Career Advice

[Sylvia06]

Hello,

I would like some career advice.

In May of 2019 I graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S in Psychological and Brain Sciences. The classes I enjoyed most during my time in school were physiological psychology, the psychology of learning and memory and somatosensory psychology. Naturally, as someone who is trying to find out what to do with his/her life, I looked up what careers existed dealing with these areas of science. The career paths I found of research assistant, scientist, professor, or medical consultant were not exciting or appealing to me at all. It wasn’t so much the act of researching or learning that deterred me, but the fact that I would be stuck inside a building all day doing the same thing over and over again. I also wanted a career in which I could directly help people and personally see them progress. I didn’t want to help them behind a microscope lens and never get the direct therapy satisfaction.

I am also a very active person who loves the outdoors and I get extremely anxious/unsettled if I do not get sunlight and am not constantly moving around and/or doing something hands-on. I realized this was part of my personality and not just a childhood phase when I got a job at a hospital as a physical therapy technician around 3 years ago. I worked as a tech for 2.5 years. I really enjoyed the work, but I would often stare out of the window and wonder when I would get to go outside again. I remember coming home feeling like I wasted the entire day doing nothing, even though I really wasn’t wasting the day. I realized then that even if I am helping people, and doing what I loved, I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t integrate that with being active and the outdoors.

So, after I graduated I moved to Austin to be out in the hill country. I bought myself a dog to go hiking with every day and I was very happy. I was a strength coach at a gym and I thought I had found my dream career. I finally found a career in which I could help people and incorporate my active personality and love for the outdoors. However, the slow feeling of “this isn’t it” crept in. I starting realizing I loved talking to my clients about their lives and helping them psychologically more than I did coaching them. I still loved coaching, I just liked the counseling them more. The love of science part of me also starting creeping back in. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on nutrition and the body. I started feeling like I wanted more education and I have been thinking about going back to school. I enjoyed school so much, but I don’t want to go back if it won’t get me further into a career that I will feel completely comfortable and happy in. So I began researching for more careers that will integrate my newfound interests: the outdoors, coaching, helping people emotionally, and science.

I have talked to many mentors about this sort of career as well as friends and family. I have begun to realize that I cannot do all of what I love myself, but I can hire people who can.
I have thought about becoming a therapist, but not a traditional therapist. I don’t want to be stuck inside an office all day.

I want to open up a holistic health practice. I want to do therapy in untraditional ways such as adventure therapy, art therapy, and equine therapy. However I know I cannot do all of these myself as they each require specialized training. So I want to hire therapists under me that can perform those therapies for my clients. I also want to open up a gym section for training to improve overall health and lessen anxiety/ depression symptoms as I am a certified personal trainer and coach. There will also be nutritionists and available for people to talk to, this way I can incorporate my love for nutrition and science. This is all sounds wonderful and great, but I still want to do more myself than being a manager. I want to be a part of the business I will create. I would like to be one of the hands-on therapists. My role in the business will be that of an adventure therapist and maybe even equine therapist. I will take people rock climbing/canoeing/ camping/hiking as part of therapy. This type of therapy is used in states such as Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and North Carolina for teens and young adults struggling with substance abuse and behavioral issues. Lastly, I will learn how to use biofeedback to further integrate the sciences. Perfect! My dream career. Now- how do I get there?

I am not sure what route to go as far as becoming a therapist. I’ve heard many different things about different routes. I’ve heard that getting a masters in counseling is very limiting and you cannot open your own practice. I’ve also heard that getting a masters in social work will allow you to open your own practice, get paid more, and give you opportunities to do more than just therapy with your clients. I heard that if you have a Psyd, you can charge more and you will be more knowledgeable in the sciences (which is what I want anyways so that I can help people in this way). I just feel so lost in which school route to take and I’m not sure where to go.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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[R. Matey]

This sounds like a combination of basically wellness education and mentoring in the out of doors. Why not just open a summer camp or an adventure company? Being a therapist very much involves "sitting in a room and doing the same things over again" even if it's just in a training context. The types of intervention you're describing are not empirically validated for treating any mental health disorder. That may not stop people from doing them, just like FDA regulations don't stop people from buying diet pills on the internet.

I'd suggest doing a little more career exploration. You might try finding someone who does this kind of work and see how they got there. I don't support these types of interventions being called "therapy," but there is a good amount of literature on the positive effects of mentoring relationships.

 

[deleted343839]

I want to open up a holistic health practice. I want to do therapy in untraditional ways such as adventure therapy, art therapy, and equine therapy. However I know I cannot do all of these myself as they each require specialized training.

None of these are regulated professions, so technically all you need to do is come up with a good marketing plan.

There are people whose business revolves around elevating resort activities to "therapy." They may tout certifications, but often this adds up to little more than a few weekend workshops and hundreds or thousands of dollars for the application fee. One of the newer trends is "forest bathing" for which you can become a "certified" guide if you take a workshop. These are perfectly pleasant activities that can temporarily relieve stress or tension, or help people develop new skills, but understand that the facilitators are not operating in anything like the same space as licensed mental health professionals. As long as you don't confuse the two, and carry the right insurance, I see no problem with DIY'ing a hiking/equestrian/nature/art/nutrition/coaching retreat.

 

[Sylvia06]

None of these are regulated professions, so technically all you need to do is come up with a good marketing plan.

There are people whose business revolves around elevating resort activities to "therapy." They may tout certifications, but often this adds up to little more than a few weekend workshops and hundreds or thousands of dollars for the application fee. One of the newer trends is "forest bathing" for which you can become a "certified" guide if you take a workshop. These are perfectly pleasant activities that can temporarily relieve stress or tension, or help people develop new skills, but understand that the facilitators are not operating in anything like the same space as licensed mental health professionals. As long as you don't confuse the two, and carry the right insurance, I see no problem with DIY'ing a hiking/equestrian/nature/art/nutrition/coaching retreat.

You are the first person that’s ever been supportive and understanding outside of my family. Thank you. I learned a lot from your post.

 

[foreverbull]

I'd suggest doing a little more career exploration. You might try finding someone who does this kind of work and see how they got there. I don't support these types of interventions being called "therapy," but there is a good amount of literature on the positive effects of mentoring relationships.

This.

In a psychiatric residential treatment facility I worked in many years ago, the kids did adventure/exercise regimens with facilitators that ran adventure courses and led exercise/activities--and they linked it back to coping skills and our goals as a group (I was staff there). The facilitators had the same Behavior Management Through Adventure training & de-escalation/restraint training that all care counselors had, as well, so they also had a window into the mental health side of things and helped manage behaviors.
This may be more your thing; active, but in a therapeutic setting? They were bachelor's level degree holders who were just active people running this and had some additional on the job training.

This might be related?

Association for Challenge Course Technology

The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) is the World's leading advocate, educator, and standards developer for the challenge course, aerial adventure course, zip line, and canopy tour industry. Learn more about challenge courses, connect to challenge course and zip line...

www.acctinfo.org

Training – The Adventure Network

www.adventure-network.net

Just a possibility I wanted to throw out there. Of course, this stuff is also just used for corporate/group team-building outside of mental health, but can be incorporated into mental health as well.

 

[Laradd]

Your experiences are so enough already, you just need to know which to stand and to really choose. Good luck!

 

[biomom]

As a Master’s level counselor, ifeel very strongly that therapies should be empirically based. I am not well-read on equine therapy. Honestly, I feel like opening a summer camp is your best bet.