“What do you want to be when you grow up?”  This question suggests that having a career means arriving at a fixed point. When that notion gets challenged by job loss, constricting industries (hello, COVID-19!), or the sudden confrontation that a desired career path is no longer of interest, fear often bubbles up. Therapist and licensed clinical social worker Nathaniel Amos, MSW, LICSW offers us tools to:

• Engage in “the brave act of being vulnerable” by asking for help. He reminds us to identify people who feel safe and who have the capacity to hold the process where it is without judgment. 
• Manage unmet expectations of self, family, community, and industry. These expectations are highly raced, classed, and gendered, and therefore experienced differently by each of us. 
• Navigate “the middle” -- that space when you are no longer who you used to be, but have not arrived at the next stop in your career-life path. How to look toward the future with an abundance mindset even in moments of profound uncertainty like our current COVID-19 economic landscape. 

We laugh a lot in this episode and even channel the world’s favorite academic Brene Brown and Queer Eye’s Jonahthan Van Ness to really drive home our points. Join us for this reprieve.

Resources Discussed:

psychologytoday.com

therapyforblackgirls.com

Join the discussion and connect with GradSchooled host, Fatimah Williams, Ph.D.

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/fatimahphd

Instagram: @fatimahphd

Website: www.beyondthetenuretrack.com/podcast