Believe it or not I had the same dream. In Awestralia, you also need to do huge amounts of study (and supervised practicum)in order to be a registered counsellor. The most secure path is a BA in Psych. followed by a Masters in Counselling. (around 5 to 6 years) It is discouraging to say the least but I think I would enjoy the course anyway. (have done some units already)
One option that I might follow one day is a Drug and Alcohol Counsellor. You do their course part time over 12 months or so. A very practical course. It is a very specific course so you might tire of dealing with the same issue all the time ie. substance abuse, alcoholism. I think there is quite strict protocol in how you counsel these people.
One counsellor told me “don’t do counselling for the money because it is quite low. Also you get tired of listening to people complaining all the time” So I empathise with Anita on that one. Not sure I would have the patience either. I’ve fantasised in the past of looking like Dr. Jack Freud/Jung and saying “now, what’s the matter?, take a seat on my couch.”
I imagine you go home at the end of the day, totally exhausted from listening to everyone’s crap! 🙂