Field Notes: Changing Careers after Twenty Years

Why two decades of communication was the perfect training for therapeutic practice.

Today’s Substack post and announcement comes to you with a touch of vulnerability, a smattering of Impostor Syndrome but also quiet excitement.

After running a successful copywriting business for twenty years, I am making a change.

That is a statement that feels both exhilarating and terrifying. For two decades, Copywriter has been my professional identity. It is a world I know inside out, a skill set that is second nature, and a label that felt safe. But in recent years, the circle I have found myself happiest in has shifted.

I have realised that while I will still do some copywriting, focusing primarily on my wellbeing and holistic business clients, my heart and my future have moved into a different space.

Returning to my roots in wellbeing

To an outsider, this might look like a sudden shift in direction. In reality, it is a return to where I began. Long before I was a copywriter, I started my career in Health and Social Care. I moved away from that sector after having my eldest son, but the desire to support others never truly left me; it just changed shape.

Since 2017, I have hosted free coworking sessions in Thirsk. What started as a way to help people beat the isolation of solo working quickly revealed my true passion: supporting the wellness of others. Watching small business owners find their footing, hold space for one another, and grow through community was the spark that led me back to therapeutic work.

The path to becoming a qualified Journal Therapist

I haven’t just decided to be a therapist on a whim. This transition is built on a foundation of years of study, professional development, and formal qualifications. My lifelong love for reading naturally evolved into a deep interest in Bibliotherapy, exploring how literature and narrative can be a mirror for our own healing.

Today, I am proud to say: I am a Journal Therapist.

I am qualified, I am an Accredited Member of the Complementary Medical Association (CMA), and I am currently completing my Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) certification. This isn’t a retreat from my past career; it is my evolution.

Using words in a different way

For twenty years, I used words to help people sell, to persuade, and to market. Now, I am using words to help people heal, uncover, and navigate. It is the same raw material, language, but the application is entirely new.

Journal therapy is about creating a space where thoughts can be pinned to the page, patterns can be spotted, and the “stuck” parts of our lives can start to move again.

The Who

Not the band, but the client base.

Open to all

Anyone can benefit from journal therapy and so I have an open door policy (no niche, no barrier). I offer sessions for people pivoting into a new career, life transitions, those who are “stuck” in any way. Journal therapy can help you assess your own behaviours and how you react to situations too.

SEND Parents and Carers

I offer specialised sessions for SEND parents and carers. This is something I’ve worked with and alongside for years. It is also also a club I’m part of myself (very exclusive membership).

My personal insights, lived experiences and therapy and counselling training can offer something many are lacking. Opportunities to unpack the weight of care giving.

---

The toolkit you didn’t know you had

One of the biggest hurdles in changing careers at midlife is the feeling that we are wasting our previous experience. Practising what I “preach”, I sat down with my own journal to challenge that thought, and I want to share the prompt I used.

The Journal Prompt:

“What is the one thing my previous experiences (the ‘old’ me) have taught me that will make me BETTER at this new chapter than if I were starting from scratch?”

My Reflection: When I looked back at my twenty years in copywriting and my early days in health and social care, I realised I haven’t lost anything. Copywriting taught me how to listen for the subtext. It taught me how to hear what a client isn’t saying. My years running Thirsk Coworking taught me how to hold space for people in transition.

I am not starting from zero; I am starting with a twenty-year head start in human connection.

In short. I can do this.

I’m already doing this.

---

Thank you

This transition wouldn’t be possible without the incredible community of supporters I’ve found both here on Substack and in the ‘real world’ over the last two decades. I have to make a special mention to the always-fabulous Kate Beddow - a real life friend I’ve reconnected with because of this platform. She has been an absolute diamond throughout my wobbles and I am lucky to know her.

I am stepping into this space with immense gratitude for the past and a deep, steady excitement for what comes next. If you’d like to take a nosy at my new digital home and see how these two worlds are finally coming together, you can find me at nickicawood.co.uk. I’d love to see you there.

As for Substack, nothing is changing here. This is still my writing home and one I love sharing with you all.

Nicki x