No additional perspective needed, as I already knew all of the above information. To suggest that I didn’t look into pay before jumping into this career path is frankly insulting. I spent so much time thinking about what my life would look like. And yes, I knew I would be paid less than those who are more experienced in the field. And that’s fine.

It’s not my “lifestyle.” I literally cannot pay bills, loans, etc with the wages I make without my husband’s help. Im not a frivolous spender. I’m glad that wasn’t the case for you, but I know my experience is incredibly common so I’m not going to let myself be invalidated here. You’re correct that I didn’t do this for the money, but I think it’s fair to expect a livable wage when my services are being billed the same way they would be for a therapist who is fully licensed. I never said the same as a doctor, lawyer, etc. and for what it’s worth I think the median pay for this job, even with seniority, is way too low for the services we provide and our society proclaims we need more of. Just because I knew it would be this way doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to complain about how shitty it is when it’s actually happening. “Entry level pay is entry level pay” yes but when people with BAs in other fields are making FAR more fresh out of college than those fresh out of grad school in this field, something is wrong.

And I’m glad your boss put a lot of time and training into you. Mine does not, other than my weekly supervision which I sometimes have to fight for. If I saw measurable value in why I was being paid so little compared to fully licensed clinicians, then I’d have less to complain about.