mmm, i think it can be both but i must say i agree with gus to an extent that it's not necessarily a calling/profession for everyone who ends up being a psych.
i'm in the funny position right now of being around a group of students studying psychology - where we finally get to make the choice (and cross our fingers) about whether to continue on to become clinical/practising psychologists or not. there are some people who are certainly very committed to it, and then there are others who would prefer they were doing research but won't have the marks to get into a good grad program, so have left clinical psych as their back up plan.
there are many reasons for choosing to become a psychologist, and not necessarily all of them are to do with helping. e.g., the psychiatric association here market their profession by stressing work/life balance and flexibility - no mention of helping people in distress, it's all about being able to drop your children off at school and earn enough in 6hrs to be able to pick them up at the end of the day.
maybe there are more people in the helping professions who are there because of a calling, but - as with any job - there are people there because it was an attractive job to get into, and who treat it as their job.
as for what you said,
gus, i agree to a large extent (recognising that there are large variations), but disagree with the following in particular:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus1234U
it's no wonder therapists take 6 week vacations, and schedule them around "professional conferences and training" to extend their time away from all the emotional neediness and cognitive stiffness of their work environment.
so let's try to be a little more understanding of the real human behind the "Therapist", and give them a little slack. find others who can be called in the off hours; learn self-comforting skills so we can wait our turn. have mercy.
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professional development is a required part of being a psychologist - it's not an outlet to escape "emotional neediness and cognitive stiffness". i have seen some burnt out psychologists absolutely
relieved that they are about to go on annual vacay, but most psychs just take time off as part of good self care - the needs to "escape" isn't there because they are skilled at managing their jobs and how much they can commit to.
similarly, if a T is prepared to be called in their "off hours", there isn't any need as a client to "wait our turn" or "have mercy". it's the therapists job to set boundaries - how about we let them be adults and manage their own affairs? my pdoc is prepared to receive calls from me, but there are other clients he doesn't extend his personal contact details to. i trust that he knows what he's doing.