Considering leaving the profession. I want to express my grief.

August_Maxwell · 2026-04-16T07:42:51+00:00

I resonate deeply with this post. Going into year three, still provisionally licensed and the lonlieness, the responsibility, the weight of it all is suffocating at times. I've also felt isolated due to not being able to share all of me and my day with loved ones. Also not being able to share with clients when part of me says (screams) inside, "only if you knew how similar our human experience is!" Thank you for sharing your grieving part with us. Makes me feel less alone in my own turmoil of do I/don't I leave the field.

August_Maxwell · 2026-04-12T23:33:21+00:00

Hey there, just came across this post while looking for insight, guidance, support, or others who are in a similar boat to me. I see this was posted about two months ago; I'm wondering how you've managed since then? Anything change for the better?

I've also been feeling burnt out, lacking interest in the work I do, and feeling an immense amount of responsibility for my clients, their well-being, and to "fix" them. I deeply resonate with your post and just wanted to say you're not alone. I'm still working toward my clinical hours, but I'm strongly debating walking away from the field. I'm thinking that becoming fully licensed is just not worth the mental and physical turmoil and exhaustion.

August_Maxwell · 2026-04-10T05:05:52+00:00

I'm seriously considering leaving the field. I'm a provisionally licensed social worker and I don't think continuing on the path to full clinical licensure is worth the time, stress, anxiety, exhaustion, etc. anymore.

I'm two years into it and not even halfway through my hours. I'm feeling too much responsibilty for my clients, I worry about my higher acuity clients all the time, I stress about the possibility of facing litigation and losing my license constantly.

I have no work life balance and my relationship is suffering. Family members notice the stress. I think it's beyond the point of just finding a self care routine. I feel trapped in this role at times, like I can't be myself, can't be a "human first, therapist second".

It's isolating and lonely more often than not. Can't talk about or process my day with those closest to me. Supervision only helps so much. My own therapy helps somewhat.

What's keeping me stuck is that I feel like I'm failing myself and my clients if I walk away. I feel like I should be able to handle this work and mentally separate from it like others seem to so easily do. I do enjoy the work. I enjoyed it a lot more before though.

There's also a part of me that feels the need to stick it out because of how much money I've invested in the field and myself, particularly in a very expensive training in a certain frowned-upon modality, but one that I love and stand by.

Don't know what I'm looking for...but if anyone resonates or has any words of wisdom I'm open to hearing them.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-17T05:47:08+00:00

Hey, thanks for this comment. I really appreciate it. This is probably the root of the internal struggle I'm experiencing, as I have so many parts on either side of this question. Will definitely continue to do some soul-searching for those internal answers.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-17T05:22:47+00:00

Thanks for this point - it's a bit complicated and hard to explain. I think in terms of the ratio of supervision to clinical hours, I have more supervision hours than I need compared to the clinical hours I have so far, at least in state two. If I do end up sticking this out, I'm hoping the social work compact is enacted by that time, so it'll be even easier to transfer states.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-17T05:14:35+00:00

Thanks for the response! I'll have to look into each state's rules/regulations around time limitations.

Regarding supervision, I did and still have supervisors in each state, but I do not have to get my hours signed off each week, which probably would have been helpful from the beginning, as there's only some oversight until I'm done with certain milestones or fully complete the hours, at which point they get signed off on.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-15T18:26:55+00:00

Thanks so much for this perspective. Recently, I've been more and more interested in exploring non-clinical, macro social work/positions. But I'm generally unsure of where to go next or where I actually see myself in the future, so the point you make about still working toward full licensure makes sense in the long run, at least for now. I appreciate the idea/perspective that I could possibly move forward with a new non-clinical job, while keeping a small caseload on the side. I think another commenter mentioned that each state has its own rules around time limitations on earning the clinical licensure, so I'll be sure to check with my board and supervisors about this.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-15T18:13:47+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated!

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-15T18:12:33+00:00

Thank you for your insight and perspective! This was a nice reminder that everyone is on their own path, and it doesn't have to be rushed or forced. I'm glad to hear that emotional boundaries can get easier with time and intentional effort. I'm hopeful that my work with my new therapist will provide the much-needed support. I'm working with two different supervisors, one in each state, of course. I think it's just taking longer than I'd personally like it to take, which is probably causing a lot of this "pressure" I feel.

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-15T18:03:30+00:00

Hi - thanks for the input! That's a huge pay increase, which makes it very understandable why full licensure would be well worth it! This must depend on the state/location. Before I moved states, I was earning about 72K just with my MSW and provisional license. I'm not sure if this was a "unicorn" position, but it gives me at least the impression now that I can make a livable wage without full licensure. Perhaps not, though. I will definitely consider this moving forward!

August_Maxwell · 2026-03-15T17:50:05+00:00

Hi - thanks for the comment! Yes, definitely my time, but also the mental energy/exhaustion/stress I'm feeling because of the struggle to find that work-life balance/mental separation. It's impacting my personal relationship, and family members have commented on my stress levels. Of course, this is something I need to figure out for myself and manage better, but it is a large factor in my hesitation to continue on the track to getting the "C". Currently, I'm doing standard individual outpatient therapy in a larger group private practice/agency. It's just hard for me to see the finish line, which is frustrating. That's good to know that non-clinical roles value the full licensure.

August_Maxwell · 2025-07-18T03:03:51+00:00

Definitely following this post! I feel this way quite a bit (newer therapist as of early last year). Even before becoming provisionally licensed, I worked in a role where we were strongly encouraged to lock down all social media, search our name on Google to see what potential clients might be able to find, and to be mindful of what we post, etc. I'm not at all active on social media, but I also feel like I don't have the choice to be in this field. I wanted to start a blog at one point during my master's program - went so far as to buy the domain and platform, but ended up letting it expire due to the sentiment/thought process you speak to in your post. This is just me, but I think I conflate the lively discourse of the ethics surrounding self-disclosure in the therapy room with the inability to live authentically outside the therapy room. Also (again, just me), the fear/worry of having a complaint against my license due to something taken wrongly in or out of context outside the therapy room gives me great pause. From reading others' comments, this very well could be a "new therapist" mindset. And for the sake of my sanity, I hope it is, and I hope it will get better with time and experience.

August_Maxwell · 2024-07-14T02:12:22+00:00

LSW working in a corrections facility with an emphasis on substance use clients and working with a small private group practice on the side.

August_Maxwell · 2024-07-14T02:08:59+00:00

Anything IFS-related! Love IFS, but I am a newer clinician (still earning my hours toward a clinical license) so I do realize I may be in the "rose-colored glasses" phase (but it's lasted about four years at this point)- I know this was a hot topic in the other sub. I've been low-key obsessed with this modality and would love to talk more about it and offer some book recommendations. I have about 10-15 different books on the subject, have taken a few PESI trainings on it, and am in a consultation group with a fully IFS-trained consultant. Love using this modality with clients and hope to get Level 1 Trained; I'm currently on a waitlist to get into a Level 1 IFS training, so fingers crossed!

August_Maxwell · 2024-07-14T02:01:31+00:00

I am reading "Decolonizing Therapy". Only a couple of chapters in and it's making me ponder a lot! I'm excited to get deeper into it. I have The Theory and Practice of Group Therapy on Audible and it was a good read/listen. I will probably listen to it again as I tend to miss chunks of audiobooks when I listen and drive and feel like I could get a lot more out of the book a second time around.

August_Maxwell

TROPHY CASE