Considering a career change...

[sanantone]

Depending on what you want to do, there are multiple graduate degrees you can get that will lead to a job in counseling: social work, psychology (most masters programs in psychology aren't exactly designed for licensure), mental health counseling, addictions counseling, and marriage and family therapy. I don't know about the job market in California; but, from what I've seen in Texas, the research jobs for those with a masters degree in psychology are limited unless you're willing to work in research outside of psychology.

My experience is that hiring managers do not make it easy for people to change careers. It was difficult for me just to transition from the security and teaching side of the criminal justice field to the social services side of the criminal justice field. I tried getting social service jobs outside of the criminal justice field, but that wasn't happening. So, I had to settle for counseling at a prison and now a social service job involving violations of state laws. I once looked into switching to the IT field, but I cannot live off of the wages being offered for entry-level positions.

Because you'll need to complete an internship, be prepared to be broke for a year or two. The wages will be low. Most child advocates are volunteers. There are, however, jobs with the government that deal with child abuse and neglect. These are normally state jobs; but, in California, child protective services operates at the county level. There are also non-profit organizations that provide counseling services to families through government grants and contracts.