Working in a therapy setting always felt like a calling for Karl Thomas, but that wasn’t the direction he originally went in when considering an education and a career.
“I studied history in college when the dinosaurs roamed the earth… the 1990s,” Thomas, a student in the M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy, said.
After college, Thomas worked in the hospitality industry and eventually moved to the healthcare administration field. In 2020, like many people, he lost his job in healthcare during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the restructuring of the organization. Thomas used this life event to follow what he always thought was a calling.
“I’ve always kind of thought I should be doing some sort of therapy, but never did,” he said. “I also took a couple of psychology courses at a local university, so I’ve always kind of wanted to dabble in the mental health world. So this really gave me the way to actually do it.”
Having a number of options for different types of therapy-related degrees he could receive, Thomas said he chose marriage and family therapy because of its focus on holding a systemic view.
“There are so many things influencing a person’s behavior, and the marriage and family therapy program really teaches us to focus on that,” Thomas said. “And I really appreciate that view. I am also very committed to racial and social justice and gender equity and justice, and the program is pretty direct about how impactful that is on people’s mental health.”
Knowing marriage and family therapy was the route Thomas wanted to go, he selected Saint Mary’s because of the accelerated track that was offered by the school. Only taking courses once a week, Thomas could attend to his family’s needs while also pursuing a new career. He was also pleased with the ability to begin working with patients in a practicum setting in a short amount of time. Along with the accelerated track, Thomas found assistance from financial aid to be beneficial.
“When it comes to education, nothing is affordable,” he said. “But Saint Mary’s is affordable.”
Even with an accelerated track, Thomas appreciated how easy it was to grow close with his cohort.
“We always say that we have 19 brothers and sisters that we fight with, love dearly, and know everything about,” Thomas said. “Therapy content can be truly hard work. We know if a classmate has experienced a particular trauma, when we are learning about that, we need to show them extra support”
After finishing his program, Thomas hopes to start his own private practice. He says because his cohort has grown so close, he knows he’ll be able to lean on his classmates in the professional world when needed.
“I know in the future who I can refer to,” he said. “We have people who want to go into couples therapy, people who want to go into grief therapy, and people who will likely start private practices. And because we know each other so well, we’re not going in blind.”
Thomas encourages anyone looking to make a change in their career to find the right vocation for them to do so, no matter what point they’re at in their life.
“I would say to take that leap,” he said. “Therapy, in particular, is great for career changers as it is very flexible. I still do consulting work around my therapy appointments, and my professors and my practicum site have both worked around this. Additionally, therapy is a career where age and experience is an asset.”