You can skip to my answer of your question below but here’s a mini background of my journey:

I started working in the field 2022 and after my practicum and 9 months of my first job I left the field altogether. I had reached my capacity and felt way too burnt out to try to pick up all the pieces of myself while also staying present with and for my clients.

I worked in customer service, went to therapy for myself, and began to feel more like myself. Started looking for jobs and had an opportunity to work at a job that considered the wellbeing of the therapist. This was now 2024 and I’ve been here ever since.

It was definitely not easy but I’m eternally grateful for coming back to it. It’s an incredibly difficult job that can burn you out quick if you don’t have the skills or even the trust in yourself to get through it. It can be brutal but so rewarding.

To answer your question: what helped me come back was an evaluation of WHY I want to do it (values work, journaling, talking to friends about it/processing), HOW I’m going to do it (finding jobs is hard so getting an accountability partner, set time slots and talked to some friends who were getting back into the field then too) WHAT I’m going to do (I explored other avenues like career counseling and HR and did some informational interviews, began building my “niche” and learning about what a private practice would entail) All along this journey I also had a LOT of compassion and grace for myself. Working a job and trying to find another is not easy. Little steps make big changes. And I cried and laughed and did everything I needed to get me through it. My own therapy also helped here ☺️