Well, I never look at it as "listening to peoples' problems all day." I look at the relationships, connections, disconnections, etc... whatever is brought into the room that day during any given session.

I can't speak for other therapists, but for me, giving therapy is truly a grounding experience.

I am able to do what I do, and also attend doctoral school because there is nothing else in my life that I would rather be doing-- I am fortunate enough to find a career that is so fulfilling that I can honestly say that I am doing exactly what I am meant to be doing.

I guess I also never look at as "my word is falling apart" because what I do is part of my world-- and that part is pretty much constant. So it helps to balance.

I'm not sugarcoating it. There are times, particularly after my father died where I had to call out because I simply couldn't be a therapist that day. School gets really difficult sometimes.

When I entered undergraduate school with my major in psychology, I made a promise to myself. I knew what I wanted to do. I wasn't going there to just get my undergrad degree and then forget the whole thing. I knew I wanted to get my masters and then my doctorate. So I made a promise that no matter what happened in my life, I would keep this as the one constant thing. And I have kept that promise. There have been times within my schooling that I have had to drop a class, skip a semester (this is no longer an option in doctoral school), but I have kept my promise.

I remind myself all the time that I made a choice. I decided that, psychologically, I was dealt a crappy hand, but I made the choice that I was not going to let that stop me; rather, I would work on my stuff, embrace some of it as part of who I am, and allow it to enhance myself as a therapist, student, and a person.

You will make it. At my last job, before I was a therapist, I had to take a month off for medical leave because I went into a severe depressive episode. Sometimes it gets to be too much, and we just need time to ourselves; time to rest. Of course it is always a fear that it will happen again. I know that I can't let that fear of what might happen, stop me from getting what I want.

That was a really long answer, lol.