Hi everyone, I’m new to the EA community. My husband introduced me here, since I’m facing a career choice dilemma about helping others. I’m currently in tech, but wanted to change to a career in Coaching or Therapy.
Why the switch: I care deeply about reducing individual human suffering and I enjoy working with people 1:1. I don’t see myself in tech for my whole productive years. Causes I care the most: mental health in the workplace, career happiness, and connecting to one’s true self.
My dilemma: I’m debating between a career in coaching vs. therapy.
Coaching:
Pros:
Found it more helpful than therapy when I experienced a career burnout.
I’m in a coaching program and enjoy it.
Coached a few people who are facing career issues and those were truly rewarding experiences.
Faster and cheaper to get certification.
Cons:
Takes lots of time to find clients, and I don’t enjoy the marketing aspect. May never have a big enough practice.
Likely will serve privileged groups, since coaching is not covered by insurance.
Therapy:
Pros:
Therapy is covered by insurance = much easier to find clients and cserve all types of social groups
More established as an occupation than coaching?
Cons:
Big initial commitment both in terms of $ and time. A master’s degree can take 2-3 years, plus 2 more years of field work to get licensure.
I may not enjoy all the classes and all the types of cases I serve.
Also personally, coaching worked better for me than therapy, but it could also just be that I haven’t found a good therapist yet.
Would love to hear thoughts from anyone. Appreciate you reading thus far.
I would suggest to try coaching first as it will be much quicker to find out if you enjoy it/find it impactful compared to therapy which could take years before you get a good sense of your personal fit.
80,000 Hours have a section in their career guide on exploration which might be useful here.
”Later in your career, if you’re genuinely unsure between two options, you might want to try the more ‘reversible’ one first. For instance, it’s easier to move from business to nonprofits than vice versa.”
Hi everyone, I’m new to the EA community. My husband introduced me here, since I’m facing a career choice dilemma about helping others. I’m currently in tech, but wanted to change to a career in Coaching or Therapy.
Why the switch: I care deeply about reducing individual human suffering and I enjoy working with people 1:1. I don’t see myself in tech for my whole productive years. Causes I care the most: mental health in the workplace, career happiness, and connecting to one’s true self.
My dilemma: I’m debating between a career in coaching vs. therapy.
Coaching:
Pros:
Found it more helpful than therapy when I experienced a career burnout.
I’m in a coaching program and enjoy it.
Coached a few people who are facing career issues and those were truly rewarding experiences.
Faster and cheaper to get certification.
Cons:
Takes lots of time to find clients, and I don’t enjoy the marketing aspect. May never have a big enough practice.
Likely will serve privileged groups, since coaching is not covered by insurance.
Therapy:
Pros:
Therapy is covered by insurance = much easier to find clients and cserve all types of social groups
More established as an occupation than coaching?
Cons:
Big initial commitment both in terms of $ and time. A master’s degree can take 2-3 years, plus 2 more years of field work to get licensure.
I may not enjoy all the classes and all the types of cases I serve.
Also personally, coaching worked better for me than therapy, but it could also just be that I haven’t found a good therapist yet.
Would love to hear thoughts from anyone. Appreciate you reading thus far.
I would suggest to try coaching first as it will be much quicker to find out if you enjoy it/find it impactful compared to therapy which could take years before you get a good sense of your personal fit.
80,000 Hours have a section in their career guide on exploration which might be useful here.
”Later in your career, if you’re genuinely unsure between two options, you might want to try the more ‘reversible’ one first. For instance, it’s easier to move from business to nonprofits than vice versa.”
It’s worth reaching out to therapists and coaches here to get a better sense of your uncertainties.
Thanks so much for the pointers here! Super helpful