Question about Social Psychology

[PsychMajorUndergrad18]

Hello Everyone,

I have been researching different psych fields and came upon Social psychology. Hypothetically, if I were to get my degree in Social Psychology (or any other non-clinical psychology field) can I still become a licensed psychologist and practice clinically or do I need to do post-doctorate education in clinical psychology?

Thanks for the input and for answering all the questions I've had about psych!!!

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[Ollie123]

Generally speaking, you will need a degree in clinical or counseling to practice, unless you complete a respecialization program after graduation.

 

[PsychMajorUndergrad18]

How long is a re-specialization program usually? What if I did a degree in clinical psychology? Can I do research and/or teach in Social Psychology with a clinical degree or do I need to do a separate doctorate?

 

[Ollie123]

I think the respecialization programs are usually 2 years + internships, but I would never plan on doing one upfront. You are much better off finding a clinical program where you can carve out a more "social psych" niche. The emphasis is often different, but there are a huge number of clinical/counseling psychologists who utilize social psychological principles in their research. Whether they could teach it would depend on the setting. If they have actual social psychologists, they would probably be first in line to teach a general social psychology course. If its something like "Society and health behaviors" a clinical health psychologist could well be the most qualified to teach it. The boundaries between subdisciplines get very fuzzy from a research/teaching perspective - pretty much the only hard line is that an non-clinically-trained psychologist can't legally/ethically practice.

Are there particular things about social psych that interest you? If it meshes well with the clinical world and you are flexible, it could be very easy to find a suitable program. If you are looking for a clinical program that will let you do studies that can't in any way be stretched or construed to be remotely applicable to the clinical world...its going to be much harder.

 

[GoPokes]

This has already been noted, but to re-emphasize, you can get your degree in counseling psych and practice as well.

 

[erg923]

Obviously, principles of social psychology play into many aspects of abberant and/or maladaptive human behavior. Many clinically trained academics research the social influences/variables of psychopathology.

 

[PsychMajorUndergrad18]

Thanks everything for your responses. I'm still a undergrad (about to start 2nd year) but everyone has been such a big help in regards to answering all the questions I have (especially you erg923). I really appreciate you guys taking the time off your busy schedules to contribute and share your wisdom in regards to the questions I have brought up

 

[fleetfeet2016]

I'd like to add to this topic. I'm a rising Junior as of Fall 2015 and I'm a little bummed to find out that only Clinical and Counseling Psych PhD programmes can be licenced (along with MSW's). This bums me out because I have a pretty clear idea of the direction I'd like to do my research, but I'm finding that the "most suited" program to my needs might be Developmental Psychology. So, can Developmental Psychologists be licensed? I know there are lots of child - adolescence specific offices within hospitals and it would make the most sense in my mind for a developmental psych PhD to work in those offices... Anyway, I wouldn't mind working for academia (research + teaching), but on the other hand, I hate the idea of being limited to only academia (and not having the opportunity to become licensed and practice if I wanted too).

Are there any jobs in mental health for non-clinical psychologists? Some of the best research programs out there are found in the Social, Cognitive, Neuroscience, Developmental, etc. programs. It's a little surprising to me that an MSW can become licensed while a more specific Psych PhD can not...

 

[Ollie123]

Licensure isn't determined by "How close to clinical psychology" something is in name, its about whether or not the field involves clinical training. Cognitive/Social/Etc. don't. Social work does. There are plenty of great physics programs out there doing cutting edge research too...but that doesn't mean they should be able to get licensed to practice therapy. When you see what the programs and training actually entail, that suggestion really isn't that much more ridiculous than what you are suggesting...my colleagues in cognitive/social will be the first to admit they have absolutely no idea how to function as clinicians and no desire to do so.

Developmental programs generally don't, so its not going to provide you opportunities for licensure as that just isn't what the degree is about. I've heard of a few "Applied developmental" programs, but don't know what they entail and whether they may be an exception. They're pretty rare though. There may be opportunities for applied work outside of academia depending on your focus...government jobs, educational systems, non-profits, etc. but if your goal is to be a clinician you will need to go to a program that provides some kind of training designed to help people become clinicians. There are lots of clinical/counseling programs with strong emphases on childhood or that take a developmental perspective. School psych might be another option depending on what you want to do. Some programs will also allow students to collaborate across areas so keep that in mind. Several of the clinical students in my program who were child-focused worked closely with a developmental psychologist in our department on a number of research projects.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Licensure isn't determined by "How close to clinical psychology" something is in name, its about whether or not the field involves clinical training. Cognitive/Social/Etc. don't. Social work does. There are plenty of great physics programs out there doing cutting edge research too...but that doesn't mean they should be able to get licensed to practice therapy. When you see what the programs and training actually entail, that suggestion really isn't that much more ridiculous than what you are suggesting...my colleagues in cognitive/social will be the first to admit they have absolutely no idea how to function as clinicians and no desire to do so.

Developmental programs generally don't, so its not going to provide you opportunities for licensure as that just isn't what the degree is about. I've heard of a few "Applied developmental" programs, but don't know what they entail and whether they may be an exception. They're pretty rare though. There may be opportunities for applied work outside of academia depending on your focus...government jobs, educational systems, non-profits, etc. but if your goal is to be a clinician you will need to go to a program that provides some kind of training designed to help people become clinicians. There are lots of clinical/counseling programs with strong emphases on childhood or that take a developmental perspective. School psych might be another option depending on what you want to do. Some programs will also allow students to collaborate across areas so keep that in mind. Several of the clinical students in my program who were child-focused worked closely with a developmental psychologist in our department on a number of research projects.

Applied developmental programs don't include clinical training and won't prepare someone for licensure.

 

[QAsPsych]

There are explicit clinical developmental programs/subprograms, though, such as at Pitt & Rochester which are also great schools in the field generally. That seems like the sort of thing fleetfeet might be looking for.

 

[fleetfeet2016]

How much opportunity is there to conduct research in a clinical psychology PhD?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

How much opportunity is there to conduct research in a clinical psychology PhD?

Short answer: a lot. Longer answer: depends in part on the specific school, but essentially every PhD program will provide you the opportunity to conduct research, and will expect that it happens (to varying degrees).

 

[fleetfeet2016]

@AcronymAllergy Well that's nice to hear. On another note, it seems that the research I want to be doing is all being done at Med Schools and Psychiatric departments of med school... This is concerning me because I have 0 interest in medical school and even less interest in pre-med. So, here's my next question: How collaborative are Psychology and Psychiatric/Med School departments?

I'd like to dedicate my academic research to anxiety based disorders.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

@AcronymAllergy Well that's nice to hear. On another note, it seems that the research I want to be doing is all being done at Med Schools and Psychiatric departments of med school... This is concerning me because I have 0 interest in medical school and even less interest in pre-med. So, here's my next question: How collaborative are Psychology and Psychiatric/Med School departments?

I'd like to dedicate my academic research to anxiety based disorders.

It's pretty unusual (at least in my experience) for hospitals/medical schools to have departments of psychology. Thus, psychologists who work in those settings are often located in psychiatry departments (although they're also of course found in other departments, such as oncology and neurology).

As for how collaborative the departments are, it'll really depend on the individual program. Sometimes there's a lot of collaboration and sometimes there's little, but it's certainly not unusual for it to happen.

 

[OneNeuroDoctor]

There are a number of Developmental Psychology Doctoral programs that have options to qualify for licensure. UNO and UT-Dallas have PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology and Psychological Sciences with Developmental/Cognitive/Experimental specialization, respectively. I believe the UNO program has or did have an option where students did clinical psychology and practicum through a partnerships with LSU and the UT-Dallas has a similar option with UTSW clinical psychology program. I know several who finished the UNO program and one is licensed in Georgia. I believe UT-Dallas and UTSW have shared faculty so students are allowed to take courses at both campuses as well as engage in research at both campuses. UT-Dallas has faculty with a phenomenological emphasis and they have a big MS Neuroscience program and many of their MS degree students are readily accepted in the top ten clinical psychology programs across the US.

Here is the brochure for the UNO Developmental Psychology program and they do met the requirements for licensure as a Psychologist:

http://www.uno.edu/cos/psychology/documents/dev-brochure-9-17-2012.pdf


Here is the brochure for UT-D and they have collaborative programs with UTSW that enables their graduates to meet the requirements for licensure:

http://bbs.utdallas.edu/cogneuro/#degreeinfo

 

[deleted343839]

@AcronymAllergy Well that's nice to hear. On another note, it seems that the research I want to be doing is all being done at Med Schools and Psychiatric departments of med school...
...
I'd like to dedicate my academic research to anxiety based disorders.

There are many faculty at university-based psychology departments who specialize in anxiety disorders research and have no affiliation to a medical school or academic health center. What kind of research are you referring to?

 

[PsychPhDone]

@AcronymAllergy Well that's nice to hear. On another note, it seems that the research I want to be doing is all being done at Med Schools and Psychiatric departments of med school... This is concerning me because I have 0 interest in medical school and even less interest in pre-med. So, here's my next question: How collaborative are Psychology and Psychiatric/Med School departments?

I'd like to dedicate my academic research to anxiety based disorders.

Lots of psychologists conduct research in Departments of Psychiatry. It's a matter of funding and structure. The type of training you'd want would depend on the type of research you want to do. Also, look at the training trajectories of those whose research you'd like to emulate.

 

[ClinicalABA]

How much opportunity is there to conduct research in a clinical psychology PhD?

I'm sure many others on here will have had similar experiences, but in my clinical Ph.D. program, there weren't research "opportunities," but rather pretty substantial research requirements.