What is being a licensed therapist like? 
What challenges exist that we didn’t anticipate? 

This is part 3 of a five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients. 

In this Podcast 

• One of the first things a new therapist notices is the difficulty with managing all the new clients at once. 
• Being a generalist is a necessity when first building a caseload and for several years afterwards. 
• Being a generalist has an up and a down side. We learn how to adapt and treat a wide array of people. We also have to rapidly adjust to become all things to all people.
• Having to be competent in so many areas can lead to feelings of conscious incompetence.
• Substance abuse pops up all over and we find out we don’t know what we need to address it.