Any counsellors or therapists about?

[Feenin]

I'm thinking of enrolling on an introduction to counselling course to test the water, as its something I have thought about doing over the years.

I 'm 37, two primary school aged children, and am currently working part time in an advice and guidance role with young people (have been in this field - teaching, safeguarding, welfare/pastoral etc - for about ten years.

I have had counselling and psychotherapy myself over the years, and have done lots of research into career paths into this profession - it seems long and quite hardcore (and rightly so!).

Just wondering if anyone out there is practicing currently and has any insights or advice on the training involved and how it has worked out for you as a career?

Am I crazy to be considering it? Am I too old? Is it manageable alongside 2-3 days a week work?

Thanks!

I am a counsellor, I've been qualified about 10 years and work in the NHS. My post - full time, permanent, NHS band 7 - is the counsellor equivalent of winning the lottery. Few counsellors find it easy to earn a living from counselling - I don't know if you can view the BACP letters page online, but if you have a look you will see on going correspondence about how people feel they've been conned, that they've spent a fortune on training, supervision, therapy and finally qualified only to find they can only find voluntary posts, some even charging counsellors for the placement!

So it depends really - if your employer might fund some of the training, and you don't want counselling to provide your main income, it could be great - I love my job, I find it really rewarding, but I'm fully aware of how lucky I am. The training is pretty full on (as you say, it should be!), and you also need to factor in time for therapy, a placement and supervision so it is demanding in that way too. And you're certainly not too old - I trained in my 20s but most of my fellow students were 30s-40s, some older.

I'm not trying to be negative, just to say the training is expensive and time consuming, and that outlay might not be repaid financially. It can be so rewarding as a job, but you need to be realistic about the practical side and a lot of counselling trainees aren't. Hope that helps, good luck!