Starting Low Intensity CBT training at 45 and salary drop of 20k! Please put some sense into my madness!

[MistyMolly]

Hello,

I work in the public sector and hate my job! I’m constantly stressed and the workload is now beyond unbearable. The money is decent but it’s a toxic environment so really need to get out before I lose my mind! So, I have been looking at retraining as a therapist. I came across this course ( UCL Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Interventions for Common MH). The course itself sounds really intense but I was even more shocked to find the starting salary of £24k!

I’m really hoping someone can put some sense into me or just happy to hear other people’s experiences, particularly if you have done the above course.

Thank you!

Retraining does often involve moving to a lower paid role, at least initially. Can you afford to do it?

I’m about to retrain to a lower paying job, but I’m doing it as we come to the end of a big chunk of mortgage so I should be able to afford it though it will be tight. I am also not burning any professional bridges since I can also continue doing what I do now, at a lower level, to keep my hand in.

Im doing it because I think the new role will give me more of a sense of purpose (now my kids are older). Is your motivation to escape stress, or something else? Have you researched the job landscape in your new area? Do you have a plan b for if it doesn’t work out? These are the questions I asked myself.

@w0nderwall thank you for replying. To be honest, the main reason I want to leave is because like you mention, I have no sense of fulfilment and don’t feel like I’m making much difference to people’s lives! I’ve always wanted to be a therapist as I love helping people but was too busy raising a family. I don’t want to look at back at 20 years from now and have regrets but I’m also terrified in case I make the move now and end up regretting. I can just about afford the drop in salary but I haven’t really thought of a plan B.

For me, the thing was to get to the point where I wasn't terrified because I could see a way forward if it all went wrong/I hated it, which both seem like entirely reasonable assumptions. I've done that by reframing it in my mind as adding a skill that I could use in different ways/in combination with existing skills if the obvious career path didn't work out.

I think a new start can be great - easier to be enthusiastic about, especially if you've been doing what you do for a long time - but it's harder when you have existing financial commitments. My thinking is that if I can manage a few thin years, the hope would be that I'd then see my income go up - while my financial responsibilities reduce.