You are approaching the last few months of graduate school and fielding questions left and right about what’s next. It’s on your mind constantly and you are trying to figure out which path is right for you. The hope of this training is to give you an inside look at three of the main areas therapists enter into after graduate school and to help you feeling close to your next step. I have had personal experience in each of these areas and within the first two years of graduating with my masters degree.
Be prepared to visualize yourself in each of these areas and take time to sort through how you feel emotionally and mentally about each of them. What is most important as your journey from graduate school is that you step into work you feel passionate and energized by.
Before we start I want to ask you to stop whatever you are doing and participate in a visualization activity with me. Close your eyes and imagine what you want the next year of your career to be like.
Imagine your work environment: are you surrounded by people? Are you by yourself? Do you have an office?
Next imagine the type of clients you are working with: Adults, older adults, children, adolescents, a mix? What type of things are you working on? Anxiety, depression, relationship issues, self-esteem, values work? Imagine what your sessions are like.
Then think about what you want to gain in a year. Are you wanting to continue to learn multiple diagnoses? Do you want to focus on one diagnosis or issue? Are you wanting access to more training's? Is having a community important to you?
When you’re ready, jot down the images and ideas that came up for you. I want you to keep these in mind as you hear about these three different ways to engage as a therapist and start to listen for which meets what you visualized.
