After finishing grad school, I became licensed in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling and I went to work at a foundation as a clinician. I loved the work and my colleagues and was there for several years.
In addition to being a clinician, I served as the executive administrative assistant, which meant that I would manage intakes, assigning patients to staff members. I must confess that I took advantage of my position to assign those patients I found most interesting to myself and divvying up the rest among the other counselors.
I found myself providing supervisory input to my colleagues as the executive director became overburdened with paperwork and administrative tasks. She did all the grunt work and I got all the glory. When she saw what was happening, she took action by taking me off the phones. I was no longer in control of intakes and, in effect, my referral base was dried up. It seemed that she wanted me to move on and I also felt the same way. It was time for me to start my own practice.
When I struck out on my own, many of the patients I had worked with over the years followed me to my new location. As I look back, I feel bad about what happened. The economic loss must have been devastating for the executive director.
Later, in my own clinics, the same thing happened to me. I should have known that this could happen. It’s common knowledge that what goes around comes around.
It wasn’t until much later, when I looked back, that I felt sorry for the way it worked out. In the moment, I was looking out for myself and doing what I thought was best. I didn’t think about how my actions may come back to haunt me, but I’ve learned.
What goes around comes around. That is a lesson worth repeating.
Dr. Erica Miller