How I Found a Remote Mental Health Job

When we heard from Teresa H. in Mendon, Utah, about how she found a remote mental health job, we fell in love with her story. Here is what she told us initially about her new at-home position as a Behavioral Health Utilization and Care Manager with Aetna:

“I first heard about FlexJobs about two years ago and I believe that’s about when I first signed up. I applied for few jobs and then lost my interest and motivation. The job I had was going better so I let my subscription lapse. I got motivated again several months ago and decided to give it one more try and I’m SO glad I did. I found a job working at home in my field as a licensed mental health professional. I landed a job with a major insurance company doing behavioral health clinical reviews, and honestly, I’m still pinching myself. This is a completely remote position with full benefits and retirement. They even offered to pay me a little more than what I’m making now driving to work every day! Wow! Thank you FlexJobs! You guys are the real deal! Very professional, completely legitimate, REAL jobs with top companies! Decorating my home office is going to be so much fun! Thanks again for helping me land that job of my dreams.”

Of course we were intrigued and wanted to know more! Teresa was kind enough to take the time to answer our question on her first day working a remote mental health job!

When you started looking for work, did you have a specific type of flexibility in mind or were you open to exploring telecommute, part-time, flexible schedule, or freelance?

I was flexible at first, especially when I wasn’t really sure what was possible. But as I searched I was able to get more and more focused on jobs that I thought would be the best match for me.

What was your #1 reason for looking for flexible work options?

I really just wanted to spend more time with my family. I have been a therapist on an inpatient psychiatric unit for 15 years and I LOVED my job and the people I worked with. I’ve been blessed with an incredible career. But my family experienced an event last year that changed my heart in ways I could have never imagined. My daughter’s fiancé went into kidney failure and his situation was very grave. My daughter stepped forward and wanted to be tested—amazingly, she was a match! There is a one in 50,000 chance for a non-blood relative to be a match close enough for a transplant. The surgery was this past March. They are both doing wonderfully and everyone is so happy! We are a close family and this experience brought us even closer. It gave me the motivation and the courage to look at my life, which was pretty darn good, to just see if it could be even better. Life is short and very precious. I decided I wanted to spend as much time as possible with those I love.

Do you have any advice to share with other job seekers?

I had been looking off and on for work-at-home opportunities for about two years prior to actually getting my job, but I was not consistent in my search and often just got discouraged. I even had signed up with FlexJobs about two years ago when I first started looking, but I let it expire when things didn’t just happen right away. After our family emergency, I decided to really dedicate myself to finding a job I could do at home. I signed up for FlexJobs again and became very methodical and systematic. I checked the website daily, checked ALL my alerts and set my sights on a national insurance carrier. I bet I got 12 automated rejections from them over four months, but I just kept applying! One day a recruiter from the company contacted me about a position I hadn’t even applied for. It seemed too good to be true! But it wasn’t.

Today was my first day working from home. I got to wear jeans and a T-shirt, was able to catch up on my housework during my breaks, and had plenty of time to cook dinner. And I love to cook! There is snow on the mountains. I got to admire it from my home office window and didn’t have to drive in it! I’m so excited! I never even imagined this was possible! Yes, I am living the dream! So my advice is to be systematic, be persistent, and don’t get discouraged. And USE FlexJobs and let FlexJobs work for you!