Alternative Careers for Counselors → What To Do If You Don't Want To Be a Therapist Anymore
Takeaway: As a therapist, you’ve spent years in school, completing your training, and honing your skills. Unfortunately, many therapists reach a point in their careers where burnout becomes unbearable. At this point, you may start to consider alternative careers for counselors. In this post, I offer my top suggestions for what to do if you don't want to be a therapist anymore. Plus, I give tips for changing your mindset if you do want to stay in the field.
I don't want to be a therapist anymore. What should I do?
If you're reading this, you've been through a lot. You didn't get your master's degree anticipating this moment. Even if you had heard or been warned that rates of burnout among therapists were high, you probably thought, "Not me! I'm passionate about being a therapist." And after years of working in mental health services dealing with low pay and stressful working conditions, the passion that was driving your work has begun to run out.
Well, I'm here to tell you you have so many options. Career changes for mental health counselors are actually quite normal. It doesn't mean you've failed or are "abandoning the field." Seeking better working conditions is a bold act of self-care and one you should be proud of.
Burnout among mental health professionals
Many therapists are having their own mental health challenges. Burnout among social workers is incredibly high and you can probably think of a few friends or colleagues who have had to leave the field. The fact that so many therapists burn out, many of them before even becoming licensed, tells us this isn't a personal moral failure. It's a systemic problem.
That being said, there is something you can do to improve your situation whether that's showing up with stronger boundaries at work, leaving agency work to start your own private practice, or parlaying your skills into new industries.
Reassessing HOW you’re being a therapist before changing careers
In the rest of this post, I'm going to share examples of career options outside of working one-on-one with clients. But first, I want to have a moment with you about how you've been working as a therapist.
You may have been working in an environment where your own well-being was the last priority, one where you were overworked and underpaid. You probably went into the field with an incredibly strong desire to help people. Somewhere along the way, though, that turned into putting your needs last
It does not have to be this way no matter what your managers or supervisors are telling you. It is possible to provide quality mental health care in a way that centers your own well-being. In case you're new around here, this is my mission: to help therapists break out of what I call "good therapist conditioning" and to start earning a thriving wage.
This may mean leaving your agency or group practice to start your own private practice where you can set your own fee, office hours, and choose your own clients. Starting your own business isn't as daunting as you might imagine. Check out my private practice checklist blog for a step-by-step guide to get started.
Already have a private practice but you are seeing more clients than you would like and making too little money? There are a few key shifts you can make that will have you loving being a therapist again. As the owner of your own therapy business, you have total freedom to create a work environment for yourself that perfectly fits your life.
Many therapists will never take advantage of this, but you don't have to be one of them! Get my private practice design tool, The Magic Sheets, to see how you start earning more money and taking time off. Check out my podcast, The Bad Therapist Show, to get encouragement and advice on all things private practice.
Hopefully, this has given you some ideas of how you may be able to show up differently as a counselor. You may find that you actually still enjoy working in the psychology field once you're running your own business, working at a new organization, or showing up at your current one with better boundaries.
Alternative careers for therapists
That said, sometimes it's time to shake it up. You're probably wondering which jobs you're qualified for. If you're ready to make a career change, here are some alternative career options that are great fits for mental health professionals.
Coaching
Coaching is the easiest career change for most mental health practitioners. Your background as a social worker or counselor means you already have much more training than the average coach and your skillset transfers incredibly well to providing coaching services. And there are so many options when it comes to what kind of coach you'd like to be. Parenting coach, relationship coach, grief coach, executive coach... the sky is the limit!
You may even find that you still enjoy one-on-one work as a coach. Check out my free training on the differences between coaching and therapy in my Facebook group, Healing Money. For support in starting your own coaching business, check out my mastermind for therapists turned coaches.
Online course or program creator
If you've been looking for more freedom, consider creating a scalable offer online. You can work from anywhere in the world and serve more people: from small groups of a few people to memberships with hundreds of students. No longer beholden to working one-to-one, you can earn more money with minimal increases in effort.
You probably already have the knowledge to create an impactful, valuable course or program right now! Here's a hint: it has something to do with your specialty and/or your own personal growth. For help creating your own scalable offer, check out my mastermind, Scalable Offers for Therapists. Listen to Episode 23 of The Bad Therapist Show to hear why you need to scale your business now.
Writer
I'd wager that a large number of therapists enjoy writing (as long as it's not a bunch of case notes!). You may find that you'd make a fantastic writer, whether that's on the topic that you've done your training or the specialty you've built your practice around.
You might consider writing an e-book or workbook, or even becoming a writer for an online magazine or a copywriter for mental health blogs. There are so many opportunities for writers.
DEI consultant/Mental health advocacy
More and more companies are interested in creating safe places for their employees to work as well as increasing competency to serve a variety of clients. They are actively hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion consultants.
As of 2023, the DEI industry is worth 9 billion dollars a year and is anticipated to grow to 30 billion by 2033. If you have expertise and experience when it comes to supporting marginalized communities and increasing mental health awareness and competency, consider creating a training course around this topic.
My clients have landed multi-thousand-dollar consultation contracts with corporations, schools, and government agencies as speakers, trainers, and group facilitators. They've been paid to lead queer competency trainings and help organizations implement antiracist practices. We need more people like them (like you!) to do this kind of work—and the market is absolutely there.
Management at agency/education/hospital setting
Perhaps you want to stay plugged into mental health care and community work but you're done being a case manager. Don't be afraid to seek a promotion in your current organization or pursue job opportunities elsewhere. You may enjoy the shift from serving clients in a therapeutic environment to managing employees.
Academic advisor
Academic advising requires many of the same skills you developed as a counselor but applied in alternative ways. You'll still do some one-on-one work with college students, but the content you cover with them will be different. Instead of acting as a healthcare provider, this role will have you helping students choose their classes and stay on track with their college majors.
Clinical trainer
If you developed a specialty in your work as a social worker or counselor and enjoy teaching and public speaking, you may make a fantastic clinical trainer. Look for therapist training sites and local therapist organizations where you could share your expertise.
Executive coach and corporate consultant
Your skills at helping people improve their interpersonal relationships could make you a great asset to businesses seeking to improve their work cultures, employees' mental health or performance, or leadership skills among executives.
There's actually a whole field of psychology called Industrial Organization Psychology that has everything to do with improving systems, optimizing workers' strengths, and helping organizations run more efficiently. The national average salary for IO Psychologists is $92,007. If you love systems work and want to put your problem-solving skills to work, this career could be your dream.
HR Manager
In this role, your job is to manage employees' well-being and, in part, do advocacy work for them. Your communication skills make you perfect for this job. Hiring managers in HR departments are responsible for recruiting, vetting, and potentially training employees. The national median salary for an HR Manager is $130,000.
Special education teacher
Depending on the state in which you live, you might be able to leverage your skills to enter the special education field. This might be appealing if you specialize in working with children and families already.
Each state has different requirements for special education teachers, and you might need to take additional coursework or training in order to qualify. However, it could be worth looking into for a change of pace. Tutoring could be an option as well.
Now you know there are a variety of alternative career options perfectly suited for your background and skill set.
Career changes for counselors are possible without leaving the field. Coaching can help you gain a totally new perspective.
It's nice to know that you could switch jobs if you needed to. However, you might be unsure whether that's something you really want to do. Is there a part of you that still wants to be a therapist but just doesn't want it to be so hard anymore?
The truth is, a lot can change if you're willing to focus on creating the life and career that lights you up. Good therapist conditioning tells us that we should just be satisfied with helping people. Though being of service can be incredibly fulfilling, it's not the only reason you started a career in counseling.
Therapists have incredible amounts of freedom to craft their own businesses to suit their lives and passions. This may mean leaving your agency work to pursue building your own practice or radically changing the practice you have to align with your desires and goals.
For years, I've been helping therapists transition from employment in community mental health settings to their own thriving practices.
Find out how we can work together. Get my signature program Liberated Business, apply to be a one-on-one client, or book a CEO Day. Learn more in the Work With Me section of my website.
