Sometimes being a therapist stink - should I find another job?

Last year I hired a new therapist at my clinic. During the job interview, we were talking about her work experience. Her last clinic, she confided, had been a very stressful place to work. Disorganized, unethical. And, the worst part was, she said, the therapists there had more issues than the clients!

We both laughed. We therapists know we have plenty of issues, but we also know we are supposed to keep ourselves together. And if we don't, we need to do something else. Anyway, she said that things had gotten so crazy there that one of the therapists quit taking clients altogether, moved out of town, and is now working on a construction crew, driving a forklift.

When I heard this I was like, huh, who would ever do that? But then my husband rented a skid steer a couple of weekends ago and I got to drive it for an hour. While I was driving, I was thinking about the fork lift-driving therapist. Let me tell you, that was FUN. I actually caught myself thinking briefly, "I wonder if I should look for a job doing this...this is pretty great." Nobody talks to you, you have all this power in the machine, there are dirt and rocks everywhere, one flick of your wrist, and the machine hoists hundreds of pounds of soil this way or that. The cage of the machine even provides shade. It seemed like a very viable choice. At least for that one hour.

Being a therapist is pretty much the opposite of driving heavy equipment. And it looks easy. I mean all a therapist is doing is sitting there listening. Who's to say they don't have a hidden earbud and are actually listening to a great podcast on archaeology or superheroes or Mediterranean cooking while you are talking to them?

But the fact is, they aren't "relaxing" in their chair. They're absorbed in your drama. They see very little change next time they see you. And you don't take their advice. And you don't tell them the whole truth either.

Then the therapist gets an email from your spouse or parent telling them to fix you faster. Which isn't possible because nobody "fixes" anyone else.

And then you cancel on the therapist before the next appointment, and the week after that, you call to get an emergency appointment because after you canceled last time, you had a crisis.

And then your insurance company rejects the claims because one digit was wrong on your zip code.

So the therapist, who was counting on that payment for their car payment, doesn't pay that car payment, but instead, sits on hold with the insurance company and gets disconnected after speaking with someone in India.

They, of course, do this after they weigh themselves and realize that sitting ALL day at work isn't doing them any favors, and they vow to go on more walks.

Then a therapy student emails them and says they are doing a paper on what it's like to be a therapist.

The therapist emails them back and says it's just so great to help people.

And it is.

Its a different kind of work, though. And I'm not sure how much of it humans can take without counterbalancing all of that sitting and listening with some outdoor activities. A forklift driving job would definitely balance things out. As long as you can also get out and walk around too.