mental health technician

therapist

outpatient therapist

program manager

clinical director

Lightfully Behavioral Health

The team is genuinely amazing, and the work itself is meaningful and rewarding. Everyone cares deeply about the clients, and there’s a strong sense of purpose in what we do.

However, the work–life balance is extremely challenging, particularly for Program Managers. There is very little flexibility in scheduling. Because Program Managers are required to be part of staffing ratios, the role effectively becomes on-call at all times. Although there is a formal on-call rotation, Program Managers are expected to provide coverage 24/7, which makes the designated on-call week feel symbolic rather than functional.

Coverage is a constant concern due to the residential setting and limited number of staff on the floor. Even with a Monday–Friday schedule, weekends are frequently impacted. Payroll closes on Sundays, and Program Managers are responsible for closing it out, making corrections, and submitting it for review, which often requires working outside of scheduled hours.

Additionally, staff communication is constant and often includes non-urgent messages outside of work hours. Attempts to set boundaries or create a healthier work–life balance are often met with reminders that “communication is key,” making it difficult to truly disconnect.

Despite being a salaried position, Program Managers are required to account for all time away by entering paid or unpaid time off. This often results in situations where you may be marked as “out sick” and unpaid (once sick time is exhausted), while still actively working and responding to coverage needs due to the 24/7 on-call expectations.

Overall, while the mission and team are strong, the expectations placed on Program Managers make sustainable work–life balance very difficult.

Upon hire, I was told in immersion training that the techs would have support in their role. Everyday I worked there, I felt undervalued and unheard. I was there when they opened in March. They never had a staff meeting. Trainings are far few and in-between. It is a toxic environment due to favoritism, disorganization, lack of communication.  Even when you express what you need from them, they continue lead in a bad light. Management is horrible and are not held accountable for their bad leadership. I must mention that there was a tragic loss at one of their new locations due to again, bad management/incompetency. Warning-could be some legality in process. In addition, it is a very depressing environment. I have never seen a facility who don't celebrate their clients upon their completion, such as a graduation ceremony, etc. Unfortunately, they don't do these things. Staff and clients are bound to the facilities. There are hardly outings either. No liveliness. Every shift, is like walking into gloom and doom. Lastly, the employees are not protected. Management are good for taking clients words when they spread false rumors on staff. I have witnessed a couple of my coworkers fired because of it. Very toxic work culture. This place is by far worse than my previous eight hour, five-day workweek jobs. Anyone can do better than this company.

The interview and hiring process is questionable. offered a position that was very different than what the reality is, from the salary to the hours worked. The mean girl culture is prevalent top to bottom and if you are part of the in crowd, things are great, but if you are not, your life can be made miserable. Some of the primary therapists are not suitable for the position and there are CCTs who think they’re therapists, dictating how the clients treatment plan should go. The management is a disaster! When in the office, they contribute to the mean girl atmosphere but typically no one is around or available when needed. If you make a mistake, it’s on you. While KIPU is the norm industry-wide, the training provided is inadequate and if you need help, you more than likely won’t receive any and then will carry the burden of mistakes made. While upper management makes an effort, the in-house management leaves a lot to be desired, working as few hours as possible and creating an  untenable environment. From whispering to public shaming, management covers all bases. The term gaslight is over-used today but it is the most accurate and appropriate term to use. I don’t know that I could in good conscience recommend this organization to anyone, even those with the toughest skin. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working for Lightfully is the day that you leave. Management is the worst on the work site level.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working with a bunch of people who sit on their butts all day and complain about their workload being so high that they won’t even get up to break a CCT for lunch. But expect staff to drop everything for them.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It’s high stress, managers who do nothing but glare at you all day making it impossible to approach them for help and love to make you feel like you are below their level.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Picking up the last shifts slack, people dumping their work on you because they don’t get that you have your own assignments to carry out. Therapists will come to you and want explainations for things that are outside of their knowledge but when you ask them they tel you that they don’t have time to talk because they are documenting and don’t want interruptions and they will put their headphones back on to avoid being a team and healing.

A company that preaches lofty ideals about innovating mental healthcare for both clients and providers, but does not walk the talk. They'll tell you what you want to hear during interviews, and then they'll ask you to be "flexible" after you start, as they push your boundaries and turn the actual job into something more than they described. Unhealthy work culture - get ready for late night emails and poor work-life balance. Speaking of culture, very weird cultish vibe to this place. They pressure employees to self-disclose to an unprofessional extent as a show of "vulnerability" during staff events. This company brags about having a 32-hour workweek, but really, it's a 40-hour workload crammed into 32 business hours, so you'll be overloaded during work hours and implicitly hamstrung into taking work home with you. Their "innovative" take on documentation is atrociously tedious. Their training is insufficient, to the detriment of client care. Beware of these people. 

I accepted the position with Lightfully because I was obsessed with the company's core values and the idea of not overburdening clinicians as it is seen with most other agencies. Sadly, from day one, it was so unorganized and poorly managed completely missing their "shining commitments" and mission. All staff was overworked and concerns were rarely addressed. Staff were often told one thing and the complete opposite happen or they were told nothing and were just met with new surprises daily. It often became difficult to stick up for the company when clients would have complaints because they were addressing almost identical complaints as the staff.

I understand it's a start up and there's a level of "going with the flow" but how long do you have to "go with the flow" before it's time to change course. I believe if this company would have started slow and opened one site at a time rather than 5+ in less than a year, they could have truly mastered their goal and then expanded in a beautiful way. Unfortunately, the way things have been done is not very promising for the future. 

I've been a therapist for a year and a half at this point and I'm one of the original staff at my site. I've seen a lot of people come and go and the people who can stick around are ready for an acute caseload and are willing to be a mental health generalist. It's also a start-up which means trial and error, the company is willing to acknowledge and rectify their mistakes and actually integrate changes fairly quickly. I would recommend this job to any therapist who wants to enjoy a 4 day, 32-hour work week and is willing to learn and grow in their ability to treat a wide range of diagnoses. I deeply believe in the process-based therapy model and have gotten to work with amazing therapists and clients who have been personally and professionally transformed by this work!

In the mental health field, it is unique and special to find a company and team that cares this much about clients and staff. The leaders within this organization truly do whatever they can to support folks in learning, growing, and having all the tools they need to do their job. I have grown so much in my role over the last few years, and I am so lucky to work with an amazing team. Working within a startup in the mental health field definitely has its' challenges, and when a company is willing to pivot and shift in order to grow and become better, it always feels possible to reach our goals. The best part of my job is seeing staff grow and learn and watching clients achieve recovery and navigate their healing journeys.

I have worked at Lightfully for well over a year now in San Diego and I have loved the process. I feel that the leadership team and upper management have been supportive of those of us working directly with clients. I have been able to provide input and feedback and have it well received. The company has gone through some changes in the first year, and these all have been handled with grace and leave the leadership team open to feedback to support the clinical and client care staff, as well as clients and families. The executive team is truly in the mix and interacts with the teams regularly to provide support and collaboration. Many of the team members I have met along the way have shown the shining commitments through and through and everyone works to support each other on all levels. 

Lightfully is an incredible place to work, both for the opportunities as an employee as well as the care that is provided here. They encourage hiring from within and moving people up the chain of command. When it's good, it's great; when it's bad, it can get really bad but management from on-site to high-ups step up time and again to help out when needed.
The hardest part of the job as with every residential program is the staff turnover and related burnout/feelings of being stretched thin.
The best part though is when a client tells you that they feel safe with you and that they will take what they learned in treatment with them in life. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mental health technician 104 salaries reported	$23.80 per hour
Therapist 21 salaries reported	$81,095 per year
Outpatient therapist 18 salaries reported	$85,250 per year
Program manager 13 salaries reported	$79,913 per year
Clinical director 4 salaries reported	$104,250 per year

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