Please forgive me for my long post, but...

I am considering a career change, or maybe a better term would be a career "enhancement".

I am a professional counselor and LOVE doing my job. However, I am looking for ways to diversify my skills and make more income. In addition to doing therapy, I have a few years of experience doing staff trainings with my present employer and enjoy doing them.My question is this...

How can I best educate myself to be more marketable in the next 5-10 years?

My tenative goal is to have my own therapy practice and do part time training with companies (contract).
OR
To work full time in training with a company (and possibly work up to a director of training position) and have a part time therapy practice.

My local state university has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and also a Ph.D. in Adult Education with a specialization in Training and Development.

Would one of these degrees make me more marketable?
If so, which one?

Any advice is appreciated.

Sorry again for the long post.

My guess is that you already have at least a master's degree since you are doing counseling/therapy now. You should already have plenty of skills that are in demand in most companies. I'm not sure that a Ph.D. would be worth the effort and expense. You could start marketing yourself as a corporate consultant now if you want to branch out into the training and development world. Then once you get a feel for it, decide whether you want to get a Ph.D.

Most people that get into the training field have little or no previous experience in the field - and not even a related background. They just fall into it for one reason or another. It's a field that's very easy to break into simply by doing some reading and research on your own. You could start by offering workshops/courses on things that you already have expertise in, such as stress management, dealing with difficult people, learning or personality styles and assessment, motivation, etc. With your background, you would have instant credibility.

quote:

You could start marketing yourself as a corporate consultant now if you want to branch out into the training and development world.

Thanks for the reply

Do you have any suggestions (or books I can read) on how I could start marketing myself and "break into the training and development world"?
I really dont know where to begin.

Start going to your local ASTD's monthly meetings and other events they sponsor and talk to people there about what you do - and want to do. ISPI is also a good organization to hook up with. Write short articles for various trade publications. Volunteer to give talks on some aspect of what you do - stress management is the most obvious - at the Chamber of Commerce, YMCA or some other organization. Organizations like that are always searching for speakers. Attend training related conferences (local and international) and give seminars if possible. Teach an evening class at a local community college. Read all you can about how to market - there are so many good books on the subject - just pick something that appeals to you. Look at courses on the internet in soft skills. Find out what is offered and think about how you might use your skills to do the same thing or something similar. Another idea is to volunteer to present "brown bag" seminars for companies during the lunck breaks. You're already an expert on so many topics.

Best of luck!

Kaliko,

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I will start looking in to them