Counselling Psychology

Lorrs33

I'm currently in my 3rd year of a Psychology degree. My goal has always been to do counselling in Trinity, but I've become unsure in the last two weeks, given the risks in pursuing such a career (e.g., burnout). If anyone here has done it, or is doing it, could you tell me about your experience, aswell as the experience you gained beforehand in order to get into the masters programme?

riff-raff

Just going to tag on to this Lorrs intrested in what advice peps have to give ..studying psychriatry at the mo.. intrested to see if the burn out rate is as high in your career choice as it is in mine ... I believe the money is in private practice and not in the public sector for your choosen profession... but if your using intense therapies you will need to under go debriefing on a regular basis to remain an active therapists and so to avoid burnout:).. intrested in what career advoice peps will give you and if the profession is a rewarding one....

MysticalSoul

I am in my final year of a psychotherapy course, and as it is a part-time course while working full-time, I believe this is the most crucial part of the training, where burnout risk is at its peak. Naturally, different sectors have a higher burnout rate, such as in addictions. Prevention is always the best measure, and scheduling some social time and/or alone time during the week is paramount. I work a 40 hour week, see clients 2 evenings a week, then supervision and my own personal therapy on alternate weeks, plus classtime, and essays - it does take up a lot of time. I am currently writing my ethics essay, and decided to take it from the viewpoint of selfcare as an ethical responsibility, as this past year has been a challenging one for me, due to having had 2 family bereavements. I believe having the support in my own personal therapy is what helped me balance my own stuff and the clients. I did take some time out around the crucial events though, to allow myself some distance.

Lorrs33

What experience did you gain in order to get into Psychotherapy? Like volunteer work and such.

JuliusCaesar

riff-raff wrote: »

Just going to tag on to this Lorrs intrested in what advice peps have to give ..studying psychriatry at the mo.. intrested to see if the burn out rate is as high in your career choice as it is in mine ...

I do not think that psychiatry has a high burn out rate.....

riff-raff wrote: »

I believe the money is in private practice and not in the public sector for your choosen profession... .

At a salary of 240K + for a consultant in the public sector, you'd be hard pressed to make the same money in private work.

riff-raff wrote: »

but if your using intense therapies you will need to under go debriefing on a regular basis to remain an active therapists and so to avoid burnout:)..

In psychology we have continuous supervision, not 'debriefing'.

Lorrs33

240K+ in the public sector? Really? I really have to explore the career options of counselling more. I assumed aswell that the best money was in private practice.

Kooli

I think the 240k is referring to psychiatrists - a psychologist would never earn that much

MysticalSoul

Lorrs33 wrote: »

What experience did you gain in order to get into Psychotherapy? Like volunteer work and such.

Whoops, I thought I replied to this already. My internet was up and down this week, so maybe it froze mid way.

Anyway, the experience was gained on the course. Admission is based on two interviews - a group one, and an individual one. Not everyone who applies get called for interview, so is important to spend time on that too.