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What does the day of a therapist look like?

What does the day of a psychotherapist/ therapist like?

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Theresa’s Answer

I work in a community mental health clinic that is privately owned. We are on salary and get health benefits, paid time off and retirement. There are many more pros to it than being contract. Our agency does all its own marketing/advertising and we always have long waiting lists. We specialize in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and if you are full-time, you are required to get 25 contact hours a week made up of both seeing individual clients for therapy for 45-50 minutes and 90 minute skills groups. In a 40-hour work week, this is very generous, allowing time to write notes and treatment plans. On a typical day, I attend a yoga class at 9, and then see about 4 clients between 10:30 and 4, and then run a group from 4:30-6. When I’m being very disciplined, I end sessions after 45-50 minutes, write my note and have a few minutes to eat a snack and/or go to the bathroom. It’s a lovely, comfortable experience!
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Roxanna’s Answer

My answer changes depending on the day! I am an associate marriage and family therapist in California. I currently work at a group private practice. This means I work for a licensed marriage and family therapist who employs me and serves as my supervisor. When you work in private practice, you tend to have a lot of flexibility. Some days you might spend seeing your clients back to back. However, on other days, you might spend time working on progress notes, attending trainings, reading up/staying informed on current interventions, in supervision meetings, or networking with other therapists. When in private practice, to accumulate clients you have to market yourself whether that be on psychology databases, on social media, or meeting with other therapists, psychologists, or psychiatrists. Hope that helps!
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Noah’s Answer

Usually, you get to have a decent amount of control over your schedule as a therapist. Sessions are usually 40minutes to an hour and are weekly or bi-weekly. Between sessions, i'd recommend to have at least 15-30 minutes break to decompress and possibly write down some notes for your next session. You'll also probably be always learning about new techniques, psychological concepts, etc. It's a very dynamic career that requires you to learn about your clients constantly along with giving you lots of freedom.
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Sydney’s Answer

Seeing clients, writing notes, sometimes attending seminars or trainings, having a masters/doctorate means you could potentially teach in addition to working in private practice. Alternatively some therapists specialize in assessment and spend their time doing psychological testing and writing reports.
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Kaylyn’s Answer

My schedule is pretty flexible, as I am a therapist that works primarily with kids. During the school year, this means that I typically have a good chunk of time in the morning to finish any notes, assessments and treatment plans. Sometimes I will attend meetings with the treatment team, parents, or the custodial agency, depending on the situation of the client. Then, I actually go to the homes of my clients to do sessions with them. Typically these are around an hour a piece, but they can be more or less depending on the day and how many clients I have to see.
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