please help me make my career decision!!

sorry if this is in the wrong place, dont know where to put it.

Im in my 2nd year doing psychology/philosophy.

I really want to be a therapist/shrink- its my ambition to go and live in New York as a therapist- possibly a relationship therapist. (yehh....highly unlikely i know!! but we all need to aim high right?!)

For me to do this I would need a P.H.D in clinical psychology. To get this I am going to need tons of work experience, its highly competitive- only 30% of people get onto this course, i *may* need to do a masters first depending what degree class i get. And realistically, with work experience etc i would be lookng at getting on to the PHD at about 26-27. The thing is it requires an awful lot of work to be a clinical psychologist. A ridiculous amount (there are other routes but this is guaranteed the most success). And tbh i just want to start a career now.

My other option is to be an estate agent (i know theyre so different). This isnt a dream job, but i would be happy enough. Ive always had an interest in housing and i like competition. Im guessing on average i would be earning about 30-40,000 a year, in comparison to a good therapist who can earn well in excess of £60,000.

Im asking now because this is my last summer before graduation and i have been offered work experience in an estate agent. I am currently doing some work which would help my clinical side, but there is some of it that im only doing so it goes on my CV. And right now, i dont have the time to be doing both. If i do the work experience in an estate agent then i think id have a better chance of getting a graduate job in one if thats what i decide to do next year. But if i want to apply to be an assistant psychologist i need to do this other voluntary work. And because i have a job over summer etc (i need the money, i support myself) i dont have the time to do all the voluntary/work experience.

Do i give up on my dream job? I just dont know if my hearts in it anymore.

Stop watching Hollywood chick flicks and there is no way an estate agent earns 30-40K. My mum's friend who has been an estate agent for 12 years in central London earns £26000.

There are few misapprehensions in your original post, and it may be useful for you to be aware of the following.

If you want to be a therapist there are several ways to do that. Clinical Psychologists are one kind of therapist, but there are therapists from other backgrounds. Some train in healthcare fields like nursing, counselling or occupational therapy, whilst others train independently without a clinical background. In fact you don't even have to go to university at all to be a psychotherapist or counsellor.

While clinical psychologists do therapy, its not all they do. For example, In my day to day work, I spend about 40% of my time doing therapy, 40% doing supervision and teaching, and about 20% doing research. Others may do things like cognitive assessments or various other non therapy tasks. I would say if you want to be a therapist, being a CP is probably not the best way to go about doing it. Also we don't all work in hospitals.

To be a clinical psychologist you do not do a PhD, you do something called a DClinPsy which is very different. You can read all about this on www.clinpsy.org.uk. You are right that the average age of clinical trainees is in the mid to late 20s and will have to go through extra study or lower level posts in order to be a viable candidate. Also not all CPs will be earning £60,000 salaries. Ones that are consultant in management and leadership roles in the NHS or specialist roles may, but the sort that spend their bulk of time delivering therapy certainly won't be.

Also be advised UK clinical training is not accepted in the US. To work in the US you would have to re-train to some extent and demonstrate you meet US licensure requirements.

As for your question about what to do, I think

1) You need to research the field more thoroughly and get an idea of what clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and couples counselling are and what is required. You can get this from your university and asking professionals in those fields.

2) If your heart is really not in it, thats probably not a good sign. Any field where you are going to be dealing with vulnerable people or those in distress requires a high level of commitment and dedication. Its not really something you can do lightly, and to be honest for the amount of work you do, you could be better paid, doing other work (and more quickly and easily too).

There are few misapprehensions in your original post, and it may be useful for you to be aware of the following.

If you want to be a therapist there are several ways to do that. Clinical Psychologists are one kind of therapist, but there are therapists from other backgrounds. Some train in healthcare fields like nursing, counselling or occupational therapy, whilst others train independently without a clinical background. In fact you don't even have to go to university at all to be a psychotherapist or counsellor.

While clinical psychologists do therapy, its not all they do. For example, In my day to day work, I spend about 40% of my time doing therapy, 40% doing supervision and teaching, and about 20% doing research. Others may do things like cognitive assessments or various other non therapy tasks. I would say if you want to be a therapist, being a CP is probably not the best way to go about doing it. Also we don't all work in hospitals.

To be a clinical psychologist you do not do a PhD, you do something called a DClinPsy which is very different. You can read all about this on www.clinpsy.org.uk. You are right that the average age of clinical trainees is in the mid to late 20s and will have to go through extra study or lower level posts in order to be a viable candidate. Also not all CPs will be earning £60,000 salaries. Ones that are consultant in management and leadership roles in the NHS or specialist roles may, but the sort that spend their bulk of time delivering therapy certainly won't be.

Also be advised UK clinical training is not accepted in the US. To work in the US you would have to re-train to some extent and demonstrate you meet US licensure requirements.

As for your question about what to do, I think

1) You need to research the field more thoroughly and get an idea of what clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and couples counselling are and what is required. You can get this from your university and asking professionals in those fields.

2) If your heart is really not in it, thats probably not a good sign. Any field where you are going to be dealing with vulnerable people or those in distress requires a high level of commitment and dedication. Its not really something you can do lightly, and to be honest for the amount of work you do, you could be better paid, doing other work (and more quickly and easily too).

I dont really like chick flicks .

It's just New York therapist is such a cliche in all TV and film. It may be a coincidence, but you must have developed the idea from somewhere..

In reference to statement you made that you don't need a degree to register/practice as a psychotherapist or counsellor, I believe to be incorrect (please correct me if I'm wrong). According to both prospects.ac.uk and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), you require a relevant undergraduate degree (counseling/psychology/social work) and a master in psychotherapy to even practice in the NHS. Although in private practice, this is not necessarily the case for psychotherapists.