Educational Psychology & Addiction Counseling emphasis...

[jancydrew]

Hi all,

My background includes a BA in psychology and a grad certificate in public health. I am interested in getting my doctorate after getting my master's. Even though I am fascinated with Public Health, after getting my certificate I have always felt an MPH alone is not sufficient. I am interested in an MA or MPH, and definitely a doctorate. I have past experience in a smoke-free campus organization and worked alongside another member certified as a Health Educator/Tobacco Specialist. I am interested in educational psychology, trauma and addictions studies, tobacco cessation & prevention especially among youth. Despite coming across many online Master's programs in my research I am only interested in on-campus programs. I have read about advanced grad certificates in addiction counseling for grad students. Gradschools website cited University of Nevada with an MA in Educational Psychology and Addiction Counseling emphasis, but when I click on the school's webpage it appears the emphasis does not exist anymore. Are master's/doctorate programs in Addiction Counseling not common or do many schools lack the funding for this track? Any SDN users with knowledge about masters/doctorate programs in addiction counseling? Thanks.

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[PsychBoxe]

In the PhD PsyD realm - I found more opportunities in Addiction/SUD research, rather than applied clinical work. I am unaware of any doc program with an addiction counseling emphasis as predoc and postdoc are typical environments one hones their focus and area of practice/research. I suggest securing clinical placements where you can gain experience working in addiction.

 

[jancydrew]

In the PhD PsyD realm - I found more opportunities in Addiction/SUD research, rather than applied clinical work. I am unaware of any doc program with an addiction counseling emphasis as predoc and postdoc are typical environments one hones their focus and area of practice/research. I suggest securing clinical placements where you can gain experience working in addiction.

Thanks for the reply. Interesting , I'll continue to look more into predoc and postdoc opportunities.

 

[jancydrew]

I am also interested in combined degree programs since I could focus on predoc and postdoc for addiction studies/research. I may create another thread about schools that offer combined degree programs in both psychology and public health.

 

[Ollie123]

You may learn more on the master's board, where there may be a few people with addiction-specific degrees (I've seen it at the master's level - never the doctorate level).

If you are willing to do a generalist doctorate program and specialize in addiction, there are literally dozens of appropriate clinical psychology programs out there. Tons of people doing addiction and tobacco work. Clinical opportunities can be slightly more scarce, but its not hard to find graduate programs that do offer substantive clinical training in addiction including practicums, etc. I did two practicums in substance use/addiction (one at a VA, one at a private hospital), served as a therapist in smoking cessation clinical trials during graduate training - then attended an addiction-focused internship. That is not unusual for students in my program and many other programs have similar opportunities.

 

[smalltownpsych]

There is not really a model for doctoral level licensed addiction counselor, but as Ollie said a clinical psychologist can specialize in treating addiction. Most states that I know about have MA licenses for addiction counselors, but those are geared towards practice. If you want to do research in this area, then PhD in clinical psychology is probably your best bet.

 

[jancydrew]

@Ollie123 @smalltownpsych , thanks for the info. I am considering the PhD more everyday and forgoing the MPH since someone on another forum suggested I really wouldn't need the MPH since I already have a grad certificate. I will continue to research PhD programs in psychology and PhD behavioral health as well.

 

[PhDToBe]

UNCW has masters and PhD clinical psych programs in substance abuse.

 

[eremitestar]

Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI has a master's in clinical mental health counseling with an addiction specialization: http://www.marquette.edu/education/grad/cecp_masters_specializations.shtml

FWIW, I'm a psychologist specializing in addiction and trauma in the VA system, and my PhD is from a generalist program. Most of my specialty training came from field placements during my program and from my postdoc.

 

[jancydrew]

@PhDToBe @eremitestar , thanks for dropping some school names.

Since the generalist PhD program has been mentioned twice now, I'll consider it as a possibility. Thanks all for taking the time out to provide input.