I left law practice and changed careers at age 50 -- ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

After 12 years as an attorney I went back to school and recently graduated with a doctorate in clinical psychology. It took 8 years from start to finish, and I did this with three kids and a husband.

[Anonymous]

How? Was money not an issue? What are your career prospects now?

[Anonymous]

Inspiring, op.

How much were you earning when you left?

[Anonymous]

I was earning about 120k when I quit law. It was a while ago, and at that point i worked in-house for a corporation rather than a firm.

I was able to do this career change for a few reasons:

my kids were already in school full time when I entered my doctoral program. Before that I took some part-time psych classes at night and in the mornings when my youngest was in preschool.

My DH is self-employed and works from home, so he's shouldered a lot of the burden of picking up kids and being around in the afternoons when I've been away at school or working.

We were fortunate to have saved quite a bit from earlier years when I practiced, and when our investments were still doing well. However, in the past few years things got more difficult and we've drained a lot of our savings, sad to say. We are in the process of rebuilding, which means also moving to a smaller, less expensive home. But we're getting by. I have a full-time job now and while the salary is modest (under 100k) the benefits are good. Also, I LOVE the work. It is so much more fulfilling to me than law ever was.

[Anonymous]

What does your husband do?

How does it feel to be 50?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does your husband do?

How does it feel to be 50?

Husband is a technology consultant.

Being 50 is okay. People tell me I look young for my age, but I'm not sure this is true. It feels awesome to have the wisdom and experience at 50 that I lacked in my 20's an 30's, however I do sometimes feel old compared to others starting in my field. Sometimes I worry about this, but I try not to. I hope I remain healthy and can work at my new career for many years. The good thing about being a psychologist is that it's something you can do well into your 70s and 80s.

[Anonymous]

Were you the oldest person in your class? Was it socially awkward going back to school at 50?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was earning about 120k when I quit law. It was a while ago, and at that point i worked in-house for a corporation rather than a firm.

I was able to do this career change for a few reasons:

my kids were already in school full time when I entered my doctoral program. Before that I took some part-time psych classes at night and in the mornings when my youngest was in preschool.

My DH is self-employed and works from home, so he's shouldered a lot of the burden of picking up kids and being around in the afternoons when I've been away at school or working.

We were fortunate to have saved quite a bit from earlier years when I practiced, and when our investments were still doing well. However, in the past few years things got more difficult and we've drained a lot of our savings, sad to say. We are in the process of rebuilding, which means also moving to a smaller, less expensive home. But we're getting by. I have a full-time job now and while the salary is modest (under 100k) the benefits are good. Also, I LOVE the work. It is so much more fulfilling to me than law ever was.

Wow you hated law so much that you are willing to move to a smaller house just so you can work in your other profession? Goodbye to any hope you might have had of retiring. I would hate that so much.

[Anonymous]

How difficult was it to get a job, being 50 and having no experience in the field? How did your interviews go?

[Anonymous]

what exactly does a clinical psychologist do?

[Anonymous]

I am a lawyer and have thought about leaving to become a psychologist or counselor. What was it about law that you disliked so much, and what is it about psych that you find more fulfilling? Did you try out different areas of law before leaving altogether? (I've thought maybe I could get the same satisfaction by switching practice areas to family law.) Why did you pursue the phd instead of a masters? Are you in the DC area? If so, mind saying which school you attended or giving thoughts on the area schools' psych departments?

[Anonymous]

OP, thank you so much for your post. I'm a mid-career professional and I'm considering a career change to counseling -- I'd love to do clinical psychology but I have a toddler and minimal savings, so I feel like anything more than getting a masters at a state school is completely unreachable. Even at this rate the soonest I could feasibly be in practice would be my early 40s. But I believe I would find counseling to be a more fulfilling career path in the long run. Any words of advice?

[Anonymous]

"Wow you hated law so much that you are willing to move to a smaller house just so you can work in your other profession? Goodbye to any hope you might have had of retiring. I would hate that so much."

You are both young and stupid.

[Anonymous]

What was the application process like? Were you required to get recommendations from professors you had years ago? Did you have to take GRE's, etc?