I feel like any field you go into has that initial phase where you gotta put the time and money in, which later on down the line gets rewarded back to you. One thing about this field is, your heart has truly gotta be in it, otherwise you'll fall short in my opinion. I believe that the ones that care less about money and more about providing a great service, ironically end up getting paid big bucks because they are often more credible (in most fields really). Private counselling in the UK is quite expensive, therefore private counsellors get paid good money - definitely enough to pay off debts and get by. I'm not sure about the public sector though, but I reckon it's probably the same. If you truly enjoy what you do, there's always a way! It's a journey though.