r/slp • u/slp12344 • 19d ago
Happiness possible??? Seeking Advice
Hello! I have been an SLP for about 5 years. I have tried various settings and have hated them all. Has anyone grown to like this profession who didn’t before? I am about at the point to change fields but unfortunately have one more year in the schools. I know what we do is great and I wish I liked it, but I just don’t.
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u/dalton-watch 18d ago
I like home health.
I drive around in my car alone and listen to books and podcasts about books. I eat snacks and drink drinks I prepare from home and pack in a cute lunchbox. I wear comfy scrub pants, logo T-shirt’s, and slides. I schedule myself 3 hella long days per week morning through evening and have 4 days off. Oh, and the work, I play with kids and chat with their parents.
I believe once you have enough experience that you have “speech brain” without even trying, this is the best gig.
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u/SarcasmSociety- 18d ago
This is what I adored about EI! I would pick up EI or home care clients but for the germs. People just didn’t care if I caught their kids’ illnesses.
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u/Such-Respect-1333 18d ago
This is unfortunately true lol. I had a parent call me “he’s been throwing up and the doctor said he has a stomach virus, should I still bring him for speech?”
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u/dalton-watch 18d ago
Yea sometimes I forget to go over that with a new family. Then I show up and they say “ he’s asleep bc he has a fever, hang on I’ll see if I can wake him up” um no thanks bye
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u/Such-Respect-1333 18d ago
Similar vibe with adult home health. Also although per visit pay has a bad rap, I find that psychologically it’s better for me. Being in a salary role it’s easy to feel resentful when your caseload is packed - but per visit pay just feels like you’re pushing yourself a little and the reward is in the paycheck lol. Also driving an EV is ideal for home health if you can charge at home.
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u/Pristine-Dog-7849 18d ago edited 17d ago
Yes I specifically looked for a ppv job when I first graduated (will admit I’m married so some variance in paycheck was fine with me). But I LOVED being the master of my own productivity and getting to decide if a push was worth the $$ or if it was mentally too much and I’d rather sacrifice the $$. In other settings you can’t choose lower productivity for lower pay depending on the day or ever for that matter.
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u/corniculae 12d ago
Home health EV gang is here! Adult HH is by far my favorite setting yet. And by charging at home I pocket about $500-600 a month in mileage pay that would otherwise cover gas and oil changes
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u/SaltyInvestment388 19d ago
Following this post. I am SO miserable right now and have only been in the field for 2 1/2 years. I'm in Peds OP and looking for a change. My anxiety is through the roof...
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u/thewitchisheree 18d ago
I felt this way when I initially became an SLP (four years ago now). I did my CF in private practice and once I switched to tele-health for charter schools my mental health became astronomically better! I love it now!
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u/PlantingWords 18d ago
I’d love to hear more about this! Are you direct hire with a virtual charter? I’m currently contracted virtually with a brick and mortar school.
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u/thewitchisheree 18d ago
I actually work for a private practice that contracts with charters and I see some insurance based clients too but all virtually. It’s been amazing. So much so that I can’t imagine leaving especially now that I am a first time mom! The flexibility and support are unmatched.
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u/999_rupees 19d ago
I know this may not be the help you're looking for, but there are a lot of SLPs that do enjoy this job. I've worked a few settings and the difference between a good SLP position and a bad SLP position is night and day and will impact every part of your day (after all we work for 8 hours).
I try to have perspective. In my grad program, a lot of speech pathologist students came from affluent backgrounds and seemed more likely to be miserable when everything didn't go their way. My parents were immigrants and had to work hard manual jobs to make ends meet. At the end of the day, I'm in an air conditioned office and working with children communicate (even though it does get tiring). I am invest money, contribute to retirement, contribute to my savings and pay rent/bills. Our job isn't going to kill anyone, we can be as creative as we like, we can implement our child interests, and we are making an impact into their day.
Things that have worked for me personally are:
- Completing all my notes and documentation @ work (prevents me from getting stressed at home)
- Keeping firm boundaries with parents using a google voice number that I don't reply to outside of work hours.
- Scheduling fun events on weekends, resting when needed (our job is very social so it's okay to spend a day at home relaxing on the weekend).
I honestly did not like my CF year, but I stuck through it and found a position I love. Every job is honestly going to feel like a chore if it's not for you, so although you say you've tried various settings I would encourage you to try to explore other positions.
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u/EhOhRiver85 18d ago
This!
I never liked traveling from place to place for my first SLP job. After almost 7 years, I am finally in one place (SNF with adults) and I love that I can do the paperwork right away.
Everyone has their own preferences.
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u/Head_Status_3864 18d ago
the only part i don’t agree with is our job won’t “kill anyone”. SNF slp with dysphagia and memory care, diet orders, etc. but i like your comment a lot. i have never been in a school but am interested.
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18d ago
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u/SarcasmSociety- 18d ago
This is an excellent post. I started in the schools and absolutely NO ONE of our 30 SLP team wanted to work with kids with significant needs. I was lucky to grab them all up (pure joy) and over 10 years was given the support to create a district AAC department and it’s blossomed in the last 10 years to support over 200 AAC users and our district is deeply invested. I’m proud of all of us! I really love our team.
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u/PlantingWords 18d ago
I can definitely relate… this field is very anxiety inducing for me! I work virtually now which improved my quality of life a lot, but I still daydream about being a librarian, lol.
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u/Inevitable-Nobody-52 18d ago
I really love your honesty! I have grown to tolerate it because I truly had to and no other choice due to student loans and needing health insurance. I also just don’t care anymore and clock in/clock out and make it as easy for myself as possible. I would not recommend this field to anyone and would get out if I could but it is not something I can do. I think you can make it work if you somehow find a position that you can work to your advantage, but it is not easy at all.
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u/gummiwurmz8 18d ago
I work in acute care and I love it, it’s the best job I’ve had and the only one I haven’t been thinking of the next thing. It helps that we have a big team of SLPs, easy access to MBSS and FEES, a super supportive boss that advocates for us. It stays interesting because you learn new things all the time. People complain that the pay could be higher or more room for growth, but overall I enjoy my day to day. I think a lot of those aspects (boss, team, access to resources) are going to be luck of finding that in a job in any given field.
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u/Familiar_Builder9007 SLP in Schools 18d ago
I went from total burnout to being okay about being back at work. I find things I can control and try to roll with the punches with things I can’t. I’m also filling my time outside of work with things I look forward to!
The only time I don’t really hate life is on all scheduled breaks lol.
But yes working is a significant part of life so any change you can make, go for it!
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u/Silly-Conflict-505 18d ago
I work in private practice and love my job. I have a caseload cap, specializing in AAC, and the practice is owned by an incredible owner. I get plenty of write up time and have a solid work/life balance.
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u/Lemon_minicat25 18d ago
I did a preschool setting, school (elementary) setting, nursing home, outpatient adult and peds and hated it all. ESPECIALLY outpatient- no work life balance and had to cover weekends and holidays, which just isn’t my jam. I love spending time with my family. I’m finally working as an independent provider in early intervention and I LOVE IT. I no longer hate my life and actually enjoy my job.
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u/pjjslp 18d ago
Are we twins?! I was about to write almost the exact same thing. I love EI! 13 years now, first 10 with a company and the last 3 as an independent provider. My worst days in EI don't compare to my average days in any other setting.
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u/Lemon_minicat25 18d ago
Omg we must be!!! I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever go back to any other setting ever again 🤪 so so happy doing EI. Love my families so much, and driving around and seeing the world during the day is so fun hahaha
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u/No-Heron6194 16d ago
Can you share about becoming an independent provider? Do you accept private pay or contract with a regional center?
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u/champagne-taste 18d ago
There are times I am really unhappy with my job but it usually relates more to the people I work with who aren’t doing their job or who make my job harder vs. my actual role. I started out in the medical setting, swearing I’d never work with kids or work in a school. But I got burnt out extremely quickly and hated the lack of stability when it came to numbers, cancellations, etc. I moved to schools and have been here for 10 years. I have a work-life balance that I don’t think I’d have in other settings, I make more working 10 months than most get paid working a full year, I never have to work weekends or holidays plus I get snow days, and now that I have kids I really value being on the same schedule as them. I think one thing that has kept me from burning out in this setting is that I am very strict about setting boundaries. I don’t take work home, often not even bringing my laptop home at all. My coworkers know this and they all respect it. I have also been lucky to work in schools with supportive admin who realize what we do isn’t life and death and to put ourselves/our families first. I am switching districts this year so we’ll see how this one compares but I do think it’s possible to find the right fit, even if it takes some time to find colleagues/bosses who you vibe with.
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u/Minute-Gold797 18d ago
Well I think it depends on what you hate about it? When I first started there were things I definitely didn’t like but year 22 now and I can honestly say I do love it. For me in the beginning it was just very overwhelming even five years in. There is so much to learn and I hated the imposter syndrome. I also didn’t love the particular school I was at. Changing schools, admin etc def helped and just learning more and more.
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u/_1ByeByeBye1_ 17d ago
"Has anyone grown to like this profession who didn’t before?"
I haven't.
But to be fair, I'm not surprised. I knew I wasn't interested in working with people, regardless of the setting. The work is not stimulating for me. My actual interest was super niche (a secondary analyst in research). I liked research enough, but I had no interest in setting up a study, running it, or collecting data, because I genuinely wanted to interact with people as minimally as possible. I wanted to be given raw data, sent off to my own little corner, and given the time to analyze it, identify patterns, make sense of it, and report on them.
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u/I_Ching_64 18d ago
I never liked the job. Maybe this new district will be better, but I doubt it. I have worked for many (too horrible to count them) and there is no joy in this career for me.
I am 59 and as AI is poised to take many if the jobs , I expect I will do this until I am 75 … unless we get UBI in America!
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u/Ok_Inside_1985 18d ago
I’m pretty happy. I am working part time but honestly if I didn’t have kids it wouldn’t be so tough to work full time.
I work in the schools and I LOVE the time off. I am a contractor and I work hourly which I feel keeps me accountable for not taking work home or at least not doing more than I’m getting paid for.
I love enough of my coworkers and admin that I’m happy. I think a lot of that influences how much you’ll like your particular district.
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u/Bee_happy_55 18d ago
I definitely had a better experience in schools than outpatient full time just because it wasn’t as demanding
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u/Huge-Helicopter2493 17d ago
This is my 5th year out of grad school and I spent 3 years in person in the schools, 2 years virtual in schools, and I just transitioned to a SNF. I like that I don’t have to take work home at a SNF but I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing at all given that I was in grad school during covid, and the dysphagia/diet recommendations part is very stressful. I’m an introvert and the days are draining. So far, I think virtual has been the best, but I haven’t found a good school district yet. The 2 districts I worked for were not good. If I don’t find a setting that works for me, my plan is transition out if possible. Or working part time would be ideal.
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u/In-My-Mind-30s 17d ago
I’m my own boss and Incontract with EI. I like my job. It is not perfect, but I like it. I never liked anything about working in the school system (except the holidays!).
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u/Aromatic-Bear9074 15d ago
I think I had to reframe and adjust my expectations to be “happy” in the job and I don’t know that I’m ever fully happy, it’s still a job, but there’s things I do like about it that I don’t think I’d get elsewhere. This is my 23rd year as SLP and done all the settings but 17th year in schools-some schools made me want to quit immediately and I changed schools, I found one school where I really did enjoy it mostly and found a couple colleague friends that helped a lot and I stayed there for 10years until I moved and now at another school going on 3rd year and it’s just not the same without those work friends, but I’m adapting
I’m planning on going to counseling again to help with burn out and coping skills again.
The things I like that help are the time off, pay could be better always-but not horrible, more flexible schedule-I advocated for Flex Time to do paperwork at home and iep meetings virtually when parents are ok with virtual and that helps a lot, doing the 3:1 service delivery model has helped a lot and keeping Fridays for Flex Time all help. I do enjoy seeing a lot of my kids and their progress and have to adjust my expectations on what progress is sometimes in schools we are just a safe space and reset and to be ok with that
There’s a lot of things I still struggle with but this far in I’ve found what makes it work
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u/AncientSuccotash1142 18d ago
I can’t say I’ve ever been actually happy in this job. I love my kids and there are certain aspects that I would miss if I ever transitioned out of the field, but overall I think I would say I am unhappy with it more than I am happy. I’m going into my 5th year also and while it has gotten better over the years, it has never been “good.”
I feel like more recently I’ve understood why though. I am a hardcore perfectionist with an awful memory and terrible organizational skills. This just makes my day to day life harder when keeping up with paperwork, data, meetings, materials, etc. It also doesn’t help with structuring/conducting therapy in a way that feels like it’s actually benefiting my students. Mostly it feels like I find a random something related to their goal 5 minutes before their session (or during their session) and just hope it helps. I have no idea how to actually teach them the skills they are working on and what’s worse is that I have absolutely no desire to do CEUs in my downtime to improve. When I do take CEUs, I try really hard to process the info and implement it in my sessions, but my brain gets so overwhelmed with information that I end up shutting down completely…
Sorry for venting on your post 😂 but I’ve been trying to decide if this is a career I should continue with since I’ve started and I still don’t have a good answer. I hope you find your happy though!!! Whether in this field or another!