Avantages
This is a good starter job if you're a fresh Psychology grad (although I found out you do not need a degree at all if you have enough experience and get paid the same as people with degrees, which is frustrating). Meaningful work and it gave me a different perspective on mental health care for people with developmental and physical disabilities. I always felt like the work that I did was appreciated by our consumers and felt like I was making a difference in my community. Lots of monetary bonuses throughout the year and team-building activities. I especially enjoyed the CBT program and being able to consult with professionals about our cases which was a huge resource. Incredibly grateful for what I've learned here and the growth that I have achieved as an aspiring therapist.
Inconvénients
Incredibly unfriendly, unwelcoming, and cliquey work environment within the office and I felt that way as soon as I got hired. I would hate attending to an intense crisis and then have to come back to the office where no one talked to one another. Management is so out of touch it's insane and assume everyone gets along there. Upper management wonders why this job has so much turnover when the reasons are obvious between counselors. Micro-management runs rampant at this location and you can't do your work without a Program Coordinator breathing down your neck. TONS of driving. Team-building activities suck when the counselors don't like each other. No opportunities for job growth at all. Upper management lets people get away with being racist and homophobic just because they were at the company for a while. It is absolutely awful how they track productivity here by having you input every single task you completed during the day and putting limitations on how long you can work on a task. The workplace culture is chronically depressed and just sad. It did not seem like my former coworkers enjoyed the job that they did and constantly complained about the job itself, so much so that we had to receive a training on how to be more positive at work. I was constantly praised for having a positive attitude in the office but it tired me having to be the only positive, happy person in the office, which is one of many reasons why I left. This job has so much potential and I was incredibly sad to leave some of the consumers, but this job grew old on me quick.