When I graduated from my masters program in mental health counseling and art therapy, I looked around at the profession as a whole and decided the best option was for me to open a private practice.
I did not like what I saw, and so I opted out.
Yes, that came with its own set of challenges: completing necessary legal paperwork, figuring out how to run a business, learning to do marketing, etc (you can read all about that in my essay Starting a Therapy Private Practice as a New Graduate).
And yet, those challenges have led me to be a far more knowledgeable, experienced, and expansive therapist. My business also continues to fuel my internal growth as I face my fears and anxieties that arise (you can read about that in my essay When Our Internal Fears Keep Coming Back as Therapists).
Had I chosen to stay within traditional mental health jobs (agencies, organizations, group practices, etc.), I’m not sure the challenges presented would have led to similar growth.
Here’s why:
Many of the challenges with the mental health profession are related to systemic issues: low pay, high caseloads, exacting paperwork, evaluations tied to “performance” statistics, and more. I wouldn’t be able to treat my clients the way I want, nor myself the way I want to be treated.
If I worked for someone else, I would have little power to enact change. Yes, I could express my views, but that likely would not lead to much. I would simply have to learn how to exist within the challenging environment. I would have to accept that certain needs of my own were not met or honored. I would have to shrink.
As a private practice owner, I can see the problems and enact change. I limit my caseload size to honor my energetic capacity. I cap the number of clients I see in a day so that I can greet them with ease and let them have a truly powerful experience. I design the physical environment of my art therapy studio so that my clients can feel welcomed and at ease. I choose not to work with insurance, so that I can avoid all of the injustices it purports (you can read about that in my essay Why I Don’t take Insurance).
I get to design my practice so that it honors my needs and those of my clients. I can provide the highest quality of care for my clients AND myself.
I also am free to write essays like this one, without fear of retribution. I can name the harmful things I see in the field and discuss them openly to enact change.
This is true liberation.
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