why i became a therapist | quitting tech, leaving engineering ✌ my therapist career journey ch 4

today I wanted to talk about why I quit my tech career to become a mental health therapist!
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Disclaimer: I am not providing health care, medical or therapy services, or attempting to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any physical, mental or emotional condition.
🎵 Music by Eli Lev - Dancin' on the Lawn - thmatc.co/?l=C61F380D
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[@rasberries566]

Oh my God, same boat. I doubled down and did my masters in software engineering ... started working and I quit recently. I've always loved psychology so I am looking into grad school now. I literally looked this up on KZbin to see if someone else is in my shoes

[@techtotherapy]

Aww thanks for your comment, this makes me happy to know that there are others who are also going down this path🥰🥰

[@georgevenc3308]

Hope everything works the way you want! Didnt expect to find someone out there in the same kinda spot. Its always amazing when inside your bubble you think your issues are unique, but they are not. And thats also another beauty of being a therapist. As Yalom said the therapeutic relationship is between “fellow travelers”. 5 years engineering and 1.5 year MSc working in tech for nearly 3 years and now wanting to make this exact shift…

[@techtotherapy]

Thanks for your comment 🥰🥰 I'm also surprised with how many people have making this shift because I thought it was uncommon when I was trying to decide my next career move. If you don't mind me asking, I'm very curious where you are in your journey ✨

[@NotEarlyBird]

Thanks for the video! Could you share more about how your career transition to therapy looked like - did you straightaway resign from tech and start as a therapist, or was it more gradual? It's my first video here so if you have already made a video about this, would love to see it as well :)

[@techtotherapy]

Thanks for your comment and reaching out! I made a video awhile about finding a master's program here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGOwpJyobdmBhcU and I think I talk about my criteria for finding a program, but in short I only looked for local programs that allowed me to continue working in tech because I didn't want to be so in debt and honestly I don't think I was ready to just 100% commit at that time! Hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions and thanks for watching my video!

[@Ryhamz]

One way I've put this is that tech work does not relate to the human condition. I'm also looking to get out of tech

[@techtotherapy]

Hi! Nice to meet you :D Sorry for the late response! Yes, I totally agree with you on that statement. Are you also thinking about transitioning to becoming a therapist, or still just figuring out what you might want to do next?

[@betymartinez8141]

Hey! I've been a software developer for over 8 years. It's ultimately gotten me into a very depressing state. I am thinking of doing something similar to you. I am just not sure where to go from here. It's brave to do what you did.

[@our.secret1130]

Why are you depressed?

[@betymartinez8141]

@@our.secret1130 burn out

[@techtotherapy]

Aww thank you for your comment, I'm wishing you the best in figuring out what career works best for you🌞

[@our.secret1130]

@@techtotherapy thank you, that means a lot:)

[@ecem3313]

Very inspiring, thanks a lot for sharing your story. You are super brave which I admired. After having a burn out in 2021 during my tech work, I learned a lot about physcology and find it more interesting. Recently I decided to quit that job and at the moment I dont know which path I will take but your story has inspired me a lot and also realized our common points. Thank you again and all the best in your therapist career 😊

[@techtotherapy]

Thanks for your comment! I was also in tech during the pandemic in 2021, and it was definitely a rough time for me too. I'm wishing you the best in your future career path~

[@eddier2k9]

Good for you

[@manasacharyya4432]

Hey there ! Hope you are doing great. Enjoyed your video and could totally relate to the feeling of "not worth the hard work" after every challenge in tech. Well, I'm myself considering quitting tech and shifting to counselling psychology. But the huge gap in earning prospects that could come from quitting tech, keeps me double guessing my decision. How did you come to terms with that ? Did you have similar concerns while starting out ? How do you feel about it now ?

[@techtotherapy]

Hi thank you so much for you comment!! Yes I also had a lot of doubt when it came to the finances of switching careers, especially the financial burden of going back to school and the poor pay of starting therapy positions. I knew pretty early on that if I were to become a therapist, I would want to go the private practice route both because I like the idea of running a business and it seemed more financial sustainable for me. (Community Mental Health pay is much lower, and case load is more, but impact can feel very high from what I hear) I did some research on how much I could potentially make if I were to have my own practice, and recently in school I was taught this formula to est my annual salary = ((session fee * # of working weeks * # of clients per week) - 10,000) / 1.3 . The 10k accounts for roughly part time office space cost in the San Francisco area and 1.3 accounts for taxes. From my experience, I hear most private practice therapists have around 15- 25 clients. Anyways I would encourage you to plug in numbers to see what you get, maybe check out session fees around your area. I heard you can also use a similar calculator on: www.thebadtherapist.coach/ Basically I realized if I chose the private practice route, I could make around the same amount I was in tech as a junior software engineer. I would say financial stress is definitely there for me during the transition right now -- as a graduate student, all of your clinical hours aren't usually paid, and the path to private practice is not as straight forward post graduation. My response is already pretty long, so I'll stop here for now, but let me know if you have any follow up questions! I hope this helps!

[@manasacharyya4432]

@@techtotherapy Thanks a lot for taking the time and replying to my query with such details. Just the fact that a fellow human being had gone through the same dilemma and figured a way to work things out, is such a relief and encouragement. Thanks again and best wishes on your new path in life 🌼

[@techtotherapy]

Sorry just seeing this now! Thanks for your support 🥰🥰

[@guanhong81627]

Could you please also tell us more about how you applied for grad school(psychology ) without a bachelor's degree in psychology? I am an engineer considering becoming a psychologist, but it seems complicated if I have no related academic or work experience.

[@techtotherapy]

Thanks for your comment!! I did some volunteer work as a peer counselor (basically acting as a free counselor to the community) for about six months before COVID hit and I think that helped me get some relevant experience. Although from what I know about my classmates backgrounds in my masters programs, most of them did a career shift too and they didn't have a psych degree or prior therapy work experience. Hope that was helpful!

[@lyvsal9774]

I have left software engineering program because I noticed that it was an oversatured and underpaid career.

[@techtotherapy]

Yup things are definitely changing in the field!

[@FreshTechTherapy]

Hello, therapy! So I guess tech is not therapeutic to you? I started w tech love, then I started a business, then it go too big! I’m going to get back to simple tech. I’m also love therapy so your path is interesting to me 🙏👍

[@techtotherapy]

Thanks, yeah I think people have a wide range of experiences working in tech, so if you're finding it therapeutic, that's amazing! I think it was the mix of working in the startup phase of companies and the people I worked with that made it stressful for me.

[@user-gx7yy9ws1s]

I’m currently in tech and also looking for careers to transition to.

[@techtotherapy]

I hope you find what you're looking for, either in tech or elsewhere!

[@user-fc8hd6kh2f]

been in tech for decades, get out - it’s a dead end eventually.

[@techtotherapy]

I also felt that way at times while I was in the industry :(

[@JMxVideos]

Tech also seems superficial for me after landing a plane. Im transitioning to aviation.

[@techtotherapy]

I felt similarly too! Although I haven't landed a plane 😆