Joyce Marter is quoted in this article about how you can design a career that combines your needs, desires, skills, talents and curiosity.
“It is challenging for people to let go of old belief systems and life patterns that are no longer working for them,” said Chicago psychotherapist Joyce Marter. “Unrealistic expectations or beliefs cause stress. If we change our thinking, we can decrease our stress.”
Marter remembers feeling torn between competing desires to build a larger group practice and start a family. She gained clarity when a career counselor suggested that she needed to plan her career in the context of her life, not the other way around.
“We all need to create a work/life that promotes and supports a life/life,” Marter said. “For many, that entails doing work that is aligned with your talents and strengths and also [is] meaningful on a deeper level.”
When she founded Urban Balance, a Chicago-based group therapy practice, her goal was to promote work/life balance in her own life as well as in the lives of her staff and clients. She set up her business model so she could to work from home when she wasn’t seeing clients. Urban Balance has subsequently grown to a staff of 40 therapists in five Chicagoland locations. Many employees are parents who have flexible, part-time schedules.
As Marter grew her business and raised her two daughters, unexpected opportunities emerged. She began blogging for the Huffington Post and is currently president of the Illinois Counseling Association.