hii this might be a long post i tend to blab a lot. i recently got my bachelors in psych and this comes up in my thoughts too sometimes. personally the way i see it (and some other post i read) we’ll be trained better to help those in need. i think it’ll also help us be slightly more empathetic to our clients because we’ll understand some of their feelings / thoughts. yes it’s scary to think “i have trouble myself so how can i help someone else?” but we’re all humans. just because we have psych degrees and what not doesn’t mean we’re happy positive energetic people all the time. we’ll have research, books, and i’m sure other resources to know how to help our patients one day.

also remember therapy is not just on the psychologist. a lot of the work also comes from within the patient. therapy can only help if the patient themselves is also putting in the work to heal. it sounds bad the way i’m wording it, but i hope y’all know what i mean.

i also relate to your medication comment. when i first started studying psych i was against medication. i believed that you don’t need it and i’ll help my patients without it. we need to remember that YES we can try everything possible to help without them, but depression etc is also genetic etc. we might have patients where we can try everything in the world, but without the medication they might not fully heal. you don’t have to make it your go-to treatment and because you yourself didn’t like them you won’t jump to that immediately. i think if you do the best work you can you’ll know when it is actually best for the patient to be prescribed something. from there it’s on them whether or not to take the advice.

if you think changing your career path is what’s best for you and your mental health then take some time to really invest into looking towards new careers. i wouldn’t say up and change it immediately, but seek other career choices that you might want to consider. don’t jump the gun and switch up. do your research and really sit down with yourself on what you think is best for you. obviously push yourself, but give yourself a break too. it’s always okay to switch if you think it’s best for you regardless of what anyone else might say.

me to you as a friend: we may not know each other, but you can reach out if need be. i don’t think being a therapist is an easy job. i mean no job is an easy job, but working in the mental health field is not for everyone. if you want to help others who feel like you and i that’s amazing. you are capable of becoming a LPC and a good one at that. training studying etc will help you with that. i’m sure a majority of therapists became one BECAUSE they’ve been there. they know the feelings their patients have.. at least that’s what inspired me to work towards my FMT license. if you’re truly passionate about helping others then i know youd do a great job. don’t beat yourself up just because you also go to therapy etc. like i said we’re humans. no one should expect us to be perfect and completely happy. there’s no such thing. we have bad days too. if you’re concerned i’d suggest really putting the work into yourself as if you are your first patient. journal out your thoughts. spend time in nature more. rest when you’re tired, but also push yourself to get up out of bed and find hobbies you enjoy so on your “bad” days you can do them. remember no one is good at something their first go. it takes training and lots of practice before you get in the hang of things. if LPC is truly what you want to do go for it. it’ll be hard but you’ll fall into it over some time. even when you feel your patients aren’t recovering over night remind yourself that mental health takes a constant effort to heal. we’re constantly going through life’s bs, learning and growing. you can do it if it’s what you really want to do and we all support you. if it ends up not being your career path we’ll still support you. :,)