On becoming a single (online) psychotherapist
So, after 22 years as a therapist/Director in Liverpool, living and breathing the running of a counselling and psychotherapy centre, building it up from one room, to a vibrant and successful business employing ten full-time counsellors and therapists, I decided to continue my work online from a remote island in Orkney.
So the big question is, did I make the right decision? After managing effectively two jobs as a Director and therapist for so long, I was beginning to feel a little stale, hemmed in, bad signs in my profession and a precursor to burn out if not addressed.
So my wife and I made a brave decision and bought forward our plan to relocate to Scotland by ten years.
The logistical challenges where such that we ended up living 550 miles away from each other for a long nine months. Ailis established her practice online and opened boxes while she cared for our two Labradoodles, I worked in Liverpool to prepare the business for transfer to new owners, and make whatever necessary endings where needed with clients who did not wish to ‘follow’ me online.
That was one of the hardest parts; living away from my soulmate, ending with clients and packing 22 years of my passion for my business into boxes; still, it worked out pretty well in the end, and I went off to the North of Scotland with many a card and box of chocolates.
For those whom I did not have time to say it to, I had no idea that every minute of my day not sleeping would be so full of tasks; I am touched deeply by all the kind words and the affirmations of my positive impact on peoples lives, both personally and professionally, I was and am humbled thank you.
So now here I am, writing down my thoughts while looking out of my office window, the Westray Firth with the windswept Isle of Stronsay in the distance over the sparkling choppy sea, clouds scudding by in the fresh breeze, musing on how did I get here (yup, I know, on the ferry).
The next challenge is where to go from here professionally? Skype and Zoom are increasingly in popularity; although the logistics of being an online counsellor are very different from running a local in-person service.
These musings lead to me looking back, from being a fresh-faced Counsellor / Psychotherapist in 1997, ‘Directing’ what became fondly nicknamed ‘The Liverpool Front Office for Counselling and Psychotherapy’ for the first two years of existence, worrying if I would ever make the grade, walking a long journey of discovering not only myself as a therapist, but building my vision of how I wanted a professional counselling and therapy organisation to run.
So last year, we decided to move, I passed on a thriving business with ten full-time Counsellors / Therapists and a sometimes heart-wrenching over-demand for our services, to continue working purely online and independently. My wife is a Psychologist, so while I am not working alone as such, we manage our clients separately.
It has been a sobering experience, from being a big fish in a smallish pond I am now a single fish swimming in a vast ocean, the reputation I built up in Liverpool means little to say an ex-pat living in Chile, or a student studying in Birmingham.
Last August I let my dedicated involvement in the Liverpool Centre go and, in my minds-eye, watched it sail off on a course to be chosen by the new Directors outside of the guidance, mentoring and occasionally wobbly decisions I have made for two decades. I am relieved as well as saddened, running the business from 500 miles away was difficult, distracting me away from new smallholding and all it needs to bring it back to a solid vibrant place again with chickens for eggs, raised beds and the yet to be built greenhouse producing a good portion of what we need to be self-sufficient.
Matters probably wouldn’t have worked out well over the last year of remote management if the practitioners down in Liverpool were not so autonomous and able to function on their own, they are, and it did. I am proud of the way they all pulled together to keep the service running so well while the new Directors got up to speed, I am also proud of what we all achieved in the Centre in its reputation and success, our ethos was always one of trying to give excellent quality service, and I think we went a long way in achieving that.
So, now I am a single therapist, continuing and developing my online practice from a new home in Orkney, it has been a massive change for us both, from semi-detached semi-settled suburbia to a smallholding on an island with 600 people in a square mileage that would house 90,000 people on Wirral, and one I would have been ill-equipped to make if I had not worked hard in my therapy over the years to build my inner strengths and self-care, I am told quite often new settlers return to their previous home within a year, and having watched helplessly as my office porch roof lifted in 102mph wind gusts last week, I can understand why.
Still, there are many many positives to living here, it’s only a short walk to go and watch the Puffins in Spring, and the islanders came together superbly recently with the Marine Strandings Rescue Team to help save the entangled Humpback Whale over in Tafts Bay, and I never thought I would watch a seal making a circular walk along the bottom of our field, up from Tafts Bay, around over the hill and back down to the ferry terminal, oh to be Dr Doolittle and know WHY it did that, there is little pollution, diesel fumes are a distant memory, and the island community is dedicated and involved positively.
Even before we planned to relocate I began building up an online practice, initially, this was mainly from my clients who moved or worked away or students who would shuttle back and forth to homes throughout the UK and abroad, then when people discovered I was working online, enquiries started coming from further afield, a manager on a superyacht, an ex-pat who is living in Japan, a teacher who was working in China for a year, I never know what is coming next via online requests, and I enjoy that.
So, who and what do I treat now? The area of online treatment can be an emotive one for therapists, and these opinions are my own, I help with and support probably 90% of the conditions, relational needs and challenges that I previously did face to face, indeed 8 of my current clients are ones who ‘followed’ me up from Liverpool who needed long term work and did not want to start again. I have read therapists saying that everything that can be treated face to face can be managed online, and I disagree with that; however, I believe MOST can be.
One of the factors that made The Liverpool Centre so relied upon was that I triaged each call and enquiry. If I considered that there might be better treatment options elsewhere, I would discuss this with the people who were putting their critical emotional and psychological needs in our hands; we were consistently overbooked because people trusted us, local GP’s would give out our details because we where a safe pair of hands, we would not have built that reputation if we where a ‘one size fits all’ kind of organisation.
You can see the type of areas I work with here, but of course, it is impossible to include all the multiple areas I have helped clients with over the years. I don’t work anymore with clients who are at real risk of suicide, which differs from suicidal thoughts which are more of a coping mechanism. I also stopped working with Borderline Personality Disorder online as I believe face to face ‘containment’ is essential to the recovery process.
While 90% may seem like ‘less’, I like to think that it is still a lot more than I would have been able to assist with say ten or twelve years ago when I was just really finding my feet, I do believe it takes a good 5 – 10 years for a practitioner to accumulate enough experience and knowledge of people to be truly safe and effective.
Having been in a problematic place 23 years ago and so confused then about seeking treatment, I am aware of how difficult it can be to know and decide who may be best suited, different factors (insert link to five things) affect the success of each treatment, and this has to be taken into consideration every time.
Was it a good move? On balance yes, life can be challenging here and if one is not willing to adapt to a different way and pace (have been waiting a year for the friendly builder to come and fit new roof panels to the stables, this is not unusual), and a rural way of life, then one can end up feeling disjointed, and out of place, the relocation alone was about a hard a thing as I have ever done, and know what hard work is, I worked two roles for 22 years.
But on balance, yes, I would never go back, and I would make the same decision again, when I feel the force of nature in the Winter storms, look up and see the Milky Way from my garden, see a Hen Harrier cruising by looking for food, or hear a Corncrake calling from a nearby ditch, I feel a contentment that I could never reach in a busy city, as much as I loved Liverpool, I find renewed vigour and inspiration here for work and life in our new and forever home.
Peter Banczyk is a Counsellor and Psychotherapist with 22 years' experience and is a Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Membership Number 00922450, and is formerly the Director of the Liverpool for Counselling and Psychotherapy. He has for the last two years provided treatment via video link from his office in Orkney, Scotland.
Thank you for sharing in my experience by reading this far, for now, from the Isle of Westray, take care.
Peter
Website: https://www.my-onlinepsychotherapy.com/blog
© Peter Banczyk 03-2020