Becoming a psychologist requires a commitment of time and a willingness to forgo years of having a paid job in order to learn. When I got into my doctorate program, I was lucky to have acquired externships with three incredible programs— a head start program, a refugee resettlement agency, and a county hospital. When I finally landed my first full time position at a community mental health center, I already had a breadth of clinical experience (and an extensive collection of client impressions in my heart).
I dove in deep into my work with clients, working with preschoolers, kids, teens, and their parents. I met them where they were at— at their homes, at their schools, and at their places of work, recognizing that therapy can happen anywhere.
But doing therapy full time, especially in the settings and in the way I was doing it, can lead to burnout. So after many years, I decided to say goodbye to my full time position at the community mental health center, and started a new adventure into the world of telehealth.
I now work part time using telepsychology in order to provide psychotherapy to people living in rural areas of California. It was an adjustment at first to get used to doing therapy online, but now I appreciate how doing so allows me to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise have much access to care.
