(Just my own soapbox for a moment)
It seems that a clinical psychologist can be a school psychologists, but not the other way around.....so why do just school?
-t
You have it backwards. School psychologists can fill t he role of a clinical psychologist, but a clinical psychologist cannot work in schools unless they are certified as a school psychologist. In other words, all doctoral level school psychologists are licensed psychologists. All licensed clinical psychologists are not school psychologists.
Training in clinical psych is necessary, but not sufficient for training as a school psychologist. School psychologists are heavily trained in educational theory. In fact, some school psychology programs are actually educational psychology programs that offer a major/concentration in school psychology.
One reason clinical psychologists cannot be school psychs is because school psych programs teach toward the Praxis II, which is the national certification test for all school psych programs. You cannot obtain certfication in school psych until you pass the Praxis. The Praxis is not a clinical test; it's a test based on education theory, teaching methods, and things you would find in a school setting. There is no equivalent program in clinical psychology programs--even child clinical programs--that would prepare a licensed clinical psychologist to pass this test.
I think school psychology is the one field of psychology at the doctoral level that people know little about. Very few people knew that you can get a PhD in school psychology and complete a postdoc in specialized fields--such as neuropsych. A lot of neuropsych programs will offer a school psych a postdoc, and a lot of them will give them an equal chance against a clinical or counseling application. Rarely are they pushed to the bottom because of their degree.
I have pretty much decided to go with school psych, thanks in part to having a school psych as a teacher in developmental psych and educational psych. She put to rest a lot of myths that I had about (like specializing in neuropsych). Even more unique, she's been in the field over 30 years and shared with me just how much the field has changed. It used to be a lot of mental health and educational testing. But now, with things such as early intervention, and the rise of autism and ADHD, their roles are more specialized. so much so, many school systems that used to have one or 2 are finding that they need at least 1 or 2 for each school. Some school systems have up to 20 school psychologists. So imagine how many a district like LA, NYC, or Chicago needs and imagine how specialized some of them will need to be. They will want one who is heavily trained to work with early intervention; they'll want one who can work with neurological disorders or impairments, such as traumatic brain injuries, they'll want one who can work along side the school system's gifted and talent program...and so on and so on. It is one of the fastest growing fields in education and one of the fatest growing occupations nationwide among all occupation, but esp. among doctoral level positions (although you only have to have an advanced degree--either a Ed.S or Psy.S to be licensed). And a doctoral level school psychologist who works in the school is well paid considering few school psychologists work all 12 months of the year.
But they also work in hospitals, esp. children's hospitals, child development clinics, research organizations, and in private practice. in fact, I know clinical psychologists who have specifically hired school psychologists to practice with them because they are so heavily trained in educational practices and programs, such as Part C and IEPs.
I think a lot of people think school psychologists aren't properly trained and only work in school systems. And clearly, it's not true.
