Pinksoil!!!

You will be a great therapist! Every job takes practice, and I'm sure it'll feel really hard at first. When I first started my work (totally different field) I felt like I was so bad at it, and I was really depressed about it. And you know what? I bought books, I looked at millions of examples (I'm a graphic designer), and I just kept on going and going. And now I feel very competent, but I still have struggles. Some days I just don't have an idea in my head, and I worry. But it always works out. Sometimes just taking a break from thinking about something gives me fresh new ideas. But I don't mean to talk about myself -- I'm just trying to say: It's gonna be hard at first (as you suspect), but you'll totally get through it, and you're gonna be a great therapist! And of course you'll have your own therapist there to help you work through things along the way. One of my best friends in real life is a psychologist, and she's always had a therapist (she's been seeing the same one for 10 years now). I think she can even write that off as a business expense now since she's in private practice.

Don't worry about hating it. I've hated every job I had at the beginning. Because at the beginning you don't know all the unspoken rules and you feel like a big old moron (or at least I did). That totally goes away. You are gonna love your work. You're just about to embark on a big old suck-y transition that's gonna be a pain in the @ss.

I think you have loads of insight and you'll be able to figure out how to keep your own stuff out of the way. I'm sure that's a struggle for all therapists.

Best of luck!!!!

Sidony