counselling and psychotherapy Career prospects

mini homer

After doing the certificate in counselling and psychotherapy last year and loved.i found it was my passion.I have been offered a place on the degree course but I'm worried about spending all my time and money and getting no job out of it.is it easy to find work in that field once your qualified?

dar100

There's very little jobs in counselling going, and private practice can be more difficult to earn a living from.

Many people end up in related roles such as social care.

That said, if you work hard enough, put the hours and money in, it would be possible to get something. It's a long road, probably at lest 6 years, and many thousands of euro

mini homer

dar100 wrote: »

There's very little jobs in counselling going, and private practice can be more difficult to earn a living from.

Many people end up in related roles such as social care.

That said, if you work hard enough, put the hours and money in, it would be possible to get something. It's a long road, probably at lest 6 years, and many thousands of euro

If that's the case why are they so many people going for these courses if there's no job available after the 4 years of the course seems insane.thanks for the reply I might have to recess my options

dar100

Many people do the course as part of learning about themselves and the human condition.

bisset

I think quite a few people doing these courses already have a professional qualification in areas such as nursing or social work so they can do a four day week in their day job and 1 day a week providing sessional counselling while they build up their practice.

JuliusCaesar

bisset wrote: »

I think quite a few people doing these courses already have a professional qualification in areas such as nursing or social work so they can do a four day week in their day job and 1 day a week providing sessional counselling while they build up their practice.

Or they use it as part of their existing work.

sadie9

And it is the case that it is in the Colleges' interest to make you think that loads of people are doing the courses.
The Colleges are hell bent on telling you it's a rewarding career etc etc.
My advice is ring up some counsellors and ask them how many clients etc they get a week.
I know a few recent-ish qualified counsellors and they might have one client a week. So it's a case of you will need another job as well to pay the rent etc otherwise it seems like a very expensive hobby.

MacAttak

Hi everybody! I have applied for year 1 counselling skills in CIT, has anyone recently done it? When will I know if I got an interview, when are the interviews, is it a very difficult year (to balance with full time social work)? And lastly, do you learn a lot about counselling and yourself by doing first year? I'd appreciate any input! Thanks in advance!

Old Perry

The reality is it is a career that often involves advicing on life experience, and to find gainful employment with a service more often than not involves life experience and or multiple degrees to prove it.

dar100

Old Perry wrote: »

The reality is it is a career that often involves advicing on life experience, and to find gainful employment with a service more often than not involves life experience and or multiple degrees to prove it.

disagree with this