Soberintexas007

I really don't know. I am guessing that most of them probably do work 8 hour days. But I don't want to work that much. I would be happy treating 3-4 clients a day for 4 days each week charging $100 each session. At worst, that would bring in $1200 each week. And then with more experience, I can charge more, I think the going rate in my area for psychotherapy is at least $150 per session.

Soberintexas007

And, as you see in the news, transgenderism is getting a lot more attention with the whole story of Bruce Jenner's transition, so it is an up and coming thing. And I have been through the whole process, so I know what it is about. Plus, remember I live in the Bay Area, one of the most liberal places in the world.

Soberintexas007

Well, I am going to sign off for awhile and have a Diet Coke on my balcony. I like to tell people when I am signing off so as not to cut off anyone.

ScottFromWI

So you have a masters degree in counseling, you have done internships in the field, and you don't know what a normal work day for a therapist is?

least

synthesis: definition:

Soberintexas007

Back from my balcony break. I started to get a craving for a beer, but it passed.

Interns tend to work in clinics, so the therapists we work with do have 8 hour days. But I really don't know what the typical day is for a private practice therapist. I guess I can ask my therapist that this Saturday. I want to work in private practice not a clinic.

Also, I wanted to clarify something I discussed earlier. Even though what brought me into the field of psychology involved finding answers to my own issues and problems, it has been rewarding to also help other people. But it can also be a struggle, as not everyone gets better. I do enjoy helping others and I try my best to do that, but that is not what brought me into this profession. And because I was not drinking during my internship, my fellow interns and supervisor told me that I have good clinical skills and am effective at working and helping out other people. You guys are just seeing the worst of me here on SR because I started drinking again. But this is also why I ended my internship. I did not feel I was in the right mindset to help others while in active addiction, and so I did the ethical thing and stopped working. But it really did not matter, since I was already done with my hours and I also was not really getting paid.

Also, when I brought up working with poor, disenfranchised clients, what I meant by that is that I often saw that a lot of their issues were not so much mental health, but their issues seemed more to stem from being poor and lacking the resources to have a "normal" life. So that could be draining to work with because it's really difficult to help and suggest things to people when they really don't have the resources. It can be very frustrating.

WritingFromLife

Hi SIT. If you are having doubts about being a counselor (due to the issues you described)--you might be miserable in the job. You probably already know you have to have very real boundaries with your clients--this can be difficult also. You seem to be an Empath (I am, so I might be projecting ;-) This can be a gift as a counselor, or your worst enemy if you haven't learned to know where you "stop" and your clients "begins" . It's easy to enmesh, especially if it is happening in your personal relationships. Learning all you can about codependency will REALLY help you.

I am definitely speaking about my experience here and what I had to work so hard to overcome. I specialize in toxic relationships (sociopathy/malignant narcissism--on the victim side) as well as tween/teen girl issues. This is my calling, my purpose, my love. I don't feel as if I work a day in my life.

I am wondering if you pursue the transgender side of things, if will be the same for you---I can imagine you would be very passionate about that subject. I can picture you leading groups for this--even writing a book. So many options besides sitting in a room all day with person after person.

Your own healing definitely matter, first. You cannot give what you don't have. (It seems you have lots of compassion and love, that's awesome!) You don't have to be healed completely around your issues to teach, counsel, help others, but you do need to be clear on what those issues are and be detached emotionally from them to help others.

Your heart appears HUGE. You can do anything with that! Your answers will come--try not to resist what's in the "too hard box" ---that damn box none of us ever want to open because of what we will have to face.

With Love,

Kayce

Soberintexas007

So, I think the overall thing here is that if I can maintain sobriety, I have the opportunity to help other people do what I have done, and that means changing genders (whether boy to girl or girl to boy). And I do want to help other people do this. And it is also something that I can make a living with, so it can work out for me. I never had the opportunity to work with transgender individuals at my internship, so that was a bummer. I worked with other diagnoses. And so what I am saying (and what my therapist is saying), is that when I become licensed, I will be able to choose the clientele I want to work with, and so it may be better for me. You really don't have a choice as an intern in your clientele, since you are just an intern and need the hours. And, like I said, I found that a lot of my clientele at my internship did not necessarily have mental health issues, but had more economic and financial issues. And that is just not the setting I want to work in when I am licensed. Now, if someone has limited resources and still wants to transition, I most likely would take that person on as a pro bono client or sliding scale fee client, as I have nothing against working with someone of lower socioeconomic status, and I also believe that he or she has every right to transition as someone who has more money and resources.

Soberintexas007

Thank you WFL. Yes, counseling transgenders one-on-one, doing groups, etc. may be my calling. I found that I really did not have a difficult time having boundaries with my clients at my internship.

And, like I clarified, my only doubts about being a counselor stemmed from not being able to work with the population(s) of clients I wanted to. For example, I often had to work with 6-year-olds, and nothing against 6-year-olds, but that is an age group I am not interested in treating (unless they were showing gender dysphoric symptoms). And this is what my therapist is saying - you don't have to work with people you don't want to. If you could not work with the girl population you enjoy working with, then maybe you would also have doubts as well. That is all I am saying. I am just beginning to be set free in this profession. Another example is how I had to learn play therapy, and I'm sorry, but I HATE play therapy, LOL. But here is the thing. I may have had to learn and do it at my internship, but I will be very clear with my future clients that I don't do play therapy.

Soberintexas007

And it's possible that unconsciously I chose synthesis as the title of this thread because that is what life is all about - putting all the small parts together to create a larger, more complex whole.

ScottFromWI

I believe that is true too. Sobriety should be your main focus. Have you spoken with your sponsor or therapist about your recent relapse? Or have you considered it yourself and how you might prevent the next one from happening? Perhaps you could focus on those issues now.

WritingFromLife

"if you could not work with the girl population you enjoy working with, then maybe you would have doubts as well."

That's my point--and why I feel the transgender side might really be great for you! The passion comes from inside you---because you have been there.

Scott summed up what I was trying to say about your own healing in his last post. You must focus on you right now---

Big hugs. Keep going. You are going to have a great story to share, if you choose to share it.

Soberintexas007

Yes, and I was able to help a lot of people in the years I was at my internship. So I know that I can help people if I stay sober in the future.
I don't have a sponsor yet and will talk to my therapist on Saturday. This thread has focused on preventing me from relapsing again, LOL.

I know I have potential and talent when not drinking, and then everything goes out the window when I drink. I am not in any way comparing myself to the "The Voice" singer who recently committed suicide, as I would never claim to have such talent. But I heard he was the next great singer, but he struggled with substance abuse as well, and he eventually killed himself the other night over it. We often ask why would someone with such talent do that to themselves? I hope that does not happen to me, but it possibly could. My supervisor at my internship loved me because I did such great work and worked so hard to help my clients get better because I felt that was my job. She would be so disappointed to know what I am currently doing to myself.

Soberintexas007

Thank you for being so optimistic WFL about me. But remember, I will only have a great story to share if I quit drinking. There are countless other people who would have also had great stories to share, but it had a bad ending because of alcoholism and addiction.

Look at what happened to Robin Williams, the great actor/comedian. Such a great career making people laugh yet he ended up committing suicide because of his alcoholism and untreated issues.

Soberintexas007

I guess the reality of alcoholism and addiction is that some of us make it, and some of us don't.

ScottFromWI

We all have choices though. You just chose to have a diet coke instead of a beer. Keep making that choice every day. Choose to get a sponsor. Choose to continue your 90/90 plan . If you make enough of the right choices you can be one of "us" that makes it.

Venecia

It takes a lot of work to make it. It's not as though there is some unseen deity with a list of who is going to get sober and live in recovery and who won't.

The early period is emotional heavy lifting. We cannot throw in the towel when cravings strike, which they will. We have to face hardships, large and small, as challenges to be endured without the artificial aid of alcohol. Those are the times when we build the sober muscles.

And even as we endure the initial phase of abstinence and experience it transitioning into sobriety, we have to build the foundations for the long term. Making healthy choices with relentless consistency demands that we assess our lives and take very real action. It is, as others have said here, "an inside job."

Living in the solution has to begin with change. My hope for you is that, as a first step, you're willing to recognize that.

Soberintexas007

Sorry, but I also felt I needed to add this post to my thread. I mostly counseled adolescents and their families at my internship for several years; our clinic did not treat adults. And the adolescents I did treat needed a pretty severe diagnosis to be accepted to our clinic. And for those of you who know about adolescents, you can imagine the difficulty in just treating this population. It could be very exhausting! I will probably treat adolescents in my own practice, but I also hope to work with adults too!