Private Practice Therapist [Interview]

Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 3m 805 #therapist

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Welcome to the Therapist Chair

We all struggle at one point in our lives to figure out what we want to do with ourselves. During our childhood, choosing what “we want to be when we grow up” is far easier than when you are actually grown up and now have to figure out what to seriously do with your life. Your parents love you so much but secretly count down the days until you are truly independent, have your own job or career, and can actually start taking care of yourself. Blessed be the day when you finally say those four words! “I got a job.” When we are younger, it might be the non-seriousness of the question that makes it so easy to answer. Being an adult, however, requires a lot more time, studying, and commitment towards a chosen occupation.

I remember wanting to be a police officer, a fireman, a teacher, among many other professions when I was younger. As I got older, despite my now-conquered fearful social anxiety disorder, I wanted to help people. I enjoyed listening and talking to people and offering them advice.

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During my college years, I pursued psychology and sought to understand not only myself, but the mind of others. The human mind, our individual and collective thoughts, and behaviors fascinated me. I never did become a psychologist or therapist, but I have certainly helped many others without the couch or the chair.

Just because I never became a professional therapist does not mean I am not still interested in helping others, whether it is with their life, their work life, or just their general problems. Whether you choose to pursue your career or not, it still is great to speak with others who are in the profession of your dreams and understand the pros and cons of the position they are in.

I had the fortunate pleasure of an interview with Rachel Eddins, a professional and private practicing therapist.

What is your name?

Rachel Eddins

What were your interests growing up as a child or teenager?

Helping people, animals, music, art, learning, psychology.

What were your interests in college or as a young adult?

Psychology, social sciences (cultural anthropology, sociology, politics), anything cultural, travel, outdoors, people.

What do you do for work?

Therapist in private practice.

How did you get your current job?

Self-employed so I created it! I started out working in organizations both after my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree that gave me an opportunity to develop and fine tune my skills before I became independent.

What was a defining moment in your career?

Starting my practice. Attending graduate school. Getting my first professional job living overseas in Germany. Each of these were defining moments.

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Why did you choose this career path?

Love of helping people and making an impact in their life, love of working with emotions, psychology and the brain, and human behavior. Love of validating people and offering compassion and support. I definitely enjoy working with the emotional world, it’s so complex and important, yet often so minimized in our day to day lives. There is a real joy in connecting with someone’s emotional world and instilling hope, care, and compassion.

What is one thing you would change about your company?

Not sure about this one, when I want to change something, I just start working on changing it.

What is one thing you would change about your life?

I would spend more time on my personal life in different ways. On the one hand, I’m fortunate that I can pursue personal development and it’s technically part of my work as well, but on the other hand, that means my personal life and work life often mix together. I’d like to spend more time on areas of my life completely not related to what I do in my career.

If you could leave a legacy or be known as doing something great for your company, what would it be?

Compassionate person who impacted the lives of many.

Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into your career field?

Get great training and experience. This will be the foundation for you to pursue your true passions.

About Rachel Eddins

Rachel’s passion is to help people discover their personal gifts and strengths to achieve self-acceptance, create a healthy relationship with food, mind and body, and find meaning and fulfillment in work and life roles. She helps people create nurturance and healing from within to restore balance and enoughness and overcome binge eating, emotional eating, anxiety, depression and lack of career fulfillment. She manages a group of therapists and career counselors in Houston, Tx through Eddins Counseling Group, who also offer online career counseling and therapy.

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Thank you Rachel for the insight into your life and career as a therapist.

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