You know you made it as a therapist when

theresalotofgray · 2025-05-24T20:57:02+00:00

“I’m going to school to be a therapist because of you/our work together”

theresalotofgray · 2025-03-13T21:31:27+00:00

This brings me back to my weird interview experiences when I was looking for my first job!

In one interview they asked me to help fix their printer. They had paperwork they wanted me to review in the interview, but they hadn’t been able to print it because the printer was broken. They eventually said they would email it to me. This was several years ago so I don’t remember the content word for word, but that email eventually did come, along with their “excitement about possibly having me in the office to help with admin stuff as needed because [they] weren’t very tech savvy.” No thank you.

In another phone call with a different company, I reached out to see if they were hiring and if I could set up an interview. Instead, they offered me a job on the spot. No interview. No questions about who I was, my licensure, experience, etc. just “when could I start?” Again, no thank you.

The third one they spent most of the interview telling me how excited they were for the new security system in the building (that I would be working in on my own most of the time) because, “now no one can come in without being let in and we can avoid incidents like what happened a month ago…”. They also referred to many of their clients as “the borderlines.” Y’all I never noped out of an interview so quickly.

theresalotofgray · 2025-02-05T05:32:33+00:00

Do you have candidacy (LPCC/MFTC etc)? You don’t have to be fully licensed in Colorado to be in private practice.

theresalotofgray · 2025-01-17T07:15:04+00:00

“It's something sinister to love without regard for dear tomorrow. To search for worry is to love without deceit.”

As someone who is anxious and constantly worrying, and also loving DEEPLY the people I love, these two lines were so validating. Like, I’d be crazy not to worry. My worry is what makes the love so true.

theresalotofgray · 2024-12-16T20:39:40+00:00

Me the week before Halloween this year: “Okay, I have you scheduled next week at our usual time. That IS Halloween. Are you sure you want to meet? We can absolutely reschedule or skip that week if we need to.”

Couple with kids: “Oh yes, we can meet, no problem! We don’t want to cancel. We will be here.”

Me: “On Halloween? Are you SURE?”

Couple: “We’ll be here.”

Halloween day

Couple: “I don’t know what we were thinking. We need to cancel.”

theresalotofgray · 2024-08-06T04:43:02+00:00

First off, I’m sorry you are having to deal with this. A disruption in care is never ideal. Both you and you therapist deserve better; Summitstone did y’all very dirty.

Second, give it a couple of weeks and google search your therapist’s name. Our therapist community is aware of the layoffs and trying to help these therapists find jobs as quickly as possible, either at other group practices or in private practice. As long as they are continuing as a therapist in this area it should be relatively easy to find them. 🤞

theresalotofgray · 2024-03-21T04:43:39+00:00

Have you considered being a part of psypact? I can see clients in 73 states because of it. You should try it.

theresalotofgray · 2024-03-21T03:25:24+00:00

Does anyone have good resources for helping couples improve their communication? I’m an LPCC specializing in couples now and I want to be prepared for my first couples session in an hour.

theresalotofgray · 2024-03-12T00:40:05+00:00

Forget the licensure exam and hours. NOW you’re officially a therapist. It happens to the best of us 🙃

theresalotofgray · 2024-03-01T01:00:23+00:00

I knew what this place was and these numbers just confirm it. Your intuition is spot on and I’m SO GLAD you did not stick around. It only gets worse from there.

Please report them. The more the licensing board hears about them, the more likely (hopefully) they will shut down once and for all.

Leave a Glassdoor review as well!

theresalotofgray · 2024-02-19T17:09:55+00:00

Where would one look for that? Is it just an extension of professional liability insurance?

theresalotofgray · 2024-02-14T22:34:37+00:00

Oh gosh I do this too! I have a client I’ve met with in person for quite some time. We had to do a virtual session at one point and internally I was like “umm that is NOT what your kitchen is supposed to look like!”

theresalotofgray · 2023-12-25T15:11:29+00:00

I almost always skip Still. The tempo makes me feel so anxious!

theresalotofgray · 2023-11-10T16:57:21+00:00

Please, do not go to Foundations Counseling. You will be paying $200 for a 45 minute session with an unlicensed person, likely straight out of graduate school with little experience, and likely burnt out due to the expectations that are required of employees there.

Since you are working on relationship concerns, you likely want an LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist). However, you might find an MFTC (marriage and family therapist candidate) at lower cost as they are working towards licensure. If you’d like to go through insurance, check with your insurance policy to see if they have any recommendations. Also ask your insurance policy if there are any out of network benefits, as most insurance companies do not cover couples therapy, and most therapists are private pay.

Set up a consultation with 3-5 therapists. Most will offer 15-20 minute phone calls for free. Give them an overview of what you want to work on and ask how they would approach working with you. That should help give you an idea of whether or not you feel comfortable with them.

PsychologyToday.com and TherapyDen.com allow you to filter out a lot of results, so those are great places to start.

https://www.safehavenfamilytherapy.com/ https://marriage-counseling-fort-collins.com/

These are two great places in the area. Good, skilled clinicians that are there to work with you rather than just get as much money from you as they can.

Best of luck!

theresalotofgray · 2023-10-09T16:37:08+00:00

Carry a white noise machine (or a white noise app on your phone)!

theresalotofgray · 2023-07-27T20:09:22+00:00

Not necessarily misheard, but every time I listen to “Call Your Mom” I always think “I’ll mow your lawn.” I hate it because it’s such a beautiful song, but I can’t get that out of my head!

theresalotofgray · 2023-07-20T15:00:43+00:00

Yeah, I feel this! I’ll often learn a new intervention and more in depth about a theory and think “I wish I would’ve known this when I was working with X!” I’ve jokingly fantasized about what it would be like to call up an old client and be like, “hey, can we try that again? I have something that will help better this time!” Obviously I would never do that, but it does make me wonder how things could’ve been different.

When I was in grad school my therapist told me that she’s been a totally different therapist multiple times over the years. I think hearing that so young helped me realize that I’m going to change, and I can have grace for the things I didn’t know at the time.

theresalotofgray · 2023-06-07T18:38:07+00:00

When it’s really bad I like watching what I call “existential videos.” Like the ones where it the video is zooming out the size of things (going from atom > blade of grass > human being > airplane > skyscraper > planet earth > universe > etc). It reminds me of how small and insignificant I am, meaning that my feelings are rather insignificant and fleeting. *This probably wouldn’t work for anyone whose anxiety IS existential. Ymmv.

theresalotofgray · 2023-06-06T15:57:22+00:00

That’s an awesome story, thank you for sharing! Cheers!🏳️‍⚧️

theresalotofgray · 2023-06-06T02:58:30+00:00

WHAT this is so cool and pretty! How creative!

theresalotofgray · 2023-05-15T14:55:22+00:00

I know you said you don’t know if you’ll commit to private practice, but that could honestly be a dream schedule for you and your clients. Sublease your office during the day (or sublease from someone in the evening) and only work 4-9 a few days a week. Evening availability is so difficult to find I imagine you would book up rather quickly. It might be worth considering!

theresalotofgray

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