My two cents for your reference.
There definitely is the emotional consideration, your desire to live a life that is fulfilling and purposeful.
On the other hand, there is the practical side of life, the pay for counselor/psychotherapist is lower which will impact the finance of your family. The hours can also be irregular which can interfere with your family life especially considering the fact that you have two young children.
These are all things you may want to consider when making your decision. I will say, however, most people who enter those professions do not do it for money. They do it because they feel they are contributing to the betterment of other peoples' live and that is emotionally gratifying. For some people, it is unfathomable that anyone would do things just because they want to feel a sense of contribution at the cost of potential monetary loss. Yet for others,this comes very natrually for them and they are just drawn to the higher purpose in life. It isn't necessarily good or bad, it is just that everyone is different and it all depends on your archetype and your life experiences.
With regards to language, culture and ethnicity, language is definitely important The other two less so. After all, culture and enthnicity are just like when someone comes to you becaue of drugs, divorce,affairs and depression issues, these are just symptoms, in therapy,you look beneath the superficial layer, and you see what drives someone to use drugs, what drives someone to have an affair, that is when you see the real stuff, the pain, the lonliness, the disconnection and the suffering that cut across cultural, geographical and ethnic boundary. Regardless of culture,human emotions and needs are universal, there is no divide when you look at the world that way. It is easy for people to judge when they only look at the surface of the problem. As a counselor, the minute one begins to judge and separate people into different categories, the work just became harder. It is for that reason, a non-judgmental attitude and a strong sense of compassion are very important in being a counselor. And perhaps, this is the other element why people are attracted to this profession, they themselves become more whole, compassionate and emotionally healthier as a result of helping others.
As for the concern around taking on other peoples' depression and stress, that will only happen if you don't watch your workload, you consider yourself a problem solver and if you try to help them using your intellect rather than your heart. People come to counseling because of emotional issues, trying to solve their problems for them and give overt suggestions only works at the cognitive level and do not meet them at an emotional leve, even if it works one time, most likely it is short term. Counseling is more art than science, simplistically addressing an emotional issue as though a medical or biological condition doesn't work.
I know some of the issues I addressed wasn't in your post, I just happened to read other people's reply posts and thought I'd share my thoughts.
Having said all of that, the decision still comes down to your priority in life at this moment, family, finance and personal fulfillment. There isn't a perfect solution that will meet all of your needs.
Hope my two cents is helpful in some ways and best of luck to you.
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