Pros
Remote work Work from home
Cons
Now that I’ve been gone from Equip for enough time to start to make sense of my experience, I can say I’ve never worked at a job that has caused so much burn out in my life. Working at Equip drained me so deeply both personally and professionally. Equip had me carrying a caseload that was completely unreasonable while continuing to expect me to attend numerous meetings and trainings every week. The schedule I was working didn’t leave time for me to take care of myself between my sessions and meetings. The company allows and encourages the use of 15 minute and 30 minute sessions, leading to often having upwards of 10 sessions or more per day on top of meetings. There was not adequate time for administrative work. Beyond the workload that is absolutely unrealistic, leaving the culture of the company is something that left me processing what happened to me. It felt very toxic and leaving felt similar to leaving a fundamentalist religion. Equip leadership is rigid and consistently express a belief that FBT is the one and only right way to save people from an eating disorder. It feels like they are obsessed with their image and with being the best. They train their therapists to strictly adhere to the FBT model and it feels like thinking outside of the box is discouraged. Challenging their views or seeking or sharing information that is not “Equip Approved” (yes that is a term that was used FREQUENTLY) leads to conflicts. They are so obsessed with evidence based treatment that I was told I can’t use any techniques that are not backed by a clinical randomized control trial. Unfortunately for most humans who are seeking help from a therapist, their life doesn’t exist in a laboratory. It does not seem that Equip values the human element more than they view their clients and staff as numbers and statistics. I have so many concerns about the motives and ethics of this company and the people leading it. I was expected to practice therapy in states that I was not licensed in. People in high positions seem to be title seeking and obsessed with moving up the ladder of success. Being obsessed with your self image and thinking you are the smartest person in the room will get you far in this company. The research they do is self funded so there is clear motivation to have the most impressive numbers to share with investors and market their product. Which at the bottoms line is what therapy at equip is. It’s a product. It’s a way for these leaders to make money and gain professional clout. This company is not about the clients it’s about money and ego, and to this venture capitalist machine the clients and therapist are collateral damage and a means to the end.
