I am a licensed therapist in my state. There are so many different roles and opportunities that fall under the umbrella of being a therapist. I would say the biggest thing is to make sure you go into a program (assuming you’d be going for a Master’s degree of some form) that will put you on the path towards licensure, and then go for your license as soon as you are able to upon graduation. Depending on your state, this could be LCSW, LPC, LMFT, LMHC, etc. Depending on what you ultimately would want to do might help you determine which program/license would be a good fit. If you see yourself being in private practice, any one of those could be beneficial. But you can work in a school (being a school counselor or school social worker tend to be coveted positions), in a community mental health agency, work for the state, in a hospital, in partial care, in residential treatment centers, or a good number of other areas. And then there are all of the various populations: adults, children, families, foster youth, addictions, MICA, DDMI, working with certain disorders, etc. All this to say — you have a large amount of options to explore. Your practicum and internship in school will help you explore where you might like to end up.
You would almost certainly be taking a pay cut, but again, this depends on where you ultimately end up. I am in a supervisory role at a community agency currently which has the benefits and drawbacks of middle management. But all of my previous roles were direct care. Some of the drawbacks I have either experienced first hand or seen happen around me in a community agency: needing to work later into the evening or on weekends in order to meet the needs of the families/clients. Not great pay considering what I spent on my Master’s. An unsupportive supervisor in the face of challenging situations. Families crises can arise at anytime so on-call exists, and therefore, needing to be on-call at times. Liability and documentation. Really difficult families/clients and situations that keep you up at night. Burn-out central. On the other hand, some benefits: getting to connect with families and help guide them through times where they need support. Opportunities to learn and grow and sharpen skills. Lots of flexibility and in some cases the ability to make your own schedule. (For example, I am getting ready to have a baby and plan to work part-time in another role when I return thanks to a spouse that can afford us to do this.) Ability to network. The feeling of working really hard with a family/client and having a productive session. My agency having a strengths-based culture. Like many fields, you really get out when you put in. Private practice is a different can of worms that I can see in my future. But you have to work your butt off to be successful, especially if that is your sole source of income. And if you own your own practice, it is essentially running a business and all the work that goes along with that. If I had a time machine, would I do it all over again? Maybe. It’s not easy work. But you are right to be asking yourself these questions to make sure it would be a good fit for you. The degrees aren’t cheap and the pay likely won’t be what you are used to, but it can be a rewarding field for sure.
I feel like my post is sort of all over the place, but it really is such a diverse field with tons of paths. I would definitely take the time to weigh options, which it sounds like is exactly what you are doing. If you are thinking of mental health as a second career to make you lots of money and retire quickly, spare yourself. But if you have some financial flexibility and see it being a something that you would enjoy doing as a career path until you are done working, it could definitely be for you. If you have any specific questions, you can certainly PM me. Good luck in the process!
