Congratulations to me! After 6 years of actively albeit slowly chipping away hour by hour with my private practice at the 3000-hour requirement for becoming licensed as a therapist in the state of Wisconsin, I did it!
Truth is, in many ways, it changes nothing. One big reason I'll mention in a bit.
Truth is, it is everything. The past 6 years have been sinuous. The rug was pulled out from under me a few times in this process. I actually needed to re-do 6-months of my hours because with all the upheaval I unknowingly let my training license lapse. I wasn’t even sure if my required test results for the national exam were still valid since I took it in 2008. I almost let the whole thing go.
But...
I chose to persist. I chose to do the next right thing and then the next.
So even though I am switching hats to be a Relationship Coach (um, no license required) I am damn proud of that license and of myself.This has been in the works for a while now but, again, the path has been sinuous.
Back in 2018, I was visiting my friend on her farm, looking out the windows at the breathtakingly gorgeous mountains, telling her about where I was at in life. There was a lot going on and it was wildly challenging for me in my personal life. I was also realizing that, while I loved being a therapist, I was feeling limited in the impact I could have and strained by the regulations. I voiced that I was thinking of becoming a coach. I wanted the freedom this offered. I wanted to be able to travel with my kids, work from wherever I was, and have that bigger impact.
AND I loved the forward movement of coaching. This so resonated with me! Even though my present experience was hellish I had radical f*#king trust in my future. Forward thinking was my way through it all.
At that time I had been working with a spirituality coach (me as the client) and in a matter of weeks felt on way more solid grounding than I had in a while. My marriage had ended and the divorce process was excruciatingly difficult. There was so much in my life that I couldn’t control and truthfully I was scared. My nervous system was on overdrive and talking about everything that I was fearful of was depleting me. How my coach worked with me was life-changing. I moved out of focusing on the fear of the unknown and into focusing instead on how I wanted to feel and how to get there. The transformation that I experienced was quick and sustainable. Forward thinking, forward movement.
Anyway, when I returned back to Wisconsin after my time in the mountains I had a letter and an email waiting for me from the Global Association of Holistic Psychotherapists inviting me into a training to become a certified psychotherapist or coach (!). Talk about synchronicity! I signed up within days.
The program started a month to the day from having to tell my kids that their dad had decided to end his life. I almost backed out of the training. I was deep in trauma, in PTSD, and wildly concerned for my kids. It was a nightmare of a time. But the GAHP team encouraged me to show up for the training; they could hold space for what I was going through and also for my future. And, so I did. And, so they did. Forward thinking, forward movement.
The path, again, was sinuous. But I persisted. I knew my future would thank me.
Then Covid and being home for 18 months with my kids 100% of the time as the only parent. Here, I took time off from pursuing a coaching career. There was no other way but I maintained that radical f*#king trust for my future.
With the kids back in school (hallelujah!), I’ve been able to circle back to what I started over 3 years ago. And I’m super excited. For my now. For my future. For the clients I’ll coach into healthy partnerships. For all of it.
Calling all you sensitive single souls, I’ve got you. Stay tuned for more.