Can anyone advise on Guidance counselling as a career?

[zippyswife]

I’m looking to retrain (I have 15 years as a police officer- specialising in child protection). I am naturally very empathetic, compassionate, good listener, get on with people etc. I am good at advising and problem solving. I have thought about life coaching but I don't know where to begin. And am wondering if school counsellor would be a good role?
Does anyone have experience of this? Would you recommend it as a career? What’s the earning potential? What qualifications are required? Is it easy enough to find work once qualifies?

Its a long route to being a qualified counsellor. And very very expensive when I looked into it. To be bacp registered requires hours of voluntary work or practice recorded as well as the several years to work theough the qualifications!

It also tends to be badly paid in schools - much less than a teacher. I dont think there's any job security, but there's def a need for them.

I professiinally do training with some counselling tutors occasionally and they say it sometimes suffers from being the white femal middle classes that can afford to apply and therefore end up heavily misrepresented.