My path to becoming a counsellor was a long and challenging one. My original career plan was to become a lawyer, because I dreamed of doing community legal work and helping people out of difficult spots and challenges. I decided to do a double degree and add psychology to my workload (I know, what an over-achiever, right?). I quickly found a deep fascination for psychology, and considered the possibility that this could also be a way for me to support people who are experiencing challenges and difficult times.

Ultimately, after finishing my study and some work experience I came to the difficult realisation that a career in the legal field wasn’t for me. At this time I considered doing additional training to become a counsellor. I was burned out from 6 years of intense study, and the thought of even more school was just too intimidating. I got a job in an unrelated field and put that dream aside for a long while.

And then the pandemic hit, and everything shifted for me. Although it was a period of high anxiety, uncertainty and isolation, it was also a time when I felt like I saw a glimpse of the person I had always wanted to be. I was working as an office manager at an allied health clinic at the time, and most of my day was spent on the phone to either my co-workers or clients. I would listen to their problems, support them and help them to find creative ways to manage the issue. You might imagine that helping others to cope during a time when I was very anxious myself might have been really stressful, but the truth is that I was loving it. Each day, I felt like I’d given someone a moment of connection, a kind word, support to tackle their challenges and a feeling of “I’ve got this”. Every time I would hang up the phone, hearing their voice steadier and calmer than when we started the call, I felt like I’d done something small to help.

Slowly, an idea was forming in my mind. What if I could find a job where I spent my day listening, supporting, educating and encouraging? What if I could draw on my psychology degree and reconnect with a field that I still felt so much curiosity and enthusiasm for? I made up my mind to go back to school to get my counselling diploma and then open my private practice.

The road to becoming a counsellor took a lot longer than I would have expected, but I feel so grateful to be here. I still have that feeling of accomplishment when I end a session with a client, seeing them smile a tiny bit or meet the rest of the day with a fraction more confidence than when we began. I still relish the challenge of finding a creative way to manage an issue that suits the person in front of me, or teaching something that allows my client to understand themselves a little better. I feel so priviledged to get to be the holder of so many stories, so many ideas, so many fears and pains. It means the world to me to sit with someone and give them my undivided attention so that they can feel seen and heard, sometimes for the first time ever. I take my work very seriously, but it honestly doesn’t feel like “work” to me. It’s a calling, something that I feel I was meant to do. And I’m so grateful that I get to wake up each morning and do my dream job, even if it took a while to get here.