BILLY: I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist.
I got my bachelor's degree in anthropology at Sac State.
And I got a master's degree in marriage family therapy
and school counseling, the two separate ones
at Alliant International University.
I also formed a nonprofit while I was almost
finished with grad school called, Couples Resource
Collective.
I started my own private practice.
We work with couples.
We work with individuals and just
about any kind of issue that you can imagine
and any kind of population, LGBT.
And we do make diagnoses as well.
The first thing I do in the morning
is just come on in the office and check my emails.
And then I'll go over my notes from last week.
I have a general idea about where it is that we left off
and what we're talking about.
But stuff happens by the hour, by the week.
So while I can expect to some degree,
it's all pretty up in the air until we
start talking about it.
Typically, on my days, I'm seeing
about six to seven clients.
Today, I've got clinical supervision
that I'm providing for the nonlicensed staff.
We're also doing some mock sessions,
so they get a little bit of training
on working with clients under specific circumstances.
Do we have any crises or emergencies we need to discuss?
SPEAKER 1: So I did the D&D couple this week.
I had them build their own characters.
And then they built their partner's character.
BILLY: Having the conversations through those characters
will be useful.
But the stuff around the house, yeah, you
could have more surface level conversations.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah.
It was so fun to just see them just geek out
and be so happy and excited in session.
BILLY: That's awesome.
Great job.
Hey, I got a trivia question for you.
What's the difference between a marriage and family therapist
and a psychologist?
A lot of people get that mixed up.
Well, the answer for you at the end of the video.
So one of the questions that a lot of people
will have to start off, if you want to-- if you're
interested in this field is, how can I see how therapy is done?
And unfortunately, the answer to that generally is you can't.
But one of the things that we do to try to emulate
that is to do mock role plays.
And you'll do this in your graduate schools and things
like that, so that you have some kind of experience.
Over the phone, when we were talking,
you had mentioned that communication
was central issue that you guys were struggling with.
SPEAKER 2: She's just spent more and more time at work.
And I've tried to tell her that I feel lonely.
That I'm missing affection.
And it just turns into a fight every time.
SPEAKER 3: I try to communicate the best that I can.
But it's like I try, and I try, and nothing is enough for her.
BILLY: One of the things that I'd
like you guys to consider to try to take home,
as we plan out the stuff throughout the week is
a tactic I like to call, walk away and take more time.
Basically, it's OK to ask for more time.
But whoever asks for it, put a time on it,
and be the person to come and initiate that conversation.
Are we good?
SPEAKER 2: That's great.
SPEAKER 3: We can try that.
Yeah.
BILLY: The priority that you were going to do
was to be able to talk to your partner
about your feelings and the emotional needs that you have.
How did that go this week?
SPEAKER 1: I was able to catch myself and identify
what I was feeling.
And I just don't know if I feel safe.
I think it's more so what I'm worried about,
is he going to blow up on me?
CLAY: There'll be certain times when
I'm putting my arm around her.
And she'll just like, move it to just holding hands, like we're
in middle school or something.
It was really weird.
SPEAKER 4: Does he not trust me with the amount
of physical intimacy that I give him?
BILLY: Well, is that true, Clay?
I mean, yeah, how do you feel about what
she's saying right now?
So what you just saw on those mock sessions
was what you could hypothetically expect,
if you're not a therapist and you
wanted to sit in and see what it would look like doing therapy.
Some of the more common issues that we'll
end up addressing and treating in here
are going to be things like depression and anxiety,
communication, relational issues, LGBT issues,
and personal growth.
I think some of the skills and personality traits
that are really important to have in this field
are patience and pacing.
You also want to be somebody who's
comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
You want to be able to be good at talking
and be approachable when you're having conversations
as well, as the stuff that you're going to be talking
with people about is going to resonate and affect you a lot.
And so it takes a lot of skill to be
able to compartmentalize that yourself
and make sure that you're giving yourself enough attention
and love, so that you can give the people that you're
working with that same attention and love.
I'm a marriage and family therapist
who owns his own practice.
And I get to plan my schedule.
But you can also be at a group practice.
There are opportunities at state, County,
and federal positions.
It can translate into several other different career
fields based on the strengths that we develop and conflict
resolution in our field.
If you're interested in this career,
you got to get a four year degree first.
It can be in a lot of different subjects.
But from there, you'll have to get
into a graduate program in marriage and family therapy,
which is a two year program usually.
You can do a doctorate with it if you want it.
Beyond that, after you graduate, you become an associate
and register with the state.
And after you've done 3,000 hours of direct client work,
as well as some indirect work, you're
able to apply for licensure, if you've passed the test.
That's a comprehensive clinical exam.
And I think this field is really about fortitude, the ability
to get through a lot of things that are difficult.
But it's super rewarding when you
do, to be able to actually help people,
genuinely help them day in and day out.
Thanks for watching.
Be sure to give us a like.
And subscribe to our channel.
We'll see you next time.
SPEAKER 2: How often do you meet somebody in the gardening
section of Barnes and Nobles?
I'm going to put out one of my pockets.
[INAUDIBLE]
I'm using that.