Hello Redditors,
I have a strong undergrad in psychology and five years’ worth of experience in community and clinical mental health support work, including with learning disabilities and neurodivergence. I’ve recently been offered a place on a counselling DPsych that I would need to complete on a part-time basis, which would take six years.
I was planning on working my way into clinical psychology, but the instability and constant rejection for progressional roles (PWP, AP) that I‘m apparently qualified for is really starting to seem much more troublesome than it’s worth. My parents are both facing very uncertain futures in the next decade that might end up with one or both of them with nowhere else to go. I can’t take on a highly risky career in addition to that.
Is the counselling psychologist landscape any more stable? I’m open to educational psychology and other therapeutic practitioners roles as well. I’ve spent the past few years learning about clinical pathways, so I don’t really know what training and working as a counselling psychologist exactly looks like today. Is it better to complete a doctorate or to qualify as a counsellor or psychotherapist? What would offer more long-term stability?
Sorry for such a broad question! I’m used to reading about career paths that turn out to be very different in practice. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated :)