Unsure what direction to take?

[AddieG13]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and I'm trying to figure out what I should do. I'm still going for my B.A. right now which is in Social Work but emphasis on mental health and I was originally thinking about doing a Masters in Counseling afterwards and only doing that. However, I keep bouncing back to the idea of going for my psyD. I feel like if I'm going to go that far, I should just go all the way and I really want to be the best I can be in this subject area. I'm also going into ASL interpreting to use with my degree. I want to practice psychotherapy and be an actual psychologist. I was told that I can be a counselor with a Masters in Counseling and still practice it but I'd more than likely have to report to someone else. I'm still trying to figure some thing out so hopefully you can help me!

What I'd like to know are the following:

- What are the benefits of getting a psy.D?
- How long does the program usually take?
- Should I get a Masters before it or would I be okay just going straight in? Time and money is a bit of a problem with me but I will, of course, do everything I need to do to be successful.
- If I want to do a Psy.D program, what should I focus on right now to help my chances later?
- Do I even need to go this far for what I want to do?

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it!

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[BuckeyeLove]

If you're planning on a career consisting solely of therapy, the Psy.D. might be overkill and will probably not provide a solid ROI. Most of the folks on here are probably going to steer you towards a terminal masters. Do you have any research interest areas or specific areas of clinical interest?
1. General rule of thumb, higher quality training is usually located within university settings and provides some sort of assistanceship. Consequently, re: benefits of a pysd, this is largely going to depend on the program. With a psyd you can complete testing and bill. Depending on your proficiencies, this can become lucrative (and if you know ASL you could develop an even "nichier niche").
2. Approx 5-6 years.
3. No
4. Get involved with applied psych science research. volunteer with any lab you can.
5. Again, if it's just therapy, maybe and maybe not. If you would like to implement testing, consultation, teaching, or scholarship into your practice, then the doctorate is the way to go.

 

[deleted343839]

I'm curious as to what has steered you away from continuing your studies in social work at the master's level and becoming an LCSW. If all you want to do is provide psychotherapy, then it's true that a reputable doctoral program in psychology could be great preparation, but I agree with BuckeyeLove that it might also be overkill. It depends on the specifics of what you want to do.

For what it's worth, a lot of us with doctoral degrees and independent licenses "report to someone else" in our careers. This applies to most people not in private practice. If you want to be in private practice, you don't necessarily need a doctoral degree.

 

[AddieG13]

Thank you both so much for your replies; I really appreciate it! Everything I kept reading and keep being told is to be a clinical psychologist which is what I'd really like to be, you need a doctorate of some kind. What I REALLY want to do is therapy, diagnose disorders, figure out a treatment plan, and so on within that area as well as utilizing my ability to sign. If I can do this with just a Masters, then that'd be great! I just want to make sure I'm looking at the right programs and the pros/cons of everything to make the most educated decision.

As for not going for my LCSW, I was thinking about it but someone told me I can't do what I want to with it. I don't have the best support at my school, or rather when I try to ask questions it just feels like we go in circles so I'm really confused about the route I should take.

For areas of interest, I am very interested in Schizophrenic Disorders and other things such as that. Originally I wanted to go into biology with psych to study epigenetics because I'm very interested in the causes of disorders. I took abnormal psych this year and found myself very pulled towards these two areas still (rather, the Schizophrenic and similar disorders as well as the possibilities of what causes them).

 

[bns140]

With a Master's Degree, it's more counseling. They deal more with basic forms of problems. If you want to diagnose disorders, create treatment plants, implement different forms of therapy, help people with mental disorders, then a Psy.D. would probably be what you would want. And with your interest in Schizophrenic Disorders it's definitely along that line.

You can either go with a Psy.D. degree, or Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. The difference is that Psy.D. teaches you to be a clinician, and Ph.D. programs teach you both to be a researcher and a clinician. It seems that you want to just be a clinician so a Psy.D. would be your best route. However, Psy.D. programs tend to be expensive.

 

[AddieG13]

Any school is expensive these days, unfortunately. ): So I don't really bother looking at the price too much anymore because I'm going to be in debt anyways.

I really appreciate your input because that's really what I wanted to know. If I'd be able to do what I wanted to do with a Masters or if I'd have to go farther. I want to diagnose, I want to help with treatment so that seems like what I should do.

Thank you!!!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Any school is expensive these days, unfortunately. ): So I don't really bother looking at the price too much anymore because I'm going to be in debt anyways.

I really appreciate your input because that's really what I wanted to know. If I'd be able to do what I wanted to do with a Masters or if I'd have to go farther. I want to diagnose, I want to help with treatment so that seems like what I should do.

Thank you!!!

Just to speak to this one point--not true. Fully-funded programs, by definition, will be free (other than perhaps a few hundred dollars/semester for fees), and will pay you some type of stipend (typically in exchange for some type of work, such as a teaching or research assistantship). Stipends can vary pretty widely, with some being $12-15k/year, and others being $20-25k/year.

 

[AddieG13]

This is true! Thank you for sharing that. I hope I can find something like that. Haha.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

This is true! Thank you for sharing that. I hope I can find something like that. Haha.

It doesn't need to be a hope if you restrict yourself to applying to only funded programs. Although that's a decision you'll of course need to make on your own.

 

[AddieG13]

Thank you for your suggestions; I really appreciate it!

 

[PikminOC]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and I'm trying to figure out what I should do. I'm still going for my B.A. right now which is in Social Work but emphasis on mental health and I was originally thinking about doing a Masters in Counseling afterwards and only doing that. However, I keep bouncing back to the idea of going for my psyD. I feel like if I'm going to go that far, I should just go all the way and I really want to be the best I can be in this subject area. I'm also going into ASL interpreting to use with my degree. I want to practice psychotherapy and be an actual psychologist. I was told that I can be a counselor with a Masters in Counseling and still practice it but I'd more than likely have to report to someone else. I'm still trying to figure some thing out so hopefully you can help me!

What I'd like to know are the following:

- What are the benefits of getting a psy.D?
- How long does the program usually take?
- Should I get a Masters before it or would I be okay just going straight in? Time and money is a bit of a problem with me but I will, of course, do everything I need to do to be successful.
- If I want to do a Psy.D program, what should I focus on right now to help my chances later?
- Do I even need to go this far for what I want to do?

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it!

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