Over my job, ready for a career
March 10, 2019 4:33 PM Subscribe
This is all really overwhelming. I spent a lot of time ignoring what I wanted and now I’m ready to move forward and do things differently. I got to this point by being able to prioritize my mental health. I always had an interest in psychology and have decided that I want to be a therapist of some sort. It seems like the only way out of my current situation is to go back to school.
I’ve posted about my job and school issues before. I’m at the point where I’m sick of the corporate environment. Sick of white male bosses who just want to drain you dry. I'm sure all bosses are like that but this is what I know. It feels like I am 35% of myself and work in an alternate reality sometimes. I'm having nightmares about work. I have at least another 30 years to work and theres got to be another way.
Some realizations have been that I'm never going to care about the CEO of this or the VP of that. I need to be more mentally engaged and stimulated in order to care about my job and do well. What I do for 40 hours a week needs to be something that “matters” to me in some way. I spend all my time at work not fully engaged and all of my time outside of work trying to forget about work and dreading going. It seems like I would be able to accomplish more if there was some overlap. I've been volunteering at a domestic violence organization these last few years and realized that parts of the work really suits me and doesn't drain me the way my day job does. I'm actually good at it and and it feels like I'm accomplishing something.
I have an associates degree and a bunch of other credits. Due to many years of personal struggles including untreated mental illness I did not finish school. Now that I am not purely in survival mode I’m able to take my actual wants and needs into consideration. The struggle part is that I do have a good job. I make a good salary, have benefits, vacation, etc. If I were to “lean in” (yuck) I could probably make 6 figures in a couple of years. It feels like I’m being ungrateful for not jumping for joy over what I do have or working harder to maintain it.
My questions are:
How do I become a therapist/psychologist in my 40’s?
Is there a difference between online programs vs in person for these kinds of programs?
I’m currently applying to schools but am stuck between choosing a social work or psychology major.
I had a lot of struggles in school and currently have a lot of executive function issues. How do I do school the right way this time? I’m very intimidated about going back and embarrassed by my previous failures.
Thank you!
I’ve posted about my job and school issues before. I’m at the point where I’m sick of the corporate environment. Sick of white male bosses who just want to drain you dry. I'm sure all bosses are like that but this is what I know. It feels like I am 35% of myself and work in an alternate reality sometimes. I'm having nightmares about work. I have at least another 30 years to work and theres got to be another way.
Some realizations have been that I'm never going to care about the CEO of this or the VP of that. I need to be more mentally engaged and stimulated in order to care about my job and do well. What I do for 40 hours a week needs to be something that “matters” to me in some way. I spend all my time at work not fully engaged and all of my time outside of work trying to forget about work and dreading going. It seems like I would be able to accomplish more if there was some overlap. I've been volunteering at a domestic violence organization these last few years and realized that parts of the work really suits me and doesn't drain me the way my day job does. I'm actually good at it and and it feels like I'm accomplishing something.
I have an associates degree and a bunch of other credits. Due to many years of personal struggles including untreated mental illness I did not finish school. Now that I am not purely in survival mode I’m able to take my actual wants and needs into consideration. The struggle part is that I do have a good job. I make a good salary, have benefits, vacation, etc. If I were to “lean in” (yuck) I could probably make 6 figures in a couple of years. It feels like I’m being ungrateful for not jumping for joy over what I do have or working harder to maintain it.
My questions are:
How do I become a therapist/psychologist in my 40’s?
Is there a difference between online programs vs in person for these kinds of programs?
I’m currently applying to schools but am stuck between choosing a social work or psychology major.
I had a lot of struggles in school and currently have a lot of executive function issues. How do I do school the right way this time? I’m very intimidated about going back and embarrassed by my previous failures.
Thank you!
I can't answer your question directly, but have you considered leaning in to saving and earning money and retiring ASAP instead? If your job is killing your soul, get out of there, but if you're able to reframe it as a means towards a larger goal of financial freedom that would allow you to volunteer or take low-paying work without jumping through hoops, that might help.
posted by metasarah at 7:50 AM on March 11, 2019
posted by metasarah at 7:50 AM on March 11, 2019
In general, online programs are awesome for working people because of their flexibility, but they also demand a lot more self-direction re: making time to study and complete assignments and the lack of face-to-face interaction can be tough depending on your learning style. It can be done, but if you decide to go this route it might be worth trying to start off with just one class to see how it goes.
Since what you have in mind would require a masters degree, it might be worth it to investigate local/part-time/online bachelors programs and keep your day job while you're in school. Once you're finished with your bachelors, do some research on the types of masters programs out there in your field.
For masters degrees in this field, it does seem as though practicums and externships are part of the landscape, so it might not be possible to keep your current job and have a schedule flexible enough to take advantage of these opportunities. That'll be a bridge to cross when you get to it, but realistically, school is expensive and therapists don't always make what they're worth, so whatever you decide, try to keep your (or at least a) job for as long as possible. Maybe you'll find a masters program with graduate teaching positions?
In any case, if your job is really killing you, definitely work on escaping, but if not, having a stable, well-paying job while working on classes is not a bad place to be. Do they have tuition reimbursement benefits? This might be something to investigate! (On preview, what metasarah said.)
posted by helloimjennsco at 7:55 AM on March 11, 2019
Since what you have in mind would require a masters degree, it might be worth it to investigate local/part-time/online bachelors programs and keep your day job while you're in school. Once you're finished with your bachelors, do some research on the types of masters programs out there in your field.
For masters degrees in this field, it does seem as though practicums and externships are part of the landscape, so it might not be possible to keep your current job and have a schedule flexible enough to take advantage of these opportunities. That'll be a bridge to cross when you get to it, but realistically, school is expensive and therapists don't always make what they're worth, so whatever you decide, try to keep your (or at least a) job for as long as possible. Maybe you'll find a masters program with graduate teaching positions?
In any case, if your job is really killing you, definitely work on escaping, but if not, having a stable, well-paying job while working on classes is not a bad place to be. Do they have tuition reimbursement benefits? This might be something to investigate! (On preview, what metasarah said.)
posted by helloimjennsco at 7:55 AM on March 11, 2019
Social Work seems to be more flexible than the master level counseling degrees, but this can also be impacted on your geographical location.
It also depends on the type of therapy you want to do.
Depending on your state, there may be opportunities to talk to people one on one at your current education level. There are substance use counseling certifications , peer support specialists for mental health and chronic conditions and other titles who function in a supervised, supportive role.
Here (IL) a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor requires just a high school diploma or GED to be able to take the required courses to get started. It takes about two years to finish the course work, and then work experience is required to finish the certification. Note that the average pay is fairly low for these positions.
At the undergraduate level depending on the state there may not be much difference between degrees. In IL, some schools do offer an accelerated masters program for those who completed an internship in their undergraduate SW degree which didn't apply to psychology. Where I went to undergrad (La) this was not a thing at all.
Masters programs in social work take people from all backgrounds, honestly the curriculum assumes you don't have significant background knowledge of the field. You'll be fine with either. Social work is more broad. I find that the psychology education for me was very useful for my MSW and I'm glad I did it the way I did.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:40 AM on March 11, 2019
It also depends on the type of therapy you want to do.
Depending on your state, there may be opportunities to talk to people one on one at your current education level. There are substance use counseling certifications , peer support specialists for mental health and chronic conditions and other titles who function in a supervised, supportive role.
Here (IL) a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor requires just a high school diploma or GED to be able to take the required courses to get started. It takes about two years to finish the course work, and then work experience is required to finish the certification. Note that the average pay is fairly low for these positions.
At the undergraduate level depending on the state there may not be much difference between degrees. In IL, some schools do offer an accelerated masters program for those who completed an internship in their undergraduate SW degree which didn't apply to psychology. Where I went to undergrad (La) this was not a thing at all.
Masters programs in social work take people from all backgrounds, honestly the curriculum assumes you don't have significant background knowledge of the field. You'll be fine with either. Social work is more broad. I find that the psychology education for me was very useful for my MSW and I'm glad I did it the way I did.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:40 AM on March 11, 2019
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However, even if it is a long path, you don't need to make the final decision today. Since getting a BA is a step towards many, many different careers, my suggestion would be to figure out how to go back to school, maybe part-time and start the process. I think this will open many different doors for you and you can decide later which path to pick.
posted by metahawk at 10:34 PM on March 10, 2019 [1 favorite]