Connecting Students: Life Post-graduation in Mental Health Careers

Hello, everyone. Are you a student who listens to this podcast and wonders, “Why are you talking about students and not having any students on the podcast?” Today we have Mary, a UW–Madison student who is interested in pursuing a career as a therapist and will be asking us questions about becoming therapists and joining the workforce more generally.

Hello, and welcome to the Connecting Badgers podcast. We are licensed mental health providers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I use she/her pronouns.

I also use she/her pronouns.

And I’m Mary, the student, and I also use she/her pronouns. I’m a member of the Mental Health Services Student Advisory Board here on campus. I get to work with different staff members and providers at MHS and give a student perspective on different things the university is doing to offer mental health services on campus. I was reached out to by the people on this podcast, and now I’m here to talk.

Yay. We’re very excited to have you.

I’m so excited to be here.

Wherever you’d like to begin, Mary, we’re happy to dive in.

Awesome. Thanks for having me today. I appreciate the chance to talk to therapists because you have my dream job. I want to know how you got here. How did you know that you wanted to be a therapist?

That’s a great question, and we’re so happy to have you join us today. In terms of deciding to become a therapist, both learning about therapy academically and experiencing how helpful therapy can be personally drew me in this direction. I took a lot of psychology-related classes during my undergraduate years. I knew I wanted to do this when I saw, both personally and professionally, how helpful therapy can be for people.

For me, I was very confident growing up and into college that I wanted to be a teacher. As I started college, I realized standing in front of a classroom didn’t feel like what I wanted to do anymore. One reason was that I became aware of the ways students were struggling individually but had limited capacity to help them as a teacher. That led me to ask what I could do to help individuals more directly, and I landed on therapy.

That’s something I commonly hear from therapists. Many had roles in education or higher education and realized they wanted a more direct impact on students’ lives.

That leads into my next question. How did you determine the specific settings you wanted to work in, and what advice would you give to students who are interested in becoming therapists and are trying to find experiences that will help them decide which populations or settings might be a good fit?

Absolutely. There are a vast number of specialties and settings available, and that can feel overwhelming. I had many interests and didn’t know which direction to choose.

That experience helped me realize it’s important for me to have a multitude of roles and specialties. Having variety in my schedule felt important.

I naturally ended up in college counseling settings. For both my practicum and internship, I worked at the college counseling center where I attended graduate school and learned how much I enjoy working with college students.

College counseling also allows for variety. This podcast is one example of supporting students in a different way. I enjoy the variety of focuses in my work and that all of those opportunities are available in a college counseling setting.

In undergraduate and graduate school, I also held positions in helping professions and higher education. A lot of things pulled me in this direction. Graduate school helps you figure out those interests and identify which directions you want to pursue. You can explore different opportunities and see where you end up. Sometimes it is about trusting the process.

Unless you’re certain about a specialty or setting, a lot comes from trying things and hearing from peers. One of the benefits of graduate school is being surrounded by people who have placements in different settings. You hear about experiences working with different age groups and populations. It can help you identify what excites you and what doesn’t.

My specialties are severe and persistent mental illness and eating disorders. Those weren’t areas I would have chosen at the start of graduate school. They developed from my job experiences.

Another piece of advice is that these decisions aren’t as permanent as they feel in graduate school. You can develop specialties throughout your career and change settings.

A benefit of hospital settings, college mental health, and larger group practices is that you often don’t have to manage insurance yourself. That’s something worth considering. Learning as you go and having the flexibility to change throughout your career is valuable.

That’s encouraging to hear. Sometimes there’s pressure to feel like you should already have everything figured out, or that everyone around you knows what they’re doing.

It’s helpful to hear that graduate school is the time to explore those experiences and determine what’s a good fit.

I’m particularly interested that you focus on severe and persistent mental illness. Something I’ve thought about, and heard others worry about, is the impact of working with that population. How do you maintain healthy boundaries and support yourself so you can show up for clients without carrying everything with you? How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?

I can speak to that.

It’s a unique relationship. If you’ve ever worked a customer-service job, someone may unexpectedly share something difficult they’re going through. You have a human reaction and feel empathy, but there’s still a separation.

Therapy is similar, though deeper. We build rapport and connection, but the idea is that we’re walking alongside clients as they experience difficult things. We’re not experiencing those things for them. At the end of a session, they continue on their path and we return to ours.

People create that separation in different ways. I listen to comedy podcasts on my way home from work. It helps me reconnect with my own interests and lighter topics.

I also rely on personal supports, supervision, my own therapy, and people in my life. Those supports are important on heavier days.

Seeing growth in clients can be incredibly rewarding. Staying connected to why we do this work and what gives us energy is important. It can be difficult, and it can be emotionally draining, but leaning into support systems helps.

I agree with everything that was said.

Many people entering helping professions worry about how they’ll take care of themselves while doing this work. That’s a very common concern.

Graduate school and supervised training are designed to help you learn what works for you. Supervision and connections with other therapists provide support and shared understanding.

I also think it becomes easier with time. A supervisor once suggested visualizing the act of closing your laptop at the end of the day. You’re also closing the stories and concerns your clients brought that day. You can return to them tomorrow when you open your laptop again.

Creating that separation is important.

That’s great to hear from your perspectives. It sounds intimidating to develop that separation and understand both the importance of your work and the importance of leaving it at work.

I appreciate the perspective because it’s always a good thing to think about. Learning how to enforce that separation is important if you want to show up for your clients.

I also wanted to ask about burnout. A lot of what you’ve talked about applies to avoiding burnout, but are there any specific strategies you would recommend?

I’ll reiterate the importance of supervision and personal supports.

Avoiding burnout is often about maintaining boundaries at work. New therapists can be tempted to overextend themselves by overscheduling, using administrative time for appointments, or working on days off.

We have limits for a reason. If clients need additional support, there are crisis services and higher levels of care available. It doesn’t mean we need to burn ourselves out providing everything.

Burnout can also come from aspects of the job itself. Dealing with insurance, for example, can be frustrating.

Sometimes it’s worth considering whether a different work setting would be a better fit. If you’re overwhelmed by the demands of private practice, perhaps a group practice or college mental health setting would be a better option.

If you have paid time off available, use it. Make sure you’re living your own life and not devoting all your time and energy to work.

You can also set limits around the types of clients you work with. For example, I probably wouldn’t take on an entire caseload of people with eating disorders because that can be particularly intensive work.

A lot of this comes through trial and error and learning what you can realistically sustain.

It’s also important to know what burnout looks like for you personally.

Sometimes it creeps up gradually. You may notice you’re more depleted, exhausted, or irritable. Recognizing those warning signs can help you take action before burnout becomes significant.

Notice patterns. Do some days leave you feeling more burned out than others? Is it related to the number of clients you see or the type of work you’re doing?

You’re allowed to set boundaries around those things. There can be pressure to feel like therapists should work with every concern and every population, but that’s not realistic.

Advocating for yourself, talking with supervisors, and asking what adjustments could make your workday more manageable can help.

And just like the example of listening to comedy podcasts, it’s important to have activities you enjoy outside of work. Get enough sleep, eat well, take breaks, and take care of your basic needs.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is take your lunch break.

What I’m hearing is that it’s a continuous process. You need to be aware of yourself, know what works for you, and actively protect your energy so you can continue showing up for others.

I really appreciate all of this. It’s encouraging to hear from people who have gone through the process and found ways to make it sustainable. Thank you for sharing.

Happy to share. Thank you for your curiosity and for asking questions a lot of people are wondering about.

Of course.

Thanks, everyone, for listening. Subscribe to our podcast. And remember, this podcast is not a substitute for mental health treatment.

If you’re a UW–Madison student and are looking to start mental health treatment, call 608-265-5600, option 2 to schedule an appointment, and option 9 for 24/7 crisis support.

Thanks for listening.