:31:05
And we're going to wrap it up with
this. On a scale of one to 10,
Speaker:
00:31:09
the family dinner test,
Speaker:
00:31:11
so how likely are you to be able
to enjoy a dinner with your family?
Speaker:
00:31:16
Oh, I think an eight.
Speaker:
00:31:17
That's pretty good. All
right. We'll take it.
Speaker:
00:31:20
Yep.
Speaker:
00:31:20
Yeah. Okay. Let's take it up a notch.
Speaker:
00:31:24
Let's say that you want to get
involved, I call this the coaching,
Speaker:
00:31:28
the little league test.
Speaker:
00:31:29
If you want to coach a soccer
team or something like that,
Speaker:
00:31:31
on a scale of one to 10,
Speaker:
00:31:32
how likely would you be able to keep a
two or three night a week commitment?
Speaker:
00:31:37
Yeah, still pretty likely, especially
two, three nights a week. Yeah,
Speaker:
00:31:41
I would give that maybe a seven.
Maybe it's a little bit tougher,
Speaker:
00:31:44
but I think you're still pretty
likely to be able to do that. Well.
Speaker:
00:31:48
Maybe you're not the main coach.
Speaker:
00:31:49
Maybe you're the co-manager
or something like that. All.
Speaker:
00:31:52
Right. Yeah. So cool.
Absolutely. I think- Well.
Speaker:
00:31:55
And also when the kid strikes out,
Speaker:
00:31:58
you'd be able to say the right
things to them because they're a.
Speaker:
00:32:00
Psychotherapist. So there's
that too. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:
00:32:05
Now the last one is we don't like to
talk numbers, but the Disney World test.
Speaker:
00:32:09
This is, okay,
Speaker:
00:32:11
could you take a family to Disney World
on a psychotherapist salary? And if so,
Speaker:
00:32:16
would you stay in the budget
hotel, the moderate hotel,
Speaker:
00:32:20
or could you splurge and go
to the super fancy hotel?
Speaker:
00:32:23
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:32:24
So what I'll say about
that is it varies widely
Speaker:
00:32:29
in the field. So if you're
just starting out in the field,
Speaker:
00:32:33
you might be more likely to be working
in a community mental health center.
Speaker:
00:32:38
It's a little bit easier to get those
kinds of jobs right out of school where
Speaker:
00:32:42
maybe you're not being paid
quite as much and you are
Speaker:
00:32:46
working more. However, as
you progress in the field,
Speaker:
00:32:52
it's absolutely, it's absolutely possible.
Speaker:
00:32:54
And can you tell me the kinds of
hotels we could be staying in again?
Speaker:
00:32:58
All right. Well, let's say a budget hotel.
Speaker:
00:33:00
Let's call that the Motel six.
Speaker:
00:33:04
Or could you go and could you
stay in a Hilton or could you stay
Speaker:
00:33:09
in the super fancy Mickey Mouse Hotel?
Speaker:
00:33:11
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:33:12
I think you're probably going to be in
sort of the mid-range most of the time.
Speaker:
00:33:16
But that being said, it all depends on
the rest of how you're living your life.
Speaker:
00:33:20
And if you save up,
Speaker:
00:33:21
you probably could stay at that fancy
hotel if that's really what you wanted to
Speaker:
00:33:24
do. So it's absolutely
not out of the question.
Speaker:
00:33:27
All right. I may switch things now.
Speaker:
00:33:30
I may switch things to Yellowstone
because that seems like-.
Speaker:
00:33:33
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:33:34
Sure. Yeah. Let's talk about that.
Speaker:
00:33:35
More people may want to be going to
Yellowstone now than Disney. All right.
Speaker:
00:33:40
Well, this is wonderful. Liza, thank
you so much for coming on our program.
Speaker:
00:33:46
Any other closing thoughts?
Are we good? Or you tell me.
Speaker:
00:33:49
I think the last thing that I would
want to say is just that it's a
Speaker:
00:33:54
really, really rewarding field. If you
are somebody who wants to help people,
Speaker:
00:34:00
it's pretty incredible.
I keep this little ...
Speaker:
00:34:02
I actually have it right here on my desk.
Speaker:
00:34:04
I keep this little notebook
about all my client wins when
Speaker:
00:34:09
people have a breakthrough and things go
well because there are hard days in the
Speaker:
00:34:12
field as well, but there are
also really, really good days.
Speaker:
00:34:16
So if you're considering it,
Speaker:
00:34:17
I think it's a worthwhile
consideration and endeavor.
Speaker:
00:34:21
Fantastic. So I'll tell you what,
everybody, if you like this episode,
Speaker:
00:34:26
please like it or share it
with a friend. And if you can,
Speaker:
00:34:30
be grateful for something
today. Thank you, Liza.
Speaker:
00:34:33
Thank you so much.
Speaker:
00:34:35
Thanks for listening.
Speaker:
00:34:36
Don't forget to like and subscribe to
Dream Job Cafe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker:
00:34:41
or wherever you listen. And don't
forget to check out Wayspark.co,
Speaker:
00:34:45
where we help people navigate
careers in a crazy world.