If you're a practicing therapist, is it typical to see clients basically one right after another from the start of your day until the end?
A day in the life of a therapist
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Sounds appealing right, but that would be a fantastical scenario in its own right. I am not sure where you are in your career, but it would take a lot of time and effort to fill up your schedule with say even 5-6 clients a day. That is to get them on the books, whether or not they show up is another story. Then it is a matter of tolerance with how much patience you have for your patients. If you are treating anxiety disorders using EBTs, you should have a high turnover, meaning you will have to continually find new clients to keep your schedule full. If you are working with long-term clients, expect more Axis-II dynamics which would take a toll on any provider's quality of life. There are some who enjoy doing therapy on a daily basis, and I respect them greatly for it, but I am not one of those individuals who finds that appealing.
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Depends on the job you've got, the number of clients you want and can get, as neuronic mentioned. People in some positions like private practice and some places like the VA doing 100% clinical work are more likely to be doing clinical work and related paperwork all day, although some positions have variability about the type of work (e.g., group tx, individual, eval, consult) which I think helps with burnout. I still don't think I could do it all day everyday.
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Yeah, that's the thing. I'm trying to decide between two career paths. I love psychology, and I love research, but there's a lot I don't like about engaging in the actual execution of research. With turns me towards practice. But I seriously doubt whether I could be a FT clinician for more than a few years. I feel like getting burned out is a strong possibility for me.
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Right now, I moonlight as a full time therapist (applying for internship currently- I guess I'm a 4th year phd student).
Anyways, the no-show rate is horrible. Some days I see 2-3 people, and other (though fewer) days I've seen up to 11. That's a long day. I plan to see people back to back (45 min) and count on people no-showing because it's a part of the job. Most days I see 6 people on average. It's not what I want to do full time forever (I'd be worried about burning out, too) but it's not bad. I've always enjoyed doing therapy. I'd love a job (long term) that's 80/20 split therapy and research and in a different setting. FWIW, I'm told those jobs don't exist. I'll likely end up in an applied medical setting since the integration of psychology and medicine really strongly appeals to me.
Anyways, the no-show rate is horrible. Some days I see 2-3 people, and other (though fewer) days I've seen up to 11. That's a long day. I plan to see people back to back (45 min) and count on people no-showing because it's a part of the job. Most days I see 6 people on average. It's not what I want to do full time forever (I'd be worried about burning out, too) but it's not bad. I've always enjoyed doing therapy. I'd love a job (long term) that's 80/20 split therapy and research and in a different setting. FWIW, I'm told those jobs don't exist. I'll likely end up in an applied medical setting since the integration of psychology and medicine really strongly appeals to me.
I have. I'm a veteran RA that's also headed up some of my own projects. I quite like the job of an RA, overall. It's things like data analysis, writing, and rewriting, and rewriting, grant stuff, etc. that I don't like.
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If it's really that you feel like you're not good at those tasks, that will come with time.
If it's as simple as you stated, that you do not enjoy those tasks, then having a research focused career might not be best for you.
I rather like the curiosity and creativity of research and so I really enjoy doing data analysis (putting meaning to numbers is fun to me). I dont particularly like all of the writing (as I'm a good writer, but poor compared to my contemporaries) but it's just part of the process to me.
A research-focused career is not for me. I revere the scientific process, and I like being involved with it, but I don't want to be a PI.
Trying to figure out if being a clinician would be good for me. Thinking of doing an LPC program. I have serious reservations though. The idea of seeing clients all day sounds like a good way to burn out. What else would an LPC be doing if not seeing clients?
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People with licensable masters degrees can adjunct. It's not a terrific money-maker, but if you have a burning desire to teach, you might pick up a class at a community college or state school. Sometimes CCs have trouble filling their biopsych instructor positions, at least in my region.
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It's not just seeing individual clients back-to-back, necessarily. You'd be running groups, supervising other therapists (once you are fully licensed and have experience), doing administrative tasks for an agency, and/or participating in community outreach, for example. That's all in addition to doing paperwork. There are many options. Every job and career is different.
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The idea of being part therapist, part lecturer, has always really appealed to me, and is probably the route I'm heading toward ultimately. But right now I have no experience teaching, so I can only speak to my experience as a clinician still in training.
I have been doing clinical work for 3 years now, and I have to say, I feel very comfortable and natural at it. Completely. And I have worked with a variety of populations, diagnoses, settings, etc... Still have a lot to see, but I think I've got a pretty good starting feel for it. I have been in psychotherapy myself for the better part of 17 years, and I think that has something to do with it (my feeling like I can handle it, even when I feel uncertain for a moment or two). I feel like I know myself, and can enter into the framework of others, without too much difficulty. I still have a lot of learning and experience to go through, but I love it.
Whoever mentioned the no-shows is correct. That is absolutely the way it goes. You just can't predict what the day will be like. But you will know over time who will keep coming back. Mind you I am only in an unpaid internship right now, and so I can't speak to what it's like when there is pay involved (I'm sure that changes things)...or what it's like to do it for 10, 20, 30 years... but in my experience, so far, doing psychotherapy is the most beautiful thing I've encountered. There's just something about being with someone when they experience something profound, and when you actually see the changes happen over time, that, I don't think I could ever put into words.
I have been doing clinical work for 3 years now, and I have to say, I feel very comfortable and natural at it. Completely. And I have worked with a variety of populations, diagnoses, settings, etc... Still have a lot to see, but I think I've got a pretty good starting feel for it. I have been in psychotherapy myself for the better part of 17 years, and I think that has something to do with it (my feeling like I can handle it, even when I feel uncertain for a moment or two). I feel like I know myself, and can enter into the framework of others, without too much difficulty. I still have a lot of learning and experience to go through, but I love it.
Whoever mentioned the no-shows is correct. That is absolutely the way it goes. You just can't predict what the day will be like. But you will know over time who will keep coming back. Mind you I am only in an unpaid internship right now, and so I can't speak to what it's like when there is pay involved (I'm sure that changes things)...or what it's like to do it for 10, 20, 30 years... but in my experience, so far, doing psychotherapy is the most beautiful thing I've encountered. There's just something about being with someone when they experience something profound, and when you actually see the changes happen over time, that, I don't think I could ever put into words.
Oh dear lord, don't forget about advocacy. For LPC's being involved in professional advocacy is a must, especially if we want our license to stand up to the LCSW license. That means writing your state and federal representatives constantly. Then there's client advocacy, writing on their behalf to state agencies, courts, etc.
Then you have getting CEU's, that takes some time. Then there's self-care, that takes time.
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Yes, thank you. A quick post can seem exclusionary or ignorant...my apologies.
But is this something that will provide a paycheck?
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Point well taken, but if money's your focus you'd be better directed towards the FIRE industries than any kind of therapy-related job.
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FIRE? Finance, investment, something, something?
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Hmm.. I heard the real estate market is in a sharp downturn, no?
It's not my focus, but I need to be able to make a living. Notice I said "paycheck" and not "riches."
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Er, if all you care about is a paycheck, I know plenty of LPCs who receive one of those. 😛
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I'm not being sarcastic. You said you wanted a paycheck. I know plenty of people who have their LPC who "make a living" and who "receive a paycheck." This meets your qualification, no? They're by no means rich; however, if I recall, this was not a requirement.
This is the problem when one merely states they want a paycheck. This can still mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. "Making a living" means different things to different folks (as one can see by reading past threads on what's a decent salary, a decent living, so on & so forth).
Can you earn a paycheck with an LPC? YES.
Can you make a living with an LPC? YES.
Will it be acceptable to you? Meh. That depends upon what your qualifications might be.
* And is everyone around here overly sensitive as of late or what's the deal?
I wasn't asking if you can make a living as an LPC. I was asking if the things I cited above are things that one can reasonably expect to find paid work in doing. Advocacy work is great, and I'd be very interested in doing that, but there's a difference between it being a pretty common part of the (paid) job of an LPC, vs LPCs commonly doing advocacy work that is NOT paid.
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And there are positions available if you do the legwork and networking, so my answer remains the same.
However, if you are more interested in the advocacy piece, I would question whether or not you've considered MPH programs or even master's programs in community/health psych (as I've known more folks with advocacy work with these degrees).
However, if you are more interested in the advocacy piece, I would question whether or not you've considered MPH programs or even master's programs in community/health psych (as I've known more folks with advocacy work with these degrees).
But are these fairly common? Rare, but feasible?
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To be honest, I'm not sure how "common" they are in relation to strictly therapy positions. I could take a wild guess that there are probably more therapy positions simply because there seems to be an overabundance of therapy everywhere I look. Buut, then, I'm not sure this means that the advocacy positions are "uncommon" necessarily--simply not as common when compared to therapy positions (if that makes sense; I've dissertated my brain out today).
I've primarily surrounded myself with people and ended up in places where I frequently see advocacy positions. I could declare that "sure, they can be found easily enough," but I do recognize that it may just be my personal experiences that have led me to have a higher level of exposure to these types of positions compared to the average bear. I do believe that my willingness to cross disciplines has led to many of these opportunities. So, if this is an area of interest, it may be that you have to "think outside the box" a bit to find and land what you want to do.
Of course, you can also work in advocacy with clinical psych (which I presume you know already, but just in case). I had a previous mentor with a PhD in clinical psych and a master's in public health. Most of his work was international research that he combined with advocacy efforts (with his research aimed at informing his advocacy). Although he had been heavily involved with research for years, he became more invested in the advocacy piece just before/during/after his MPH.
