Imagine for a moment that you are meeting with a new client in your office. The client has been encouraged to engage in counseling and you can see why. The client is working 40-60 hours a week and is still financially stressed. Their income isn't enough to meet the costs of living in your community. They are surviving on loans but burying themselves in a mountain of debt in the process. The client is visiting food banks for assistance and taking on additional odd jobs to try and earn extra money. The client is also trying to balance childcare responsibilities while still meeting work demands. In addition, the client is trying to complete coursework to advance their career. The client is deeply committed to their chosen field but admits that they just don't have the time to devote to reading course materials and immersing themselves in study they way they need to to really master the material. There just aren't enough hours in a day. As it is, they're only getting around 5-6 hours of sleep a night. The irony is that the client's instructors keep preaching the importance of "self-care" without recognizing that the client has no time or money for it. The client is in your office because you work at a free clinic offering mental health services regardless of ability to pay. The client has some medical insurance but cannot afford the co-pays for the very therapy they have been encouraged to get.
The irony is that the client sitting in front of you is a counseling student who is training in a field that emphasizes wellness. This would be tragic in and of itself if it were only limited to counseling, but unfortunately the student's plight is not uncommon. Two recent articles highlight the very real financial challenges facing today's students. The first article, found in the Boston Globe, highlights the sacrifices students in the mental health field make just to try and enter the field. The second article, found in The Guardian, discusses the low pay and financial struggles of graduate students from various disciplines and their fight for better treatment.
Both of these articles caught our attention as we work to try and collect hard data from students and programs about the financial challenges and opportunities in our training programs. We encourage you to give them a read!