I can advise on therapy — why not get the clinical seat?
You give good advice. People take it. And still the title does not come. This feels unjust, and you want someone to explain why influence is not enough. Here is the truth, stripped of comfort: advising and holding the seat are different disciplines. One requires only that you sound right. The other requires a record — hours, supervision, cases — that someone else can verify without taking your word for it. You have built the first. You have not yet built the second. This is not a flaw in you. It is a gap in your file. A gap can be closed. But not by waiting to be recognized, and not alone — your pod can see what you cannot, and hold you to dates you would otherwise let slide.
No one is withholding the seat from you. You have not yet done what the seat requires. Advising is cheap; it costs you nothing to be wrong. The seat demands proof others can check. Stop asking to be let in — name the exact gap, and close it with your pod watching.
What changes unlock by starting
- A written, specific list of what separates your current role from the seat.
- One gap closed within thirty days, with a record someone else can verify.
- Less time spent advising for free, more time spent earning what counts toward the seat.
- A standing check-in with your pod that does not let the plan quietly die.