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I'd like to become a Counseling Psychologist, yet everyone suggests becoming a Lawyer. Can I find a balance?

I'm completing my undergrad Psychology degree this December. I am in the process of applying for a PhD in Counseling Psychology program. My goal is to ultimately have my own practice. At the most basic, I love giving advice, listening, and helping people with their problems. However, throughout my life, EVERYONE, even professors, suggests I may be a good Lawyer. More recently a lot of people close to me are suggesting it because it would be less school than the PhD program, and I have the opportunity to make more money doing the same thing. Although I feel I would be a great lawyer, I am not sure of how I can have a balance of doing what is important to me, such as helping people who are going through emotional, relationship or career problems, if I were to become a lawyer. Are there some facets or career tracks in law that would give me a balance of being able to provide a personal touch of helping people that I'm not aware of? I don't want to just become a lawyer and end up not enjoying the human service portion of Counseling I know I would enjoy. More than anything, I am reconsidering it because 3 years and earning more money does sound more reasonable than 7 years and earning less. I am specifically looking for LAW careers that would strike the balance. What type of lawyers would do work most similar to the type of work I want to do in counseling?

Public Comments

1. It is difficult to give you an accurate answer for a number of reasons. Mainly because, unlike other professions, law does not have set career tracks. There are licensed attorneys who have achieved the balance that you are looking for, but they are rare. Law as a business is primarily concerned with doing a task for a client. Clients are barely able to pay for these legal tasks, let alone the personal counseling that you could offer. As an attorney you would be lucky if your clients actually listened to your good advice and counsel. Clients nowadays are more interested in getting the process over, winning their case, and getting it all for FREE. In some areas of the country, experienced family law attorneys are branching out into programs of divorce mediation. Something where the mediator would assist the couple through a no-fault divorce, which would eliminate the contentious court battles. These programs are rare. Why? Because the majority of people getting a divorce do not want to pay an attorney to resolve issues, they want to pay an attorney to destroy their former spouse. You may want to consider doing pro bono (for free) legal work for those who are poor, mentally disabled, physically disabled, unable to help them selves. But again lawyers who do that do not get paid. Years ago attorneys held the title "counselors at law". While some still use that, there is little counseling in the legal business. As for your comment about making money. Being a lawyer is the wrong profession. Right now due the legal profression is pretty full. That is due to years and years of law schools accepting most and graduating many, without the number of jobs increasing. Since 2008 there have been many layoffs for lawyers and those who just graduated law school are really having a problem just getting a law clerk job (mid $20's). The average attorney salary anymore is in the ($40s). Before you commit yourself to a profession were jobs are scarce and tuition is in the 6-figures do some research on the legal profression. Start at www.abanet.org, www.lsat.org
2. Go with becoming a counseling psychologist - forget about what everyone else is suggesting to you. And when they make those "suggestions", ask them if they will pay for you to attend law school. Choosing a career is one of life's most important decisions. The legal profession is dramatically changing and is in CRISIS! Every year, more and more people graduate from law school, but there are fewer and fewer jobs. Even the largest and most reputable law firms are experiencing unprecedented cutbacks. I don't expect the situation to improve in the coming years..... Be aware of what you are proposing on getting yourself into. Please do more research first. Reminder: We are in a World-wide Recession. Consider career paths that have available JOBS.<<<<< Warning> Jobs in the field of Law are drying up fast!! This is just not a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING, crumbling, and dying vocational field. Many reasons. We now have computers. So, many people today (mistakenly) think they can do their own legal work, thanks to the Internet. Also, there are a lot of companies out there making very efficient legal software for the field of Law. Today's graduating lawyers tend to be very computer savvy, so they just do the work themselves to save themselves the cost of overhead. Also, the "Public" buys this legal software in order to get legal work done without the cost of an Attorney. Also, we simply already have way too many Legal Professionals - we have an absolute glut!! ("Legal Professionals" includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc) Sites like legalzoom.com have taken away work that many small-time attorneys/lawyers would do. The field of Law has a mystique that actually exceeds reality. The field of Law is an overrated career - mostly by television. There are many myths regarding the field of Law: working as a Lawyer is mentally challenging (Actually, most work as an attorney involves routine paperwork: research, cite checking, drafting documents, and document review. Attorneys need to write down and track every activity they do, all day long [in 6 to 15 minutes increments, depending on the billing system] - a painstaking but necessary task), being an attorney is thrilling, high-powered, and glamorous (remember: television is fiction - the fictional lawyers on TV are ACTORS - the majority of work that an attorney does, does not happen in a courtroom), law students think that because they are good at arguing they will become great attorneys (actually being a great attorney is more in one's ability to mediate between differing sides and bringing them to agreement), as a lawyer I can correct injustices (actually legal decisions are more about reaching compromises than about right vs. wrong), guaranteed financial success (actually when salaries are compared, you also need to account for cost-of living expenses [most large law firms are in large cities - the bigger the city, the more cost-of-living expenses will be], payment of debts accrued while attending law school, and time needed to build a client base. Many large law firms require lawyers to work 60-80 hours per week.). Cost of law school to be lawyer, approx $150,000+. Be prepared to take on a LOT of debt.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< There are no jobs in this vocational field. My family, coworkers, friends, acqaintances, etc. have been laid off left and right in this vocational field. Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law today want employees with degrees from traditional colleges/universities. Those "certificates" you see advertised aren't worth the paper they are printed on - they are generally scams. (I found this out the hard way.) Also, the law school's program needs to be accredited by the American Bar Association - if it isn't, you are just wasting your time/money. Even if you finish law school, you won't be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking, many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work "down" as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of their bills paid <<this would be your competition. And the competition is fierce!! Now... the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is just SATURATED with way too many Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale and will LIE to you. The root of the problem is we have too many law schools. We are in a recession, and the schools are fighting for their own survival - they will tell students anything to get to the students' money. (Which is why they won't tell you the truth about the job market for the field of Law.) And these schools continue to recruit and churn out even more graduates.............Remember: law schools are BUSINESSES
3. If you enjoy the human service aspect, then perhaps counseling psychology is a better fit for you. Why are people telling you to go into law? The same skills that make a good lawyer - critical thinking, writing skills - are the same that would be employed in a Ph.D. program. You will get the experience in academic writing, publishing, and research AND you will be able to work directly with clients in a human service capacity.