We recently connected with Kristin Murphy and have shared our conversation below.

Kristin, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Over the summer, I took a risk and left my job as a school mental health specialist, without a defined plan. I was commuting an hour each way and feeling completely burnt out with ongoing crisis situations at work. By the time I got home to my family each day, I felt exhausted and overwhelmed. I knew deep down inside something needed to change, but I wasn’t sure what I could do. My kids were 1 and 4 at that time, and I felt like I was missing so much of their lives. Childcare challenges and illnesses were frequent reasons I would have to call out or rotate with my husband. It took a while for me to come to the decision to leave my stable job with good benefits and awesome coworkers. I think I felt as if I would be letting others down if I left in the middle of the school year, staff and students. My physical and mental health was suffering, even with the tools and supports I had in place. A part of me also was grieving letting go of a career path that was my dream. I left my job just before the new school year started and set a goal to open my open private practice by January 2023. It was a huge financial stressor to leave a consistent income. I had no idea where to start, but I knew the first step was giving myself time to explore what I needed to do. I reached out to colleagues who also had recently made a similar change or had opened their own practice and took in all the advice, suggestions and tips I could. In truth, I felt like an imposter and was dealing with major decision paralysis. I hired an attorney to help set up my business and that was a huge relief. From there I was able to complete small tasks and build momentum. I officially opened my practice, Along Came Healing, in January 2023.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Yoga Teacher. I actually wanted to be an Elementary School Teacher, but when I was in my final year of my credential program, I realized I was more interested in working with individuals one on one and hearing their stories and finding ways to help them feel seen and understood, and that they mattered. At that time, I didn’t even know what how to shift onto this path, and that it was even an option. I started volunteering and working as an unpaid intern while I figured out my next steps. Eventually, I applied for Grad School for my MSW, but was denied due to unmet requirement for a statistics class. I was disappointed and felt like a failure for a while, but I decided to try again once I had more experience and was certain I met all the prerequisites. I was accepted and completed my 2-year program with internships in a Psychiatric Hospital and Psychiatric Mobile Response Team. After, I grad school, I continued working as a Psychiatric Social Worker while completing my Yoga Teacher Training. Soon after, I passed my clinical exam and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I changed jobs a few times once I had kids searching for something that would be flexible and support me as a new parent. I worked as a medical social worker and most recently in school based mental health. I started with a group practice on the side and providing individual therapy for teens and adults. I felt a part of me come alive and connected to my work in a meaningful way, something that I was searching for all along. That’s where the seed was planted to eventually open my open practice, I just thought it would be a long term goal or a 10 year plan kind of dream.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

For me, I had to let go of the expectation I held for myself that I needed to be a certain age and follow someone else’s timeline in order to be worthy. I think society influenced my expectations I set for myself, which always left me feeling not good enough or behind. I constantly was comparing myself to others who had already finished college, got married, had kids, had a successful career etc.

I had to unlearn the ideas I held about held about self-worth. I thought being successful determined my worth. I though it meant finishing college in 4 years, being in a long-term relationship, getting married, having kids by a certain age and staying at one job for a long time. In my early 20s, I suffered a devasting loss that changed my life in many ways. When I look back, as painful as that loss was and still is, It helped me realize that I can go against the grain, do things on my own terms and let go of these imaginary timelines, and still be worthy and good enough.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

My own therapy, clinical consultation, continuing education and a hobby unrelated to the field. As a therapist, it is already so important to have a space to process all the stories you hold and how they affect you, becoming a small business owner brought up a whole new level of imposter syndrome for me, and therapy has helped me process some of this. Clinical consultation with former colleagues has been crucial in the last year as I set up my business. Not only has it helped me with the business side of things, but also for clinical questions, learning new skills or approaches and build a sense of community. Continuing Education beyond with the BBS requires is so important as well, especially in areas such as decolonization, advocacy and cultural competency.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alongcamehealing.com/
• Instagram: @alongcamehealing

Image Credits
Melissa Coyle: Miss M Photography