She changed careers from analysing numbers to counselling people

Ms Qi Zhai-McCartney pursued a Master of Guidance and Counselling at James Cook University to become a qualified counsellor

By Aster Tan

July 5, 2022

When grief strikes, it can change the course of a person’s life in unexpected ways.

For Ms Qi Zhai-McCartney, it made her quit a nearly two-decade-long career in the finance industry to become a counsellor. She was working as an Asian equities sales associate when her father passed away in 2008.

“Back then, I did not know how to process my feelings. My experience made me see that most people also face similar problems. They don't know how to talk about their feelings and have difficult conversations to process their thoughts and emotions,” Ms Zhai-McCartney says.

This ignited an interest in counselling. “I began to realise over time that I much preferred analysing people to analysing numbers. I wanted to work with people, rather than with data,” says the 41-year-old, who holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master's degree in international policy studies from Stanford University.

“I wanted to help people in a more tangible and personal way, rather than, say, helping people manage their retirement savings - which is also important work, but feels less personal.”

In 2010, she enrolled in a Master of Counselling in New York, but could not complete the programme due to work commitments.

Over the next 12 years, her career would take her from Singapore to China to the United States and back again. Yet she never forgot her dream of becoming a counsellor. In 2020, when she was back in Singapore working for a global asset management company, she decided to make a mid-career switch.

A rigorous and flexible programme for professionals

She did thorough research on universities offering Masters of Counselling programmes in Singapore, and found James Cook University’s (JCU) Master of Guidance and Counselling (MGC) part-time programme to be rigorous and flexible for working professionals with families. When she visited the campus here, she also enjoyed the feeling of being a real student again in a classroom, with a community of other learners. She also received a Merit Scholarship from the university.

JCU’s MGC course provides advanced academic and practical training in the professional discipline of counselling. It is designed to meet the developmental needs of individuals wishing to enter the counselling profession, as well as individuals seeking to develop important human and interpersonal skills in other professions.

The course is formally recognised as an initial counsellor training course by the Singapore Association for Counselling as well as the Australian Counselling Association, which enables graduates to practice in both countries as well as internationally.

JCU’s MGC is generally only admissible to candidates who hold a bachelor’s degree or academic and/or professional attainments relevant to the field of counselling. While Ms Zhai-McCartney did not have “counselling experience” per se, she was admitted to the MGC course and even secured exemptions based on her credits from the previous uncompleted Master of Counselling as well as work experience.

“I am so grateful to the JCU staff for encouraging me to pick up and finish the degree that I started part-time 12 years ago. I have made meaningful connections and learnt practical skills that will serve me well in my counselling career,” she says.

Ms Zhai-McCartney will be graduating this year and has already landed her dream job as a private practice counsellor at Alliance Counselling starting in July.

“When I see clients, I am in awe of their resilience and what they have achieved in spite of some curveballs life has thrown at them. I look forward to getting to know more clients and walking this part of their life journey with them,” she says.

In particular, Ms Zhai-McCartney loves the hope and optimism inherent in the counselling profession. “The process of helping people overcome their challenges involves identifying their strengths and helping to build confidence and appreciation for how far they have come already, and how much farther they can go,” she says.

“This is very different from my first career in finance where my daily work focused on risks and ‘the things that could go wrong’. In counselling, we are looking at ‘how could things go right?’”

Visit www.jcu.edu.sg/courses-and-study/courses/course/master-of-guidance-and-counselling for more information.