I've been working in IT for the last 5 years in various roles but mainly in Product/Delivery. Previously I worked in HR and studied Psychology and Cultural Management.

Although I am good at what I do, tech is not my passion and I've been thinking about a change for years. First I changed roles/organisation but it hasn't worked, I still want something different.

What I think I want is to become a psychotherapist, and have done some research and volunteering around it. I like it a lot, but I am still not sure it's my ideal job, and would like to take some time to properly research career options, rather than playing it all on this card. Making a move from well-paid IT expert to something completely different is scary, and I want to be sure it's for me.

My dilemma is what to do next:

Option 1 (lower risk): I've been offered a new IT role, very similar to what I know well, but with the option to work part-time. This would give me a day/week to research my career change. In the past I found that it's quite hard to keep an intense full-time job and explore other things on the side.

Option 2 (higher risk): I could take a career break for a few months to fully focus on career change options. This could lead to entry-level in the field I end up choosing, or I might need to go back to IT to fund my studying for a career change (therapy training usually takes 4-5 years part-time).

Sorry for the long post, I'd really appreciate some advice.

Thanks!