Contract Work is Easy! I get to Make My Own Hours!?
Making your own hours seems like a dream come true for any newly grad, right?
Well you may want to re-think that whole concept, because making your own hours also involves a lot of working around the “clients hours”, rather than them working along “your hours”.
For example I can have a day of 4-5 clients, sounds simple, light, easy breezy…Take a second look though; first client is at 9:00 am, then drive 30 minutes for your next appointment which doesn’t start till 11:15, then your next appointment is at 3 p.m. another 40 mins away, 4:30 p.m. appointment with a 15 minute drive, then a 6 p.m. appointment with a 30 minute drive home. Now in-between the down time of course you can do paper work, make phone calls, work on personal work (i.e. blog writing).
So its not so much that you make your own hours, just that you have quite a bit of dead-time during the day to do what you see fit. If you’re goal oriented and a structured person this can work well for you, its like taking an online graduate class, “work at your own pace”, where an agency job would be more like a tradition face-to-face experience. There are pros to contract work, you get paid more for your time, you get to work independently (no co-worker drama around the water cooler). The cons are driving quite a bit, getting paid once a month, no benefits such as health insurance, not a 9 a.m.-5 p.m. work life, lets not forget about taxes… they are ALL YOURS now, and little bit of social isolation thrown in there too.
You can make it work for you, or you can work for it. Its all about your perspective and ability to handle not just the individual but often the pay sources, the care mangers, family members, and then the individuals whom work for the place in which you contract. It can be a lot to juggle at times, making an informed choice to take these positions will benefit you. Set boundaries with your employer just as you would your clients. If the client takes an hours worth of drive to see, it may not be worth it to you, if you said you can handle 18-20 clients on a caseload, don’t simply allow them to give you 25-30 clients. Set your limits and priorities and tackle it all from there.
Stephanie Konter is a Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern, whom graduated from the University of South Florida with a Masters in Counselor Education. She has spent the past 3 years dedicating herself to the counseling profession through her course work, experiencing her own person self-growth in counseling, and counseling in the community. Actively working with the University of South Florida’s UChapter of To Write Love on Her Arms, as well as Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa, Florida. Current theoretical orientations involve Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Mindfulness. Ambitions to work with clients in creating "a life worth living", and to break away of perfectionism, fear, and embracing vulnerability. View her personal blog at http://infinitepragma.wordpress.com
This is a really great blog! Thanks Stephanie! I just wanted to add a few others to your list as well. Such as Expert Witness — Most people believe that you have to have a Phd or years and years of experience before becoming an expert witness and that is not true. You can easily register with the proper courts to become an expert witness as an LMHC. If you google “LMHC Expert Witness” you will see that many are out there. Another route, if you are interested in the legal side of things is becoming a court appointed mediator, you will have to do some research on this and find out what the requirements are but, a lot of divorce attorneys will use mediators to mediate their divorce cases and a mental health counselors is a perfect fit for those cases! Two other options are looking into forensic psychology and becoming certified with any of the forensic psychology boards, one of which I know specifically credentials counselors is the National Board of Forensic Evaluators: http://www.nbfe.net/requirements.php