A Good Place to Start, but Glad I left
Pros
1, Nystrom, both itself and via the companies it has bought up, is EVERYWHERE, like in Five states or something, so choosing a location is convenient...tho it (NAL) has been labeled as the "walmart" of mental health facilities. 2. Nearly every therapist I knew, be they pre-licensed or full licensed, from alcohol counselors to therapists to doctors, all had their own office/space. 3. Tech wise, everything is state of the art. 4. Training wise, NAL (Nystrom's "nickname" via Shorthand) Nystrom taught me A LOT, such as: How to write a Diagnostic Assessment; a Treatment Plan; the importance of ROIs; progress notes; billing; consultations; communication, and so on. Truly--Nystrom gives newbies a sort of boot camp, not only on orientation (held at Main HQ, New Brighton MN, if you are in MN), but like, learning how to phrase things and so forth...current and former contacts I have there all say the same--NAL truly teaches you stuff that you remember for years to come. 5. Most staff are very approachable, friendly people. Managers, Senior leadership...different story but co-workers were nice. 6. You will hit the ground running--true they might ease you into your schedule, but soon, you will have a full schedule. 7. You will find a lot of clinicians in the same boat as you--we all talked to each other, leaned on each other, and still (after leaving NAL) maintain contact with each other.
Cons
1. NAL is known, both inside the firm, and outside the firm, as being a for-profit corporation, owned by a medical investment and equity company; formerly it was owned by the Nystrom family (they retain naming rights and royalties). It also is trying to recover from a previous reputation as an evangelical Christian oriented firm for both its employees and its clients--they have done better in recent years, but still have controversy attached to their past. 2. When I was there, a manager asked me how long I had been there--I said two years. She laughed, and said that I was an exception because most entry-level therapists "have a shelf life of 9 months here." And since not being there, and talking to people, NAL is known for its high pressure, over-worked, burnt out likely atmosphere, where they care only about covering THEIR bases (not yours), shame you about how you need to do this and that, on-top of working 50-60 hours a week (yes, all of us got in at 7, office opened at 9, closed at 5, and were there until 630, EVERY DAY) 3. Bosses were more interested in keeping their jobs and territory--it was very much a "work, do what we say, and deliver effective 'customer service' versus grow, engage, and deliver effective care. 4. In two years I never got a raise but had 32 clients at any given time. 5. HR protects managers and the company. 6. So long as I kept my mouth shut, did not complain, and did not speak up for others on staff, I was alright (I eventually left because I witnessed, both in person and in private conversations, veritable agreements among senior officials to work on removing under-performing therapists and workers). 6. There is a persistent feeling/order of treating the client as a customer not as client. 7. When you potentially leave NAL, those folks I mentioned above--that you leaned on and so forth--you will still be in contact and realize that the reasons you were let go, or you quit, are nearly (90%) identical to theirs. This is not a con per say--more like the overwork, under pay, draconian methods by managers who seek to punish and eliminate versus teach and sculpt...you find that while you felt alone at NAL, everyone has/had the same experience. 8. There was no consistency--for example, say you joined NAL and had an LMFT supervisor who taught you to do notes/DAs one way--then they left the firm, you get another, and they tell you to do the opposite, and go back and unlock previously signed off and billed work and force you to re-do it, with lots of petty shame and so forth, After leaving and talking to ex-pats of NAL, we all shared the same experience and how it taught us nothing.
