Masters/PysD/PhD/Social Work?

[PsychEdMajor]

Hi- I know there have been alot of questions about this that ive been searching through but could not find any answers that really apply completely to me, so i would really appreciate if you could I answer!

Im currently an undergraduate student doing a double major in Psychology and Education. I am not sure waht is the best path for me to try to take after I graduate with my BA.
I am interested in counseling in a school and possibly opening my own practice. I am not really interested in working with extremely mentally ill pateints but would prefer to counsel along the lines of self-esteem and eating disorders. I also would like to do career counseling. I am not necessarily interested in testing but I am not opposed to it. I also enjoy research alot, I am not scared off the dissertation for the PysD programs etc.

I always assumed I would go get a PysD but if there are shorted options that I could do the things that I want with it i would deffiently look into it.
I also want to make a nice salary and I hear that Masters in Clincal Social Workers generally dont make so much . I would hope to make around 75,000 a year (though I understand I would at first have to make less but i want to know that there is potential for growth).

Additionally, I tend to be an over-achiever so the idea of "settling" for a masters and not going for a doctrate isnt so appealing, but i could come to terms with that.

With all this being said, does anyone really know waht is the most ideal career path? Should I try for a PsyD or PhD or MSW/MCSW or get a masters in sschool and career counseling??

Thank you!!

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[wesleysmith]

It kinda sounds like the reason this answer hasn't quite been answered yet is because the question you're asking is what choice should YOU make. That's a tough one for other people to answer. You could really accomplish all of your goals with all of those options (i.e., different degrees). If you like research and want to avoid "settling" for a masters, don't care to work with "extremely mentally ill patients", and want to "counsel", have you ever taken a PhD in Counseling Psychology into consideration? It sounds like it aligns with your interests.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Just wanted to point out that eating disorders can be extremely difficult to treat and often require a higher degree of training and expertise. On the other hand, working with the severely mentally ill such as people with schizophrenia often requires more case management than specialized psychotherapy. Also, if you are going to work in private practice, you should have a high level of expertise as you cannot control who walks in the door.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I am interested in counseling in a school and possibly opening my own practice. I am not really interested in working with extremely mentally ill pateints but would prefer to counsel along the lines of self-esteem and eating disorders.

In most/all cases a person with an eating disorder (ED) is struggling with significant mental illness. An ED can be one of the most treatment resistant dx's seen in mental health, with relapse rates often worst than what you see in substance abuse. Additionally, anorexia nervosa has one of the highest (if not the highest) mortality rate associated with a psychiatric diagnosis. AN and BN have very high co-morbidity rates with significant medical problems, so in addition to psychiatric problems, the medical complications further muddy the treatment approach. Most of the toughest cases I've eval'd came from the ED grouping of dx's, harder than pts with poly-substance abuse, and more treatment resistant than pts with schizophrenia, etc. I'm not writing this as a deterrent, but the day-to-day treatment of an ED is far different than what most people believe it to be based on what they've seen/heard/read. Treatment can be a grind from the clinician perspective.

In regard to training, most of the best ED experts I've met were doctoral level and completed post-docs within the ED treatment setting. EDs can be incredibly difficult to treat and require a very specialized skill set to adequately address. Clinicians often burnout treating EDs, so it is very important to have a solid foundation and formal mentorship and training in the area before jumping into the deep end of treatment.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

In most/all cases a person with an eating disorder (ED) is struggling with significant mental illness. An ED can be one of the most treatment resistant dx's seen in mental health, with relapse rates often worst than what you see in substance abuse. Additionally, anorexia nervosa has one of the highest (if not the highest) mortality rate associated with a psychiatric diagnosis. AN and BN have very high co-morbidity rates with significant medical problems, so in addition to psychiatric problems, the medical complications further muddy the treatment approach. Most of the toughest cases I've eval'd came from the ED grouping of dx's, harder than pts with poly-substance abuse, and more treatment resistant than pts with schizophrenia, etc. I'm not writing this as a deterrent, but the day-to-day treatment of an ED is far different than what most people believe it to be based on what they've seen/heard/read. Treatment can be a grind from the clinician perspective.

In regard to training, most of the best ED experts I've met were doctoral level and completed post-docs within the ED treatment setting. EDs can be incredibly difficult to treat and require a very specialized skill set to adequately address. Clinicians often burnout treating EDs, so it is very important to have a solid foundation and formal mentorship and training in the area before jumping into the deep end of treatment.

Just wanted to quickly chime in to second pretty much everything smalltownpsych and T4C have said re: eating disorders. And the bolded above has been my experience as well.

As another poster mentioned, perhaps consider looking into a counseling doctoral program and see how that lines up with your current career goals and interests.