The working schedule often changes and it is difficult to know the following week's schedule until Friday of the current week, which makes it hard to organize a personal schedule in advance outside of work. A day may include 3 separate sessions, up to 3 hour gaps of wasting time between each, and up to 45 minutes of travel time between sessions (even longer if you have to travel to an entire different county). Even though hired full time, a schedule for the week may only contain 15 hours (if you're lucky), making it very difficult to live and survive on. Session cancellations happen all the time and only a few times are alternate sessions offered in replacement. There are even times where you will have 2 days or more without work because they have no cases to give.
Working with this company only a few years, I have been assigned to at least 12 different supervisors, being assigned to some of them more than once. On top of that, I have had a minimum of 4 separate supervisors for 4 separate clients all at the same time....not to mention that each supervisor required me to record data and to work with the clients in each 4 total different ways. This makes it feel like being bounced around in a pinball machine. However, the company has recently been trying to fix this. There have been countless times when they show up at a session (and sometimes with more additional supervisors or directors) without me being informed that they are coming or even why, making me feel that I am immediately put on the spot. This prevents me from having questions ready ahead of time and allow me pinpoint to them the specific areas that are in need of improvement for the client. Also, without giving the opportunity to prepare, it is very difficult to show to the supervisor(s) areas in which the client has improved and/or mastered. For several sessions, no feedback was provided and supervisors pretend like they are invisible. It's as if they are there only to record problems and then later show what you have done wrong (and maybe just a little positive feedback). What's even more sad is that they leave early before the session is over, preventing me from asking further questions, especially those that I was unable to ask while the session was being run. In addition, there have been times where a supervisor has not shown up in a case for more than a month, making it very frustrating for the parents as well. Even though my recommendations or ideas about various programs have been shared with the supervisors, very few times do they even consider talking about it.
It's sad that the company does not train employees how to educate parents, making therapists feel unprofessional and with very little skill. When parents ask questions, several answers are not available to give to them. When things go wrong and parents complain, therapists are the ones to be blamed.
There is very little, if any, room for advancement in this company in regards to positions and salary. You are pretty much stuck with what they offer you on day 1. High turnovers and constantly having to hire more therapists.
This a very solo job. Always working alone can make it a more stressful job and cause a loss of interest in continuing in this field. Other than an annual Christmas party (which happens in mid-January), there are no other gatherings or fun events for employees to meet other co-workers and build new relationships. This makes working with this company a bit boring. If you prefer working alone then this might be a job for you.
