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Thinking about becoming a therapist but feeling held back by my past

Hello everyone. Im writing this on a throwaway. I am a 26 year old woman tossing around the idea of a career change and going back to school. I have always been a highly sensitive person and i suffered an extremely traumatic childhood and i was raised in a highly dysfunctional family by an alcoholic single father and a mother who was addicted to drugs. This caused me to have very poor relationship skills in my teens and early twenties and i made a lot of emotionally reckless mistakes. I have become sober myself (2 years going strong), and I had a wake up call that compelled me to seek sobriety and heal my traumas. I have hurt people emotionally who I was in romantic relationships with that I deeply regret. I think my last serious romantic relationship was probably the worst of this and I felt like I acted in ways that I now cringe at and feel immense guilt for. I have forgiven myself enough to realize I was acting out of my traumas and I do not believe I am an evil person, but I definitely think I have done evil things.

I have committed myself to a life of healing and I know its a process that will never be complete. During my own healing work I connected with the transformative work of therapy and learning about the benefits of mental health. I am often the friend who my own friends come to for guidance and help in their own lives and I truly love being a support for people. I believe it is a career I could be truly passionate about.

Its because of this that I am feeling conflict about the ethics of me becoming a therapist due to my moral past. Is it even ethical for me to be a therapist with a less than admirable past? I know no one is truly perfect but I am completely torn. Please give me some advice. Thank you.

/r/therapists Thread