WINNER of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award
From the So You Want To Be A... Series - 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, Grand Prize Winner
Imagine a job where your most powerful tool isn't a scalpel, a computer, or a fire truck - it's the way you listen.
So You Want To Be A Psychotherapist invites curious kids into one of the strangest, most surprising careers there is: the work of helping people heal through careful, honest conversation. No talking down. No sugarcoating. This is a career book that treats young readers as intellectual equals - honest about the small private victories and the hard parts of a life spent in a small room with two chairs.
Inside, readers discover:What a psychotherapist actually does all day - and why listening, not advice-giving, is the real skill
Where therapists work - from cozy offices to schools, hospitals, video calls, and even barns full of horses
The tools of the trade - the two chairs, the tissue box, the fifty-minute hour, and the "doorknob moment" every therapist knows
The best parts of the job and the hardest, told with rare honesty
A real day in the life, from morning tea to the moment the work stays at the office
Trailblazers who changed the field - Carl Rogers, Mamie Phipps Clark, Virginia Satir, Marsha Linehan, Anna Freud, and Derald Wing Sue
The qualities that matter most - deep listening, emotional steadiness, curiosity, and self-awareness
Fun facts, a "Could This Be Your Job?" quiz, a kid-friendly glossary, and where to learn more
Part of the acclaimed So You Want To Be A... series, this richly illustrated introduction to psychology, empathy, and mental health is written for ages 10-14, yet lingers happily with younger readers and sparks real conversations for the whole family. It's the perfect gift for the empathetic child - the one their friends come to, the one who holds a silence a beat longer than everyone else.
Somewhere out there, a person you haven't met yet is having a hard week. One day there will be two chairs in a room, and one of them could be yours.
The chair will be waiting.
