Did any of you use unemployment (via firing, layoff, etc) to start your journey to become a therapist?

TLDR - how can I use getting fired from a nonprofit government affairs role as a way to shift careers

Hey all - I've been posting a lot here lately...I guess I'm really stressed haha

I work at a nonprofit doing policy (lots of pencil pushing). Since a new supervisor started this year, my performance tanked. Between burnout, apathy, and difficulty getting used to this supervisor's style, I think I'm going to get fired any day now...I certainly deserve to be tbh.

With that out of the way, part of me wants to use this time as a way to explore whether or now I want to start pursuing a MSW, with the ultimate goal (if I like it) of becoming a therapist.

My own therapy work has opened my eyes to how interesting the field is. I love learning about different modalities and it's hard to put it into words, but something about it feels right.

I have scheduled a few informational interviews (with others in the process of being scheduled) to learn more about MSW and other grad programs. I'm trying to be diverse in who I reach out to - faculty from various universities, people I know in my personal life who became therapists as a second career, etc..

Has anyone here decided to take the plunge at a difficult moment in life? How did you discern that it was the right choice for you?

I have some savings (about $8k in a HCOL area) and I would likely qualify for unemployment in my state, but I probably would need to get a job assuming I'd apply for Fall 2026?

This is all still very new and I could see myself not committing to it, because it's such a huge change, but I really want to entertain the idea. I have a lot of anxiety about whether or not I have the right temperament to be a therapist and anxiety about unintentionally harming someone.