doubl3dutch Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) Anyone done this before? How were your experiences and would you recommend it? I am interested in starting a business/nonprofit which targets mental health in immigrant (and their children), especially East Asian, communities. My goal would be to run a network of clinics that in additional to talk therapy take advantage of modern software-based and brain stimulation approaches. I'd also love to involve researchers at our clinics and also do some community outreach. My personal dream would be to be able to do a little bit of everything (management, software, research, outreach, giving therapy) but unfortunately time is limited. If I have to specialize, I'd choose primarily management with giving therapy on the side. My current background is US citizen -> biz school (investment banking, wealth management) -> transferred to games/computer science -> software engineering -> engineering manager at top tech companies and startups, but I'm off work now trying to pivot. I have been in psychoanalysis for 4 years and CBT for one year. In college, I was a board member of a volunteer club but not that many volunteer hours (~100). I am currently training to be a crisis hotline volunteer and am also a research assistant at a neuroscience lab that is looking at direct brain stimulation techniques to address mental illness. I honestly wouldn't have been against starting a company directly, but I don't want to be locked out of giving therapy myself - hence the dual degree. I see the MSW as a path to licensure and the MBA as a way to build my network. I've lived in Asia since graduating college, but I want to come back and help other Asian immigrants and second generation like me, so I thought that I would need an MBA because of my nonexistent network in the States. Even if I went back now, I don't have other people to start this company with ?. One concurrent option I'm going to take is finding remote work as an engineer/manager at a mental health tech startup like Path or Grow Therapy. Debt is a concern but I'm taking a chance on my business acumen to carry me out of it. Looking forward to feedback. Thanks. PS I don't have a liberal arts coursework background. Would MSW programs accept online courses from the likes of EdX? Or should I be looking at online courses from something like UC Extension? I also have the option to take courses at my local universities, but they aren't in English so I'm afraid it'll drag down my college GPA (3.86). Edited February 1, 2023 by doubl3dutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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