Our Career Choice May Be Full Of Many Decisions

During the course of my career, practicing family and individual therapy I've often looked inwardly and asked myself the question, will there ever be a time when I choose to retire? I've also asked, must I ask the question at all? Each of you reading this, perhaps have pondered that question one time or another, regardless of your profession. As we age, the question may provoke considerable contemplation as we examine, analyze, and plan what our path should be. As a mental health professional,If you've never done so yet, why not take some time to examine the various stages of your theoretical and clinical development beginning with your initial professional experiences and how they have evolved through the years through today. Even if you've been in practice for only a year, you'll recognize even modest changes in your clinical practices. Naturally, the more years you've accrued, the more complex your theoretical and clinical challenge. Assuming you've not rested on the laurels of positive clinical outcomes, it is hoped that you've continued to hone your skills, given the vast body of newer theoretical constructs, and provocative clinical models. Take a moment, if you will, and note the changes in your clinical practice over a period of twenty years. If its been only five years and you've "kept up", don't be surprised how much you've learned and the effects upon your clients. There's no need to fear the many decisions that present themselves as you and your client struggle through the clinical process. And should you be entering the twilight years of your practice, heed your own mindfulness, reach down into the depths of your consciousness, not as a culmination of all you have learned, but challenge yourself, and call forth new insights. Without egoism, allow yourself the pleasure of helping a new client gain their own insight into a dilemna that may not have been readily solved at the early dawn of your career. Like the aging of a fine wine, may your skills evolve to the degree at which time you feel ready to savor the epitome of all that you have gained through the years.