Should I just look for a new career or stick with becoming a therapistAnswered
For the past two years, I've been thinking about what career I want and every time I think I like something and genuinely will stick to it, people come out of the woodwork with critiques of my reasoning or the job just isn't stable enough for me to reasonably consider. For example, I want to be a therapist (unsure of which type yet) but when I tell people it's always "You won't make enough money." And I don't want to be a psychiatrist because I don't want to spend most of '20s in school studying. I'm not even that interested in having lots of money, I just want enough to be happy, healthy, and afford subscriptions to the sites that I want like Crunchyroll or Netflix.
Another thing is seeing people talk about how therapists aren't that useful and how it's a pseudoscience makes me doubt if I even want to be one. Even though I was really excited when I initially thought about how I could help people, knowing a lot of people don't get much out of therapy but bills just make me question if I should bother.
So I guess my question is should I pursue psychology or look for another career because I love the idea of being a medical professional in general so maybe mental health just isn't for me.
Thank you to any and everyone that takes the time to read or reply.
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6 answers
I've gone through this same thing! Every time I came up with something I thought I would enjoy, someone would always come up with a reason it wasn't good enough. That can be hard to hear from the people you care about.
My best advice to you is to find something you really do want to do. To me, it sounds like you would love to be a therapist, and you're only doubting because of other people's criticisms. Try to remember that your career is, ultimately, up to you. If there are people that are repeatedly criticizing your goals, minimize your conversations with them. I had to stop conversations with my dad on college and career topics all together, but it really helped our relationship.
Just to ease one of your concerns on becoming a therapist. For me, seeing one was not a waste, it was a life changer. Any one that says therapy is a waste of time or money, didn't see a very good one.
Last thought, if something excites you, pursue it. Your life is yours, treat it like that!
Sorry for the long post.
Good luck, you got this!
I like what the other people said about not having to please everyone with your career choice and exploring other options with the same educational requirements, but I think the more important thing is this - you have YEARS to figure out what you want. You don't need to stress over this at all right now. Something super important to note is that a LOT of people change their majors in college - there's probably some statistics out there, I read 80% of college students change their major at least once. What you like right now may be something you're very passionate about, but high school experience can be limited, and getting the bigger picture about the field you're currently interested in may either further your interest in it, or unfortunately, it can sometimes shatter what you had pictured for yourself and you may find yourself realizing that this job or career is not for you. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. College is your time to explore and figure things out, you don't have to go in with everything already figured out. So my advice would be to sit back, enjoy high school while you can, and focus on your grades and extracurriculars so you can get into a college of your choice and study and explore :) I hope that helps!
First things first: when deciding on what career you want to pursue, the most important opinion is your own. If you genuinely are interested and enjoy learning about psychology and mental health, then I say go for it. One thing to know is that becoming a psychology major doesn't limit you to just a therapist career. Look into other jobs the major prepares you for and maybe you'd be more interested in one of those.
Second thing: just because a career isn't "stable" doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue it. If you enjoy the study of psychology then you should be a psychology major. If you don't, then look into a different major. Also, therapy is definitely not a disappearing market. Mental health care is on the incline since there has been more normalization of mental illnesses.
Don't worry about what other people think, and remember that it's your call with what you do with your life so do what makes YOU happy.
Um, first of all therapy isn’t a pseudoscience. Many people seek therapy to help themselves and we’ll begin to see mental health destigmatized and therapy more common amongst people. Second of all, do what you want! Within reason, of course. But who cares about what other people say?? It’s your future!
my personal suggestion will be that you must follow your instinct,don't care about what others are saying beacause in future those others will not make your life but its you who will have to lead your chosen life,and the biggest point is if you don't care about money that much,you have a lots to do in future,so do what you love and master it.
I think that if you are particularly worried about having a stable career or making others happy, you should consider earning a minor or double major in a "more useful" field. However, remember that it is your life and your interests that matter for choosing a career that fits you. Also, sometimes you just have to take classes in the field you are considering and learn more about it before you can consider what you really want to do.
I hope you are able to stress less about this because I feel the same way sometimes!
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I really appreciate hearing from someone that went through a similar thing. And it's also nice to know some people gain a lot from therapy, I know some people just don't enjoy it and that's fine but I was scared I was doing something that NO ONE really needed. I'll still keep an open mind because I love healthcare as a whole and I never know what might change however, I'm a lot more confidant about sticking with psychiatry.