Despite a few Pros, this may have been the worst job that I've had. I have worked in the mental health field for approximately 15 years and left a good job to work at Pathlight. I was drawn in by the good salary and promise of professional development, but found a very cold work environment with limited opportunities. Despite being in-person, meetings are done virtually with people who are down the hall, which made the work environment feel very cold and impersonal. Many of the departments are based in Colorado and difficult to reach. If I had issues with equipment or staff, it could take weeks, even months, to get a reply and I did not have any direct contacts. I started sending emails with read receipts, and learned that my emails were not being read in a timely manner, if at all. Working here is like being in a Kafka novel.
I received minimal support and training. Overall, I felt very unsupported by upper-level management. The Pathlight program was treated as secondary to the eating disorder program, and I was constantly told that we weren't that busy and made to feel like the program was less important. We were not able to hire adequate staff due to a low census, but it takes the same number of staff to run groups for a program whether there are 2 or 10 patients. The company relies on hiring students to lead groups, which caused high turnover and staffing issues. The company appears to count on revolving door hiring practices, which is not how I like to manage. My preference is to invest more in employees so I can retain them. The group therapists were students or new clinicians, but due to being unable to hire enough staff, it was difficult to provide them with the degree of supervision that they needed since they rarely had breaks from group. When staff called out, I was not able to get support from other programs and ended up filling in myself, including for late evening groups. I had accepted this job as I had been told that the hours were during regular business hours, but that was not the case. I did not receive comp time or any additional financial compensation for working additional hours.
Upper management did not recognize the work of its employees and I dont believe they understand the hard work that the therapists are doing. They didn't seem to care how the program was managed, as long as we were operating and providing billable services. I began working at Pathlight in June and realized quickly that the organization was not a good fit for me based on my values. I left after 5 months, which is the shortest job that I've ever had. I don't job hop and had been with my previous employer for nearly 8 years. I have never encountered a company with such high turnover, including supervisory roles. While the job paid well, it wasn't worth it to me. I also struggled with the measly time off and the fact that I was not permitted to work on holidays as a manager, but was required to use PTO. The late hours, weekend phone call frenzies related to frequent call outs, and ridiculous holiday work policies were miscommunicated with me prior to starting. If you factor in the extended work hours for covering evening groups, weekend coverage, and the holidays that eat up your PTO, the salary is actually not that great. My stress level has gone down immensely since resigning. From one clinician to another, my advice is to preserve your mental health and look elsewhere.
