Changing careers, OT/PT/Social Work/Counselor?

[Owlie]

PMing you, at least with possible PT. Maybe give someone there a call and tell them about your background and what you want to do?

[Chicken Little]

If I were doing it again with medicine, I would become an ultrasound tech. Period.

I'm an RN.

[oxysback]

How cool! My sister and her husband, and my dad (who is now retired), are/were career Air Force Band members. Wonder if you know them? My sister and her hubby are stationed at Travis currently.

[NbyNW]

I have a friend who is a music therapist. I don't know much about it, but it sounds like something that could combine your background as well as your new interests.

[Catrin]

I have a friend who is a music therapist. I don't know much about it, but it sounds like something that could combine your background as well as your new interests.

+1 on this idea. I've a very talented nephew who is on this path - much to the chagrin of my sister (who thinks he should be on a more lucrative path). Music therapists seem to have a very unique place and are able to do a lot of good!

[Crankin]

I am a career changer; I was a teacher for 31 years, I went back to school to get a degree in clinical mental health counseling. I went to school full time for 3 years, as I wanted a program with 2 internships.
I looked at a lot of quasi medical fields. But, I didn't have the science background and I don't even like science... even though I think I would do fine as a PT or ultra sound person! I always liked the emotional aspect of teaching, working with families, etc. The other teachers hated "morning meeting" where we shared stuff, and I loved it.
So, here's my take on it. I also looked at social work programs, but their path to the same end is a little different. A lot of social workers do "case work," not clinical work. If social worker wants to have a private practice there are considerable post degree requirements to get the independent license. Of course, there are many career paths without it. With a degree in "professional counseling," basically you graduate with a masters and can take your licensing exam any time after that. You do have to work the equivalent of full time for 2 years (3300 hours), at least in my state, to get your license. But, you can work in a clinic, doing counseling. My take is that my degree is a bit more clinically focused than social work, from the get go.
Do I make a lot of money? No, not now. But, once I am licensed, I can do whatever I want. Since I am "older," I probably will not open a practice, but I will have the flexibility of joining a group practice, and just working a couple of days a week. That is the best thing about this field; you have flexibility and you don't even need to work at one place. You can put together whatever you want.
The work is demanding. If you have any "stuff" related to your own mental health or relationships, etc., you need to work on that. In fact, most programs encourage or require their students to be in therapy. You also need to know how to separate yourself from your work. Cycling is the perfect antidote.
Just a thought. My university has one of the best programs in the country in expressive therapy. You get your degree in music therapy/expressive arts and also take all of the classes I took for a counseling degree. There are other schools that have this, but I suggest you look up Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, to get an idea of what expressive therapists do. It's much more marketable than a degree just in music therapy.

[sempronialou]

Seeing as how you have a degree in music and are looking into the different types of therapies, have you considered Music Therapy? That is what I do. You could do a grad equivalency program that cuts out the undergrad work. You still have to do all the music therapy requirements and a 6 month internship afterwards. If you're interested, I can give you more info.