What is school for therapy like?

How was getting your education to become a therapist? Learn anything new about yourself?

Sheeeshhhh it was rough. The process is pretty intensive.

So, let’s assume you have a 4 year degree. Great. It could be in anything really, the Social Work program I graduated from didn’t have any prerequisites getting in outside of graduating with a BA (there might have been a GPA requirement, but I’m not sure and am feeling too lazy to look it up). In other words, it’s a relatively low barrier to entry. They take pretty much anyone crazy enough to want to join. Then weed out anyone who eventually comes to their senses.

I was not part of this group.

I basically worked / studied 16 hours a day for two years straight, spending my mornings either delivering pizza or stumbling through trauma cases at my internship, and my evenings prying my eyes open through 3 hour lectures. I’d get home around 10, knock out at 12 and wake up at 6 to do it again.

But I truly didn’t want to do anything else with my life. I found everything I was learning and practicing to be fascinating in a way I never felt about anything else I studied in school. For this I felt lucky. And still do.

Did I learn anything about myself? I learned probably everything about myself. The things I’m able to provide for the people I work with are a result of the things I was able to provide for myself, first.

Were there times I wanted to quit? Oh yeah. Burnout is real. But I’m incredibly grateful I stuck with it. I’m doing great work and feel very fulfilled by it. More people should try it.

In fact, I was thinking about this the other day - if I were to make a list of jobs or subjects everyone should do or study at some point in their life it’d look something like:

Wait tables

Work with kids

And intern at a mental health clinic

It’ll change your perspective about yourself, about your family, about politics, about life, about everything. It would probably lead to world peace.

So yeah, I may have veered away from the initial question, but in short...therapists for president.

Much love. Tip your waiters.