Recent counselling graduate struggling to find a first position. How did you get started?
I'm hoping to get some perspective and advice from others who have experienced a difficult transition into the profession.
I'm in Alberta, Canada, and recently completed a masters in counselling psychology degree and an eight-month clinical practicum that was a very positive experience. This is my second career after many years working in an unrelated professional field, and I came into counselling with high hopes and a genuine enthusiasm for this next chapter.
My academic credentials have been approved by our provincial psychology regulator, but I still need to secure a suitable practice setting and supervisor to begin working toward full registration.
I've spent the past several months applying for positions, reaching out to private practices, and contacting potential supervisors. Many practices have recently hired, aren't accepting new provisional psychologists, or simply don't have the capacity. I've been willing to arrange and pay for external supervision, start part-time, and offer flexible availability, but so far, none of these efforts has led to an opportunity.
It's taken years of sacrifice, hard work, and commitment to reach this point, and I'm feeling increasingly discouraged. I genuinely enjoyed the clinical work during my practicum and felt confident that I had chosen the right direction for my second career. I hadn't anticipated that finding somewhere to begin supervised practice would be such an impossible challenge.
For those who struggled to find their first supervised position, what eventually worked for you? Were there opportunities or approaches you hadn't initially considered? Did things become easier once you were provisionally registered?
I'd especially appreciate hearing from anyone who entered the profession as a second career later in life. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but right now I'm feeling rather lost.