Critique my career plan!

[Justalittlerain]

Be gentle…

So, I work part-time in a private girls school in the area of investigations and disciplinaries. I spend my days assisting in interviewing teenage girls and managing the whole process.

I have applied to do a psychology degree with the OU. I’m already qualified to degree level, but don’t actually have a degree. I’m really looking forward to it and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for years!

I’m 48 and do not have a decent pension. I would love to work until the end of my degree and then set up as a therapist to help teens and parents of teens navigate the teenage years. I have two teens of my own, am empathetic and am lucky that my current employer pays for me to do regular safe-guarding courses, etc, which would look great on my portfolio.

But, I’m worried that because I would not be a ‘proper’ counsellor, people would be put off. My own daughter saw a therapist before and I chose her because of her life skills, niche qualifications and lovely nature.

What so you think? A lot of effort for something that’s going to fall flat, or go for it?

a psychology degree doesn’t give you any counselling skills so I would be very concerned about you doing this and would suspect you would find it challenging to get clients. Can you find out about how likely you are to get liability insurance? Could you do a counselling or therapy degree instead?

It is great that you want to work with children and young people, and there are lots of careers that will allow you to do that. But please, please get the right qualifications and skills first.

I am a practising psychologist, qualified to doctorate level. Other professionals such as counsellors follow strict professional guidelines. Working to support children and young people requires considerable skills, knowledge and expertise, as well as appropriate supervised practise and clinical supervision, not just a particular personality (and a psychology degree does not begin to cover those skills). For example, how would you support a teen who was showing initial signs of an eating disorder, a parent who suspected they were autistic, a child with disorganised attachment, a family who has experienced a complex trauma? The parents coming to you won’t do so because their kid is a bit mouthy, these complex issues will become your bread and butter. What intervention models would you use? What are your guiding values and paradigms? What network of other professionals would you draw on and refer to? How would you, outside the employment of a school manage safeguarding concerns, or manage a safeguarding complaint against yourself (you’d have no professional insurance or professional membership organisations to seek support from). Regular safeguarding training doesn’t really look great on a portfolio, it’s the most basic standard to be expected of anyone working with vulnerable people; my kids’ brownies helpers and music teachers all have this.

I’m sorry to sound blunt, but it’s not a great idea. I see unregulated ‘therapists’ offering this type of help all the time and it makes me shudder. By all means qualify as a child counsellor, psychotherapist or work as a family support worker. But please, for your own protection as much as children and families’ don’t try to do it unsupported, on the cheap or in a rush.