Hi!
I have a 40 yo friend in Denmark who wants to get an MA in Counseling Psychology with concentrations in Expressive Arts Therapy or Drama Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

She is barely making a living as a free Feldenkrais therapist now and wants to invest a lot of money into this education. :(

To me the whole idea does not sound very convincing. :confused:

Can anybody tell me, whether this MA in Counseling Psychology (without PsyD) is useful for anything (except for subsidizing the CIIS)?

Would she be able to find a job with that degree in the US? (She is not the type of person that easily adjusts to stress. So- no, prison or juvenile hall is not an option.)
She is used to live on a low income, but I guess, she would need to pay off tuition fees afterwards.

Is anybody studying at CIIS and can tell me more about them?
Is this a hard program to finish?

Thanks for any information at all!

Hi!
I have a 40 yo friend in Denmark who wants to get an MA in Counseling Psychology with concentrations in Expressive Arts Therapy or Drama Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

She is barely making a living as a free Feldenkrais therapist now and wants to invest a lot of money into this education. :(

To me the whole idea does not sound very convincing. :confused:

Can anybody tell me, whether this MA in Counseling Psychology (without PsyD) is useful for anything (except for subsidizing the CIIS)?

Would she be able to find a job with that degree in the US? (She is not the type of person that easily adjusts to stress. So- no, prison or juvenile hall is not an option.)
She is used to live on a low income, but I guess, she would need to pay off tuition fees afterwards.

Is anybody studying at CIIS and can tell me more about them?
Is this a hard program to finish?

Thanks for any information at all!

Okay, I'm going to be brutally honest... I would strongly discourage your friend from pursuing an MA degree in "drama therapy." This degree has limited applicability (not to mention limited efficacy for the reduction of psychopathology), and I can't imagine that your friend would have a high probability of getting a job or getting reimbursed by an insurance company for such a treatment. To go into debt for that kind of degree is not worth it (in my opinion).

However, if she is interested in using the art as part of a larger therapeutic approach, I would recommend completing a program in occupational therapy. There are OTs who utilize art in their work, but they also have a broader skill base in voc rehab, activities of daily living, psychoeducation groups, etc.

Good luck.

Great advice....

Actually, that is what I thought and feared. It sounded like a nice M.A. to spend your time self-exploring and spending your rich husband's/ parents' money.

Well, I hope I can help her find a better way to spend her time and non-existing money. :o

Thanks :thumbup:

If your friend has a BA in psych, she could get licenced as a Child Life Specialist and work in the hospitals amusing kids and helping them cope with medical procedures. I wish I knew about this option earlier as I could have made money during grad school using psych principles and play therapy :)

I work on a highly respected adolescent eating disorders unit, and we have an expressive arts therapist on staff who did her training at Lesley University in MA. I know that students from there tend to do well in seeking jobs as part of multidisciplinary treatment teams in clinical settings.