Bonus: What it's Like to be a Therapist

Have you been considering becoming a therapist or counselor? Do you know which degree to get? Do you wonder what it's like in the day-to-day after graduation? This episode is for you!

Your host, Cody Cox, discusses his experience with graduate school, including disappointments, and what it was like to get clinical supervision and finally to get independently licensed and become self-employed. It's a long and grueling process, especially for heterosexual, white men. Listen to the episode to find out why!

Because this is a bit off-topic, it's a bonus episode! But it seemed relevant at the same time due to the increased interest people seem to have in becoming a therapist.

Some afterthoughts from Cody:

The profession is very politically biased. Be prepared for some political trauma, especially if you are a male or Christian. The politics will vary depending on which graduate program you attend. For example, attending a religious university will probably result in the least political bias, but it may still be present because it's part of the profession and [biased] research coming from other universities.

Even if you are not Christian or a male, be prepared for a lot of political correctness controversies. It's not uncommon to be corrected by other therapists or classmates on your wording of things, even if what you are saying isn't necessarily inappropriate. For example, African-Americans call themselves "black," but some people would say it's offensive to use that term. It can be quite a headache to keep up on political correctness, especially since there is never really a general consensus before it changes again. Saying "partner" is another common one, despite the fact that it is more vague and weakens communication compared to "boy/girlfriend," "fiance/fiancee", "husband/wife," or "spouse."

Unfortunately, therapists are often in an echo chamber of confirmation bias. Politics, clinical methodology, best practices, company policies, etc. are confirmed by colleagues, but with little or no influence from outside parties. This keeps therapists thinking they are correct, which perpetuates dogmatic attitudes.

The profession is replete with jargon, including improper grammar such as insisting on saying "resiliency," rather than the proper form, "resilience." Many of your classmates and colleagues will drop jargon to clients and the general public, not realizing they are just confusing people.

You are unlikely to get holistic training in graduate school since these programs are created to meet government requirements, modeled after allopathic medicine. You will probably have to seek additional, holistic training after you graduate, and at the risk of it not counting for continuing education toward licensure.

Connect with Cody: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with anyone who might benefit from these insights.

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