Pros
Ability to work remote, especially during a pandemic.
Cons
During the pandemic, I was really looking for a place to provide therapy to others while still protecting my safety - I came across Lighthouse Therapy as a way to do both and work from home. First warning sign is that during the interview, I was asked nothing of my clinical skills and competency - mainly just when I could start (I am very confident in my skills, however, it was a bit odd that nothing was asked of this when hiring potential candidates). I started on a per diem contract - therefore I get paid the same no matter how many students I see per day, as I start to build a caseload. After a day of training (it was 3 hours, not a full day), I was ready to see students virtually - 2 weeks later, the CEO calls a meeting for per diem therapists, informing us that the schools they have contracted with no longer can afford to pay us on a per-diem rate - therefore, we can sign a new contract to be paid on an appt by appt basis only, or we can quit essentially. During the interview and onboarding process, I was told how we would soon be really busy/many students on caseload - after 3 or 4 weeks - however, I was still only given 2 or 3 on caseload to that date. After two months, I realized that I would not be able to sustain a living salary on only 3 students per week moving forward without the per diem rate, so I decided to hand in my notice and look for something with more stability. The contract states that there is a 10 day notice from BOTH parties to terminate the contract of unemployment. I handed in my 10 day notice over winter break, but employees had been active via email and G-chat so I was positive it would be seen. I made sure to leave the appropriate 10 days as I still had an eval to finish up within that time. After not having ANY acknowledgement or or follow-up from my notice of resignation, I tried to log in the very next day to finish my eval write up and provide a handover to the other therapists. However, I could not log in because all of my company accounts - Gmail, the Lighthouse therapy platform, etc, had been disabled with absolutely NO notice of this to me whatsoever. For a company that claims to ‘put the students first’, you would think they would check in with a student’s therapist to see if they have crucial information for a handover to a new therapist - apparently, that is not a priority here. As the schools that contract with this company are based in California, I was required to obtain my CA licensure which cost over $500. I had been reassured by HR/admin MULTIPLE times that once I have worked for the company for 30 days (which I had at this point), I would be reimbursed for my license fee. I hadn’t received it even before I handed in my notice, so I double checked it would be on my final payment. I received a breakdown of the payment which included the CA fee, however that money was not in my account, nor was a day of payment that I had submitted an invoice for. I have been emailing and calling the company for two months now trying to get an answer on when/how this money will be reimbursed to me, and I finally received a response that said “We will not be reimbursed since your contract with us was so short”. Short? Yes (because the contract was changed two weeks into my start date). Over 30 days? Also yes - therefore I should have been receiving the $534 in CA license reimbursement that was assured to me MULTIPLE times from the beginning. Will I ever see it? It does not look like it. As much as I care for the students and appreciate the modern ability to provide therapy services virtually, I would also strongly warn therapists to choose another company that *genuinely* cares about the contractors. Unfortunately, the saying about running clear from companies that promote themselves as a ‘family’ rings very true here. I have never encountered more unprofessionalism in how this situation was dealt - it has been the furthest thing from feeling like ‘family’.