# Careers involving freedom and autonomy



## Recede (Nov 23, 2011)

I currently have a bachelor's degree in psychology and am in graduate school to earn my master's in counseling psychology. While counseling/therapy is probably a much better career for me than most, I still have my doubts because I think it might be too demanding of constant focus, which I may not have the energy for. So while I'm not necessarily about to quit this career path, it might be good to explore and see if there may be something better for me, perhaps as a backup plan. 

I seem to be prone to burnout and just feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do, so I may need a career that allows me plenty of freedom and autonomy over my focus and energy, so I can take breaks as needed and not get overwhelmed. The worst kind of job for me would be one involving constant repetitive tasks and focus, such as fast food. 

Creative careers such as art or writing would probably give the kind of freedom I'm looking for. I also thought of photography and that appeals to me, though I think it would be very difficult to make a career out of. I've also thought of park ranger, nanny/sitter, pet-sitter/daycare, and prospector.

One thing that really appeals to me is k-9 assisted search and rescue. Going into cities after natural disasters, or mountains after avalanches, and finding and rescuing survivors with the assistance of a trained dog. The freedom and excitement appeals to me, as well as having a dog as a working partner. Unfortunately, these jobs seem to be mostly volunteer and not really something I could make a career out of. (I thought of k-9 assisted police officer as well but it sounds like a really demanding job with long hours and extra work, so it didn't appeal to me. And being a dog trainer seems demanding and repetitive.)

Anyways, it's hard to find any lists of careers that involve the kind of freedom I'm looking for, so does anyone here know of any?


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## Lorali (May 12, 2015)

The best kind of job that allows for freedom and autonomy that I can think of is starting a business or practice. People shy away from that, thinking that they're setting themselves up for failure, but if you're willing to do the work involved, it's a very rewarding way of making a living. I personally am going to start a pet sitting business sometime in the future, but mainly as side income. I find that working for someone else, unless you find a great company who shares your values, isn't the best thing to do if you're looking for that kind of thing. Most types of work involves some degree of focus. Is there anything you can think of that you tend to focus the most on, that you're passionate about, that can be applied to a career? There are many different types of jobs you can get with a psychology degree. Have you looked into other psychology careers or is counseling/therapy the type of job you've been wanting to do out of all the others? Have you looked into starting your own practice?


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## Recede (Nov 23, 2011)

Lorali said:


> The best kind of job that allows for freedom and autonomy that I can think of is starting a business or practice. People shy away from that, thinking that they're setting themselves up for failure, but if you're willing to do the work involved, it's a very rewarding way of making a living. I personally am going to start a pet sitting business sometime in the future, but mainly as side income. I find that working for someone else, unless you find a great company who shares your values, isn't the best thing to do if you're looking for that kind of thing. Most types of work involves some degree of focus. Is there anything you can think of that you tend to focus the most on, that you're passionate about, that can be applied to a career? There are many different types of jobs you can get with a psychology degree. Have you looked into other psychology careers or is counseling/therapy the type of job you've been wanting to do out of all the others? Have you looked into starting your own practice?


I have looked into private practice but I don't think it's for me. I know it's a lot of extra work and probably somewhat difficult to be successful that way. I'm also not sure how much freedom I would gain from it, as sessions would still happen at scheduled times for set periods, so it's not like I could take a break whenever. I was thinking of working part-time for a counseling agency. 

I did mention the possibility of starting a pet daycare though. But it's unclear whether I could make it work alone or if I would have to hire employees, which would be not ideal for me. I also have never owned a dog, so it might be difficult to get from where I am now to being able to say I'm qualified to look after people's dogs as a profession. 

I seem to be a bit lacking in passion lately. I used to be passionate about foreign languages and psychology. If I ever became fluent in another language, I could perhaps become a private tutor/teacher. Giving online lessons would be ideal for me because then I would be location independent. But it's so hard to find the motivation to stick with learning and reach fluency. I'm very good at learning languages, but the pace is too slow. I need to be learning 200+ words per day to feel like I'm making enough progress but then I get quickly burned out.


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