mental health therapist

clinician

family support specialist

mental health technician

licensed vocational nurse

Pacific-Clinics

● Work-life balance
no work life balance. you are in it outside of 9-5 schedule trying to catch up on notes and ridiculous amount of new forms of paperwork.

● Pay & benefits
there are three weeks sick day but if you get on mgmt’s bad side (ie, not completing notes within 24 hours despite having constant headaches), they can revoke your sick days. hypocritically, superviosr and director love taking sick leaves and vacation unscrupulously that at times, clinicians are left supervising themselves which is unethical.

● Job security and advancement
Training is dictated by supervisor and first come first serve. career growth limited due to ineffective supervision on clt cases and care, focus on paperwork and productivity. growth only in sens of coworkers providing resources for you to figure out on own. No time to think about career growth if you are constantly overworked and having to deal with unreasonable deadlines.

● Management
Management writes you up with no verbal warnings to save their own skin. they force you to sign memos dictating petty situations that happen and provide no guidance on how to improve expect constant criticism. They expect you to figure out almost everything on your own. If you ask them for guidance or too many questions, they seem annoyed. Not the best plave for personal growth as a therapist. All they do is criticize and and the hierachy of supervisors reporting to directors to head managers leads to ambiguous messages. Mgmt abuse goes form top down; which creates a starin on company mission to support clients as number one priority. Instead, mgmt only cares about numbers numbers and numbers (much much you can bill for sesions, productivity rates that are unreasonable when they provide only three clients in beginning and expect yout o meet 100 percent productity (5 hour clt contact and notes per day). worst thing is, your coworkers can be untrustworthy. you end up having to need your personal therapist from all the verbal abuse and trauma you recieve from mgmt. mgmt sometimes dont do their jobs correctly: call in sick last minute and then criticize you for doing the same; focusing on negative instead of your strengths and growth as a therapist, displaying favoritism towards coworkers who go so above and beyond that they physically and mentally get sick themselves. They dont care about burn out even though they preach self care. They dont care that you are late due to car accident, excruciating health issues or benefits of employees. They are harsh and force you to do things outside scope of competence.

● Culture
only remotely due to covid. Amount of  autonomy given is inconsistent. They write you up for choosing to not bother them (b/c they dont want to be bothered with matters that relate to clinical work) and also write you up for seeking too much guidance during crisis situations. They cant make up their minds about how much they should be helping the intern/trainee and send mixed messages through body language and project their confusion onto the front line therapists. supervisor and director are often not on same page. You feel lost all the time, when you show any range of negative human emotion (i.e tears), they tear you apart with one of their memos or bully you altogether.

● Overall
I came into the agency with excitement to work with clients. But supervisors were unsupportive and abusive, unmanageable caseload, limited guidance. Managers and supervisors focus on your petty “ mistakes” (blaming you for family conflicts in intake session, trying to seek help, turning in a slightly crumpled piece of paper, and question your clinical judgement but then tell you to use your clinical judgement. all in all, they cant make up their minds about what to do. The entire place is so unorganized  Only Coworkers are there for you and they have to take antidepressants to stay afloat. Sick days are discouraged, mistreatment through threats (taking away your sick days)  are commonplace. Favoritism is shown when employees bow to upper management and do everything they say and mgmt is unwilling to take no for an answer or even discuss with you. they just criticize, blame and force you to sign memos. Prepare to always walk on eggshells.  And disprportionate assignemnt of cases among therapists leads to burnout in some and stuggling to meet productivity in others. want to talk to HR? Forget it, they dont do anything to help. Talk to bosses’ bosses’ boss? dont bother, they tell you its not their responsibility, it’s yours to talk to your direct supervisor who cant even listen.

Working at Pacific Clinics was a high-pressure experience that required constant adaptability.

A typical day at work was fast-paced and often unpredictable. I managed client needs, responded to crises, coordinated with property management and external partners, and worked to meet strict documentation and compliance expectations. Much of the day involved balancing urgent client care with administrative demands.

Through this role, I learned how to operate under pressure, manage high-acuity populations, and navigate complex systems. I also strengthened my leadership skills, learned the importance of maintaining professional boundaries, and gained deeper insight into how organizational structure and leadership directly impact team effectiveness.

In my experience, management lacked consistency, clear communication, and accountability. Supervision often focused on complaints, accusations, or perceptions rather than guidance, problem-solving, or support. This created confusion, added stress, and made it difficult to operate effectively in my role.

The workplace culture was challenging. While the mission of serving vulnerable populations was meaningful, the environment at times felt undermining, with limited support, inconsistent expectations, and a lack of psychological safety. This contributed to a sense of instability within the team.

The hardest part of the job was navigating ongoing scrutiny, shifting expectations, and a lack of support while still being expected to perform at a high level. Balancing emotional labor with administrative pressure in that environment was extremely difficult.

The most enjoyable part of the job was working directly with clients. Supporting individuals in stabilizing their housing, accessing resources, and making progress in their lives was meaningful and rewarding.

Regarding how I was treated, I did not consistently feel supported or respected in my role. There were ongoing patterns of being undermined, questioned, and placed in a defensive position, which created a stressful and at times hostile work experience rather than one that fostered professional growth.

As a non-profit, you will constantly hear about budget cuts and the resulting increased pressure for employees to increase their billable hours with no real incentive beyond hoping to not get fired. Individual clinicians and supervisors showed care for the clients, however, this was always undermined by the pressure to generate more money for the company. I witnessed and experienced clients being underserved so that clinicians could take on more clients than was ideal, or to take on clients that did not really meet the criteria for our programs in order to increase billing. Billable hours requirements are excessive when taken into consideration all the mandatory meetings, trainings and supervisions you will need to attend. Supervisors are aware that the requirement is excessive and so simply tell you that you must work outside of paid office hours in order to meet productivity, while simultaneously telling you to keep quiet about it since it violates labor laws. If a clinician does not meet the billing requirements, they simply fire them no matter how many years good service was provided. Expect to be given at least 60 hours of work per week, but paid based on a work week of 37.5. I had coworkers with young children speak guiltily of "only" working an extra two hours when they got home instead of all night like they usually did, while ironically being expected in their professional role to help troubled children and hold this work in the highest regard. Much of Pacific Clinic's activity is highly unethical, and I suspect not entirely legal, either. All of this leads to a completely dispiriting experience for anyone with a genuine desire to help others. If you chose to put up with all this, expect to be laid off suddenly and without warning when the company loses county contracts. Do not believe that they will offer you a transfer, because they will not, even people who had been with them for decades were not offered transfers when our office closed. It's all about the money.

After reading all these reviews, I was exhausted. I know what the majority of you went through because I went through the same situation for 3+ years and it really takes a toll on you. Stress daily is not good and I will NOT be applying to this company.
I think this needs to be addressed and some sort of action needs to take place. This has been going on for years that I can see on here.mI am sure it is longer. The few that praise the Management must be friends with them or somehow avoided it or maybe afraid they might get in trouble. The job description should be for Management and Supervisors.  
Healthcare should be about the patient/client. It is not a factory. When management gets mad when you show a patient you truly care and spend time on them, that shows you that all they care about is the numbers. We the employees truly care about helping and understanding the people. That is why we got into what we do. This really needs to stop. These are people who need help and most of us want to truly help them. 
This is sad and I am not going to forget all that I read tonight. 
Good for the ones who got out. The ones that are still there, stand up for yourself and for the people you help. I know jobs are getting harder to come by but no amount of money is worth being unhappy at a job you are suppose to love. 
If you all put your foot down, they will be forced to address the situation. I know I shouldn't get so upset by this since I didn't and will not work there, but I went through the exact same thing and it is not right.

Oh, one more thing, breaks are mandatory and they (supervisors) can get into a lot of trouble if they don't let you take at least two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. I had the same issue and OSHA was on it!
I know you have all heard of OSHA. They take this very serious.You can Google their number. You CANNOT/WILL NOT get into trouble by anyone for calling them.
Maybe if we all take a step to help, it will put up a flag.

God Bless and Happy Holidays.

this agency is just like any other non-profit DMH contracted agency. expect lots of paperwork that is complicated by DMH jargon and unrealistic productivity expectations. depending on your site, clients may have more intensive mental health needs. for the most part clients are wonderful to work with, especially the school based ones.

my work environment was great due to my co-workers. my site have very caring and nurturing staff. i miss them dearly and i miss my clients too. the lay out of the site is conductive toward providing therapy; there is no need to fight for rooms to provide therapy since everyone has their own office.

i was hoping to stay at this site forever, however the revolving door of managers and supervisors made the work environment unstable and unsupportive. it is written in one of the cores values of the agency that the welfare of staff is important, however in reality it is not. productivity and notes are the most important factors to my supervisors even after I had shared of my extremely difficult life circumstances to them that was recent. it is scary to think that they were once therapists themselves. the lack of empathy from them is sad to see. they do not care for your clients well-being nor for yours. i came into this line of work to help people overcome their life challenges; i loved the rapport i had with my clients and staff members however if you get bad managers and supervisors then none of that matters because they make the job miserable and an uphill battle that is not worth fighting for. I left the job not because of the work, but because of poor leadership and management.

When I started with the company, they offered great benefits and paid holidays. As time progressed, they started to take away holidays such as New Years Eve and the day before Thanksgiving. This company is competitive with their benefit packets as it is affordable and decent. However, you have to outweigh the benefits versus your sanity. This company only cares about BILLING BILLING BILLING regardless of any personal issues or lack of clients!! You are expected to somehow someway bill a minimum of 30 hours when we only work 37.5 hours per week. MHT carry a full caseload and must complete intakes on a weekly basis with a turn around time of 72 hours for notes and intakes. The worst part is, if you would like to use them as a reference, forget about it. The program director and  HR manager both denied any referrals for my current employment due to "confidentiality" even though I called myself and asked if they can please fill out the form; a 5 question reference form asking for my skills as a therapist. I have seen a huge employee turnaround rate with this company because they do not care about you as an employee, you are just a number to meet their billing expectations I was on bereavement and forced to fill out a form because it was time sensitive. I myself have witness lack of empathy and appreciation for their employees or what they are going through. If you do not meet productivity, you are placed on probation or asked to do multiple intakes a week regardless of your caseload. At times, it was not even the employees fault; there simply was not enough clients for all the therapists and the employee still paid the price. Do yourself a favor, and do not apply or work for this company!!! 

Within 3 weeks of starting my position, I had a caseload of 24 clients. I hit the ground running and am continuously grateful for my wonderful supervisor who helped me get organized and supported me throughout my time there. However, the learning curve is rather steep as the assessments, treatment plans, and progress notes pile up daily. The biggest benefit that Pacific Clinics provides their clinicians is by providing supervision towards higher licensure, gracious PTO (I was able to take week-long vacations every other month), and continued education to learn different evidence-based treatments. The most enjoyable part of the position is being able to work with your clients who are motivated. However, when caseloads get too (e.g. 36 clients was my highest), your weeks will be filled with back-to-back sessions just to provide adequate services. Which in turn gravely affects your work/life balance as you will have to do progress notes, treatment plans, and assessments after work for 1-3 hours daily and then dedicate another 4 hours over the weekend to complete. Keeping in mind, that this is when I could eventually get myself organized. Overall, the position is challenging but Pacific Clinics does invest in its clinicians and it's a great agency to begin your clinical career and build up great skills but also when you are ready to leave you will understand your worth and have the skills to back it up.

What a typical day at work: 
- The facility hasn't opened when previously planned and continues to be postponed so a typical day is working from home with meetings, and activities scheduled at the last minute and constantly changes without notice. This causes work to be stressful for someone who likes to be organized and prepared. 

What you believe you learned:
-I learned not to trust my coworkers or manager. To document everything and to be prepared for last-minute notices. I learned to work with people I couldn't trust due to the toxic work environment. Everyone is friendly but will complain about you the moment they get to when you have done nothing wrong."We're family" is said many times, and the manager has to always assert their authority and title any moment they get when it's not necessary.  

The most enjoyable part of the job:
-Free lunches and fun "team-building" activities. 

Note: 
I was excited to work here till I started noticing a few things. Don't attract attention by being a great employee, asking questions, and showing leadership skills, this will cause problems. They have a high turnover rate, people come and go frequently, mostly due to the facility not opening and continuing to be postponed, and also conflicts with management. 

I’m a new grad LPT and it started off great but it quickly became stressful. I strongly believe they should assign someone to train or mentor new employees instead of giving that responsibility to the nurse on duty which is one other person. It’s a lot to learn. She had to train me and also do her daily tasks which in my opinion was a lot as well.  It seemed they dumped a lot of responsibility onto the nurses and also having to adhere to the strict DMH guidelines such as productivity and documentation. I felt bc I am a new nurse I had a lot of questions and eventually that got on the individuals nerves. She eventually just stopped talking to me and left me to fend for myself. It was quite embarrassing and disrespectful, I thought I was back in high school. I lasted here only a month, that’s how quickly things got bad. I felt that now that I’m licensed there’s more at stake and I wasn’t willing to risk having my license taken away or suspended just because someone was irritated with me or impatient on training me and there would be more of a chance on me making a mistake. The good part was the benefits and pay were good. Some of the management and support staff were very nice and welcoming and also helpful. It just takes one person to ruin things. 

I’m not sure how it is in the other departments, but working in the housing program at this company has been very chaotic. It is a very disorganized program. You are trained to do things one way then told to do it the complete opposite weeks later. You are constantly given conflicting information about billing and what your exact job duties are. You are push to bill so the insurance companies will pay the organization but it’s not always feasible. 

The team I am on has been very supportive and my direct supervisor has done their best to assist our team when issues arise. However, it seems the higher ups don’t value the employees, let alone the clients we serve. 
We aren’t paid enough for everything they expect us to do. We often can’t help clients as much as we want to due to lack of resources and connections. High turnover due to the pay and the program being extremely disorganized 
The program has much work to do in order to be sustainable.
If you are looking to work here, do not apply for the housing department. Try another sector 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mental health therapist 38 salaries reported	$76,025 per year
Clinician 176 salaries reported	$81,792 per year
Family support specialist 87 salaries reported	$31.51 per hour
Mental health technician 53 salaries reported	$23.46 per hour
Licensed vocational nurse 35 salaries reported	$38.51 per hour

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