Day in the life of
Child Therapist – Stacy Haynes, Ed.D., LPC, ACS
I am a child therapist. Licensed professional counselor by license, and Counseling psychologist by degree. I specialize in working with children. I work with Dr. Ross Greene, creator of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model training schools, families and working with families in treatment with the CPS model. I can be on Zoom calls with schools around the country in the morning and then in the evening seeing patients locally using the model.
My typical day
In the morning, I take time for self-care before starting my day. This is my time to exercise, read, fold laundry, write for professional reasons, and check email (of course). I usually start my day by 9 am. I work with Lives in the Balance, a non-profit aimed at helping schools reduce punitive discipline against students. I train schools on the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model developed by Dr. Greene. I may have one to two schools a day that I am working with. I usually will have lunch and then head to my office to see the children.
I usually start my day around 2 or 3 pm seeing actual clients. I will see children with concerns ranging from autism, ADHD, ODD, Anxiety, and Depression. Working with children requires some nights and weekends due to families working and children having school during the day. I run social skills groups for children diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. We have also added Anxiety groups to our offering which has helped many students during this difficult time.
I end my evening around 8:30 pm each day (three days a week ) by completing my notes for the day and planning for sessions the next day. And these days, I check out a few basketball games before heading to bed by 10:30/11 pm.
My schedule varies two days a week as I work more of a 9-5 schedule to get office work completed, see clients and work with my colleagues. Summers I have weekends off as many families in New Jersey are at the shore or away for travel. During the school year, I typically work Saturday mornings with groups or individual sessions. I have two children of my own so my schedule is always based on their activities and schedules as well.
Also during the school year, I teach for several colleges online. This allows me the flexibility to still teach but yet be in practice. Courses range from General Psychology, Child Psychology, and Abnormal Psychology.
Pros
Flexibility, ability to teach and train all over the country
Cons
Working with children my hours are often in the evening and weekends to help accommodate children in school. Insurance does not pay therapists what we are worth.
