inkweaver845

Hi everyone! I wasn't exactly sure whether to file this under Professional Studies or Social Sciences so hopefully it reaches the right people! I was just accepted into a counseling program and am having a bad case of indecision. Technically, I have about a year until I really need to declare this but since I'm trying to get work experience and hate having loose ends, I figured maybe you guys could try to help me now. The programs/careers that I'm stuck between are School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health. On the school's website, they even seem to be selling Mental Health more as they list a bunch of different options for it and only talk about the classes needed for the School Counseling page. Anyway, my issue is that I live in NJ and this is a tough area to get a job in anywhere really and schools tend to be who you know. My boyfriend works for the Board of Ed as a custodian so potential in there but who knows. What's holding me back from deciding besides potential jobs is what the actual work environments are like. My concern with school counseling is that I'll be stuck doing all administrative work and barely get to interact with students other than college admissions and class schedules if I'm working in a high school. I want to actually be able to counsel people and feel like I reached them. Moving on to Mental Health, what is it like to work in this field? How stressful is it?How difficult would it be for me to find a job being my Bachelor's is actually in English? I currently volunteer for a crisis hotline and am trying to get some work experience (though I'm not sure where the best place to go with no experience is) but I know some places may be weary to hire someone who didn't have an undergrad degree in a social science. Sorry for rambling everyone, just trying to figure things out!