There are a few options for you. You could enter an Masters of Social Work (MSW) program. Full-time, these are usually two years long. State schools are reasonably priced. MSW’s become Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW) in their state and can then essentially be counselors, either in social service agencies, or as private couselors. Check out http://portal.cswe.org/Membership/MemberDirectorySearch.aspx to find programs. MSW programs are accredited and have essentially the same curriculum everywhere, depending on your specialty. Another option would be school counseling programs. I don’t know as much about these, but there are quite a few around. Finally, you could look at Psychology programs. There are Masters programs that result in essentially the same qualifications as the MSW, but are mostly only counseling programs. PhD programs are a possibility, too, but much more difficult to get into without research experience. For school programs and psychology programs, the prices vary, but are usually not cheap. Hope for financial aid, and maybe deal with loans (not exactly a joy…).

You won’t necessarily need to start over, but may need to make up a few pre-req classes.

Hope that was helpful! Good luck!

Yes I agree 100% with PickPeace’s answer. She is right, you may have to take a few pre-req classes to enter a master’s program in Social Work or other related program, but it would be the easiest and fastest thing to do instead of starting completly over.

You are only 23 and sometimes it takes longer than you think to figure out what you really want to do. Also, if you decide later on you still want to teach, you still could still teach community colleges in your field with a master’s degree. Good luck to you!

Fine a school that offers a cerificate in Counseling, you can usually fine those at a community college(cheaper). Or you can go back to your university and get a certificate.

You sort of have to start again, at least with the Major.