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Originally Posted by octoberful
I doubt if you'll be able to start out with the perks you speak of as those expectations may be more reasonable for someone who has an established reputation, reliability, and overall work history.
Six weeks per year is a week every other month. You also have mental problems as you speak of in other threads-wouldn't you need time off for that?
You may not be successful in building a solo client base so you might want to think about if your expectations coincide with the realities of a newly minted graduate. If you have another source of income or support, perhaps you are deprioritizing these issues, but people may not take as someone serious or dedicated to your profession.
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These are wise things to consider as you think about this, especially taking care of your own needs first as you become a therapist. You aren't going to be any good to your clients if you can't be present and focused, showing up with attention and deep listening. My work requires me to be (only a few days /per month, so far less often than a therapist) focused on a person's story of trauma and if I don't take care of myself, I can't do my job. I think I have some appreciation of what therapists need to do and what it takes to listen and give people your real attention. It's not trivial, and I've been fortunate that I've had good therapists who could do this.
I personally like to know that my therapist is taking care of himself by taking time off. He does this every week, only working 3 days, and he limits his practice to certain kinds of cases. He's become more specialized over the 10 years that I know him, because he can. But he doesn't take a lot of time off in terms of weeks, just 3 per year, maybe 4. Last year he took two weeks at a time off in the summer, and we had a really interesting discussion about balancing work and life and how to create work boundaries that work for you.
So for me it is helpful when my therapist takes time off. I feel empowered because I realize I'm in pretty good shape where I don't "need" therapy and am not dependent on it. And it also gives me a chance to think about how I can organize my schedule better and cordon off time from my own work, in service of having a better life. For me, I appreciate knowing how my T constructs his life to get what he wants-- all my therapists have had stories like this-- and they know how to help me do this. I personally would not work with a therapist who dealt poorly with self care in any way, including taking time off. The time you take off should be for your own needs, not your clients'. I think clients can adapt, although I think as others have said, plenty of notice and planning in the weeks ahead should be discussed, including whether the client needs a backup T or resources for a crisis line or whatever.