therapist

mental health technician

dietitian

life skills trainer

transporter

Birch Tree Communities Inc.

A typical day at Birch Tree Communities for me would be to arrive at the Program Center a little before the start of the shift to greet the members.  At about 4:00 p.m. I drive members home, either to the group home or to their apartments.  I visit with a variety of members and encourage them in using and developing coping strategies.  Many days I work with a member to prepare and serve dinner. 

When I was hired one of the therapists told me the best way to help the members was to "Be kind and be human."  The Intentions of Birch Tree are simple and profound.  They are:

In everything we do, we intend

To be kind.
To inspire hope.
To respect and befriend men and women overwhelmed by life.
To be just.
To bring a measure of joy into every life we touch.
To do no harm.
To offer ourselves without discrimination.
To serve with patience, persistence and forgiveness, not regarding symptoms of illness as evidence of failure.
To create an environment in which dreams are born, encouraged and pursued.
To be a beginning, not an end.

I have learned that some of the symptoms many of our members contend with would make every day tasks difficult and challenging.  Compassion and understanding go a very long way to being able to make someone's day a little better. 

I have found management to be supportive and available.  

The most difficult part of my job for me was the hours.  I have always worked the first shift.  Most days I work 4:00 p.m. to midnight.  It is not possible for me to settle down to sleep sometimes until 4:00 a.m.  The next day seems to disappear completely if I sleep until 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to know the members and watching them make progress.  When a member who has been struggling has a good day and is happy it is rewarding.

The pandemic changed things at Birch, but they are hopefully about to get back to normal.  The best thing about this job is helping folks that are needing, or genuinely wanting your help.  Naturally you are going to have members (clients) that do not feel they need to receive the kind of assistance you are providing.  The most important part of this job is remembering the people you are actually helping.  And it doesn't have to be something you can see clearly.  Just being an example can be as much help as someone needs to see.  
The management is pretty good, at least at the local level.  Chances for advancement are rare.  Raises are determined by people at Corporate.  The pay scale is not much more than average.  The benefits are average at best.  Your coworkers are, for the most part, supportive and empathetic.  Most all of them have been through the thoughts and emotions you are going through and can offer tips on how to deal with them.
The important part is remembering the folks you are able to help.  The paperwork can be overwhelming at the start.  The progress that you see in some members is worth both the frustration and the heartache you feel with others.  The hardest part of this job is being able to focus on the people you are actually helping and not on those you don't know if you are helping at all.  Those you help are the ones you have to focus on, because the ones you don't know about are the easiest to think about.

This job isn't a bad one but how you view it depends on your reasoning for working here. If you are looking to enter the mental health field, this would be a good start for that. You'll be exposed to various types of mental disorders and learn how to work with our members to help manage their symptoms. If you a social work or LPC intern, my suggestion would be to look elsewhere for a more well rounded experience. There have been some changes recently, mostly good, but things aren't perfect. This branch is laid back and the work isn't exactly difficult. At times you will feel like a babysitter and may get mentally drained by dealling with so many types of people. Many of the members don't have the motivation to do better and many get away with behaviors that are uncalled for. Working here you will get tired of the documentation we have to do but its just a part of the job. Overall, this is not a bad olace to work but it has many areas that need improvement.

This job only cares about money. The members very much know. The members deserve so much more. Management aren not as trained as they should be. My work responsibilities where too much. I woke the members. Made sure they took their medications (which i was not qualified for at all). I would have to track most of the members down to make sure they took their medicine. Which was fine. But doing so i would have to prepared the meals, and make sure the members ate. Then i would have to actually meet with around 6 members for atleast 75 minutes a day. Then give medications again. Then at the end of the day i would have to do my reviews of each member. Most times i would start my day at 8am and go home at 12pm. Then do it all over again the next day. This job needs more employees and more schools to better employees. Higher pay to meet the job requirements. The members deserve more than what this company can provide. In closing i believe this company either needs to become so much better or completely relocate the members to better trained companies. The members need to live their life and make actually progress and not waste time so the company can collect a check. 

Birch Tree Communities is a safe place for those with diagnosed mental health illnesses to come and get treatment and start their way to recovery. We serve as a beginning and not an end. The work atmosphere is very unique and enjoyable, and even fun most of the time! Where else can you work and play cards, have cookouts, or even show your skills in a game of basketball, all while helping those mental health illnesses? Between the flexible schedule and the amazing benefits offered, it is an extremely  considerate company.  But what I enjoy the most is the priceless interaction I get to have every day with those we are helping. There is nothing better than to watch someone grow in such a way that they go from almost needing round the clock care to eventually being self sufficient. In addition to the excellent rapport built with our members, I have a lot of encouragement and support from my coworkers. If you have a passion for helping others and enjoy a balance of work and fun, Birch Tree is definitely a place of employment to consider!

While building relationships with the members are very rewarding the management does not make staff feel like we have a voice on how to make the place better. Even when staff has an idea it always gets shut down by management if they don't agree on it. How they deal with the members when they are violent is very unorganized and the member is not held accountable for their actions; therefore not getting them ready for life outside of Birch Tree. With the managements attitude towards things and how management hires people, it makes the environment very stressful and dysfunctional. But the best thing about the job is working with a member that actually tries to get their life together and watch them move out on their own. There are other times just being their for the member to vent to is very satisfying. You can learn life lessons through these members.

A day at Birchtree for me was gathering the members together to make sure everyone is accounted for, then I would have to give medication to the members that evening before I prepared the food for dinner. When there was conflict I used my de escalation techniques to provide comfort to eliminate the potential of spreading anxiety amongst the members. After dinner I would meet with each member to discuss their day and record our engagement in documentation form before going home. I have learned that it is okay to be quite when a member is frustrated, then they will begin to talk more. The hardest part of the job is watching staff communicate with members in a not so caring way. That's when I step in to relieve the situation by asking the members to come with me, and if its a very bad situation, I would report the incident to superior in charge immediately!

If you are looking for a long-term Job I would not recommend this company. Birchtree will burn you out and take advantage of you. Administration and individual branch leadership need A LOT of work. Everything is political, the work environment among staff is poor and leadership is poor. This company is far from being a non- profit, all admin cares about is money, to the point they will jump through every loophole possible to make more money, even comprimising ethically and morally. However I will say the best part of this job is working with the population, the members are awesome. You get to meet and work with some of the most interesting people, you will without a doubt learn something new everyday. Short term this job is a great experience if your looking to get started in the mental health field. 

Love the members and learned a lot in my 3.5 yrs.  Saw a lot of good people come and go.  Culture does not promote team building, it's everyone for themselves.  You never know who is watching you and they can report anything, even if it is not true or verifiable.  Loyalty and hard work is rewarded with job insecurity and stress.  The very people who profess to 'help' are the ones who run to management with trivial matters.  Communication is through email and no suggestions for improvement are considered, unless it comes from a select few.  No matter what they do to 'change' things, nothing really ever does change, just more of the same-cliques, disrespect and disregard for persons.  Until they rout out the top 'leadership', nothing ever will change.  And those folks are deeply ensconced in their (entitled) roles.  

I was at Birch Tree for a year. Management is under tremendous pressure for workers to hit productivity goals. They then transfer that stress onto employees. Productivity is an obsession. If you don’t hit your numbers, you’ll hear about it. At the Clinton branch there is an extremely dysfunctional management culture where the only emails you receive from them are to call out employees about productivity numbers. Managers show favoritism towards friends that are supervisors and allow them to spend entire days surfing the web on their phones. Smoke breaks are multiple. Morale is extremely low. You will not hear a “Good job” ever. I finally left after deciding the stress of working there was not worth it. You’ve been warned.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Therapist 2 salaries reported	$68,500 per year
Mental health technician 11 salaries reported	$67,682 per year
Dietitian 4 salaries reported	$62,000 per year
Life skills trainer 3 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Transporter 1 salary reported	$12.00 per hour

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