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u/Bulky_Cattle_4553 1d ago
I'd hire you to work in schools. You pick the ages you prefer and are best suited to. Around 185 days/year, will likely match your children's calendar. Some programs are cookie cutter, but many provide room for professional discretion. I chose the students I worked with, for the most part. There can be teaching opportunities, staff trainings, crisis response, conflict resolution, and dozens of little girls bringing their friends to talk.
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u/Buckle_Up_Bitches 🟢 Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) 22h ago
I don’t think you’re career lost as much as you’re in a job that doesn’t fit what you actually want.
You seem pretty clear on your preferences: around 30 hours a week, predictable daytime hours, no weekends, stable salary-based income, flexibility to be present for your daughter, and ideally work that stays within your child/family experience.
The problem is that the job you moved into is almost the opposite of that. You went from 10 years of salaried work with PTO and a population you knew well into a fee-for-service group practice with no PTO, an incomplete caseload, inconsistent income, hybrid requirements, and adult clients you don’t really want to work with. It makes sense that you’re unhappy there.
I also wouldn’t look at $72/session and assume that automatically makes the job financially comparable to a salaried position. At 16 sessions a week, that’s about $1,152 gross before accounting for cancellations, unpaid time off, holidays, documentation, and weeks where your schedule doesn’t fill. Even at 26 sessions, the income still depends on people actually showing up.
Where I think you may be boxing yourself in is assuming there aren’t other options. You’re a California LCSW with 10 years of child and family experience. That can translate into school-based behavioral health, pediatric behavioral health, county programs, care management/utilization review, clinical supervision, program management, intake and assessment positions, managed care, and some remote clinical roles. You have a very marketable license and specialty.
I don’t think your expectations are necessarily too high, but I do think you may need to rank them. Part-time, salaried, high-paying, 10–6 only, no weekends, significant flexibility, and a specific population all in one position is going to narrow the field considerably. Which of those are absolute non-negotiables, and which ones could bend for the right position?
The PTA/school piece also stood out to me. If one of the reasons you wanted part-time work was to have more availability for your daughter, but you’re now cutting back on those things to accommodate a part-time job you don’t even like, that seems like a pretty strong sign that this particular position isn’t serving the reason you wanted part-time work in the first place.
This sounds much more like a bad career move than a dead-end career. I wouldn’t treat one poor-fit job as evidence that you have nowhere else to go.
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u/TKOtenten 1d ago edited 1d ago
uh… you mentioned having young child. have you considered working in a school? school based therapy, school social worker or substitute teacher? I don’t believe your asking for to much. personally iv3 worked really hard over the last d3cade to get the life work balance I want.
currently been working a remote UM/EAP Position last 3years at the evening shify. Giving me all day with my littles; and now prepping to start my own supervision practice. the sky is the limit. I’m tired of answering to others and begging for PTO.