You got your degree... Now what?
After graduating from university, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. The only thing I was 100-percent certain about was that I wanted to work with children and families and make a real difference. After a few short-term jobs, a friend, who was a juvenile-probation officer, told me about a new program called Multisystemic Therapy (MST) that really seemed to be helping out kids, and they were hiring. The description seemed to match just what I was looking for, so I applied that day to be an MST therapist and never looked back.
Amy King, left, and Sandy Crotts, right, at MST's 20 year anniversary
Throughout my initial days as an MST therapist, I learned how effective the model is for keeping teens at home, in school and out of trouble with the law. Also, I learned that being an MST therapist requires a high level of accountability and oversight to ensure that I was properly providing the evidence-based treatment to families. The model standards are high, and as a therapist, I was responsible for adhering to the nine MST treatment principles, which led to successful outcomes.
As I began as an MST therapist, I learned something even more important. While MST focuses on holding therapists to the high standards necessary to implement an evidence-based model, it also ensures that therapists have the ongoing support needed to successfully help teens and their families.
Continous support
Shortly after being hired, I attended the MST 5-Day Orientation Training provided to all new hires. The initial training and ongoing weekly group supervision and expert consultation that I received were critical to my skill development as a new therapist.
I remember one very clear example where this clinical support made the difference for me as I learned a valuable lesson. I was working with a single father, and I was really struggling to engage with him. After a particularly difficult evening session where the father became upset and asked me to leave, I was feeling very discouraged with how treatment was progressing. I was in tears when I spoke to Ellen, my MST expert, who quickly helped me understand what went wrong and most importantly, how to repair the relationship and move forward. My expert’s guidance was invaluable, giving me hope that I could return to the father’s home and re-engage him. She inspired me to do the heavy lifting needed to help this father and his family manage a very difficult time. In the end, the father and I worked together effectively and helped his daughter and family achieve their goals.
This was not a rare occurrence. Throughout my time as an MST therapist, my teammates, supervisor and MST expert provided me the continuous support I needed to be successful and satisfied with my job. As I continued, I knew I wanted to become an MST supervisor. Once in that role, my career goal was becoming an MST expert. With the encouragement of my agency and MST expert—and a lot of hard work—I made supervisor, and later I was able to achieve my goal of becoming an MST expert.
Sixteen years and counting
If you are thinking becoming an MST therapist, there are some things worth considering. Is this hard work? Yes. Are we the ideal program for all families? No. Are there some families with which we do not achieve all the outcomes we would like? Yes.
Do we look to go above and beyond by providing a 24/7 on-call support to the families and systems we work with? Yes. Are we dedicated to helping families achieve their goals by empowering caregivers to work with their broader systems and keep their troubled teen at home, in school and out of placement? Yes.
The model’s motto is “Whatever It Takes." Every day, each of us works together to achieve what is best for each individual youth and their family. We are never without support to make what we do meaningful. It is that continuing support and the positive outcomes we achieve that has kept me in MST for the first 16 years of my professional life and encourages me to stay for the next 16. I cannot imagine myself doing anything else.
If you are interested in an incredibly rewarding career, go to MST jobs.
To learn more about what makes MST an effective intervention for at-risk youth, download this white paper.
