Are you someone who enjoys working with people? Do you want to do something within healthcare services but don’t want to be a doctor or nurse? If so, you may want to consider becoming a counselor or weekend therapist. A weekend therapist can provide various counseling services for people who need help on the weekends. You may decide to do such counseling on the weekends because you have a different job or you’re still training as a counselor. You may simply want to offer additional help on the weekends in addition to your normal weekday schedule. Whatever your reason, there are many ways a weekend therapist can help the general public.
Benefits of Being a Weekend Therapist
Some people may not like working on the weekends. However, as a weekend therapist, it may be the perfect time for you to do a job that you love, which is to give counseling to people who need it. Maybe you have other commitments during the week. If you’re raising children, handling elder care, or are also in school earning a degree, a weekend therapist position may be perfect for you. Regardless of your specialization, you can have a lot of time and flexibility that allows you to give someone the care that they need beyond the 9:00 to 5:00 pm typical work week.
You can work in different environments when you’re a weekend therapist or counselor. If you own your practice, you may work from your rented office or your home. You may decide to be a traveling therapist that is comfortable meeting people in their own space. Maybe you prefer the atmosphere of a clinic or a hospital. Since COVID, telepathy services have become the norm and many people provide mental and psychological counseling online.
Do you have a job that you hate, but want to be a counselor full-time? Being a weekend therapist provides the ultimate opportunity to make a career transition. Even if you prefer to conduct counseling services during the week, you can start as a weekend therapist without losing the financial benefits of a full-time job. Put in enough weekend therapy time to become acclimated with clients and learn the ins and outs of how your profession works. If you’re working for yourself, you may need time to build up clientele. If you’re working for a facility, you may need to do weekend hours for a while to prove yourself before you can make the transition to working during the week.
There are many people out there who need help. If you have a kind heart and the right credentials, you can be someone that provides them the understanding, compassion, and service that they need. If you’re someone that has struggled with a particular issue and has managed to heal, you may qualify to be a counselor that can help somebody. You can talk to them from personal experience and not just from academic or professional training. For example, imagine someone that served in the Gulf or Vietnam War. That person doesn’t need academic credentials to counsel another returning veteran that’s dealing with psychological issues after the war.
There are people out there struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Some children have been in and out of foster care and have trauma from bouncing from home to home. Some people have been in accidents or had surgery and need a physical therapist to help them get back on track. In other words, there are many options out there that provide an avenue for someone to help people with various needs, whether it’s physical or mental.
Challenges of Being a Weekend Therapist
Regardless of how much you enjoy helping people, that doesn’t mean that the job won’t be stressful. Plus, you’ll have to deal with the fact that some people won’t take to your services. Regardless of how much you try to help somebody with certain issues, some people will always relapse back into drugs or alcohol. Some people may only go to therapy or counseling because they’re forced to but may be uncooperative.
Remember to keep strong boundaries between you and your clients. That may be hard to do if you’re dealing with children or somebody who has gone through similar life circumstances as you have. However, if you blur those boundary lines, it may compromise the type of help that you can provide patients. It could also damage your professional credibility.
Physical Therapist
People go to physical therapy for many reasons. They may have been in an accident, such as a vehicle collision. According to Forbes, car accidents often cause sprains and strains. Clients may have suffered a slip and fall at work and are now on workers’ compensation. Some may be recovering from a very traumatic surgery. As a result, they may have mobility or strength issues and are trying to regain their muscle and ligament strength. For such people, going to physical therapists office a few times a week can provide a way for them to restore their body to its original strength, or at least make some progress.
As a physical therapist, you can run your practice on the weekends, or work from physical therapy clinics and hospitals. You can work with people of all ages. One of the requirements of being a physical therapist is to have the strength to be able to assist patients physically. Therefore, you may you should know how to safely lift somebody without straining yourself.
Behavioral Therapist
If you plan on going into behavioral therapy as a weekend therapist, you must be prepared to deal with people who have various mental health problems. According to Better Help, anyone in this field needs advanced degrees in social work, psychiatry, psychology, or counseling and must keep their license updated. You may work with people with eating disorders, bipolar disorder, autism, anger management issues, antisocial problems, extreme stress, etc. The goal of working with such clients is to find a way for them to recognize their behavior and find better coping mechanisms so they won’t hurt themselves or others.
For example, when dealing with someone with anger management issues, you may try to get them to understand how they overreact to little things. The goal is to find the source of their initial anger problem and help them understand how to talk to people when they have a problem versus having fights. According to Psychology Today, anger is often the cause of domestic violence and substance abuse. As a behavioral therapist, you may use methods like cognitive-behavioral therapy, aversion therapy, and systematic desensitization to help your clients progress.
Family Legal Counsel
As a weekend therapist, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to cancel a group of people, such as a family instead of an individual. If you decide to work in family law, you can help families dealing with legal issues ranging from child custody battles or foster care concerns. Unfortunately, even the smartest and most collected of family members may lose rationale when dealing with such issues. That’s why it’s helpful for an objective professional like a family counselor to assist in any mediation possible.
There may be emergencies involved when working as a family legal counsel. Child custody battles can sometimes result in kidnapping or abuse by a parent. While you don’t handle the actual court case, you can do your best to help family members manage their emotions and try to get through the legal process as calmly as possible. If family members can stay calm and rational during divorce, custody hearings, inheritance disputes, and related situations, it may reduce the likelihood of a case having to go to court. So, your job as a weekend or weekday therapist in the world of family law is valuable when keeping emotions in check and making rational decisions.
DUI Counseling
A DUI is a serious offense. It refers to when someone is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A car is not a toy. So, when you operate it without being at your full capacity, you’re a danger to yourself and everyone on the road. According to NHTSA, there were 11,654 people killed by a drunk driver in 2020.
When working in DUI counseling, you’ll work with people caught and convicted while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Considering the number of fatalities and injuries that happen at the hands of drunk drivers, anybody willing to drive drunk must understand how their actions affect other people. When you work with such people, you can help them understand why they shouldn’t drive drunk or high. You can help them find different coping strategies when they’re in a situation in which they have to choose between driving drunk or not driving at all. For example, you may have role-playing scenarios in which they’re at a party, and you ask them how they would handle someone offering them extra drinks when they know they had to drive home that night.
Bail Bonds Consultant
When someone goes to jail, they’re usually allowed to post a bond to get out of jail until their court hearing. The problem is everybody can’t afford to post bail. When that happens, they may need a bail bond consultation.
The problem with bail is everyone can’t afford it. According to American Bar, there are around 500,000 people who committed minor offenses that are still in local jails because they can’t post bail. Some have been sitting in jail for years. Most of these people are guilty of not paying debts or non-violent drug offenses.
When you decide to work as a counselor or consultant in this field, you can help individuals of various economic means navigate a legal system they may not understand. The situation isn’t only stressful for a person in jail but for their families and friends. Can you imagine a parent sitting in jail for a year, away from their little kids due to a traffic ticket or a marijuana joint? Needless to say, these situations can be emotionally taxing. If the person in jail is innocent, it’s all the harder to comprehend why they’re locked up and may have to suffer financial ruin to get out before a trial that’s not scheduled yet.
Probate Attorney Consultation
Probate can be hard for many reasons, so becoming a good probate attorney is helpful for people. It usually happens after a loved one has passed away, and their will and assets are now going through the long probate system. It can be hard on families as they’re both in mourning while trying to ensure assets are fairly divided. Things such as inheritance, property, and money can cause families to fight. When they have to wait a long time in probate, which can last as long as a year, the situation may become more stressful.
Dog Training Services
If you love animals such as canines, you should consider running a puppy class. If you’ve ever seen the show ‘The Dog Whisperer’, you know many dogs could use weekend therapy. Some of the sweetest pups have bad behavioral issues, which can cause their loving owners some stress. They may have separation anxiety and whine nonstop anytime the owner leaves home. The dog may not be left home alone without tearing everything apart. Some dogs are poorly socialized and don’t know how to get along with other dogs or people and have no problem attacking without being provoked. Use your canine whispering skills and begin dog training services to train puppies or older dogs while bonding with them.
There are many reasons to become a weekend therapist and share your skills with the world. Whether you love puppies, want inmates and families to understand their bail rights, or help people with mental issues, there are many ways for you to help your community. If you think you have what it takes to become a counselor, starting as a weekend therapist may be the right option for you.
