Will pursuing an LCSW give me the training I need?

[Theresa92]

I truly appreciate any advice or opinions on my current situation. I am currently an undergraduate student (will be graduating in one month) pursuing my B.A. in Psychology and B.S. in Business Management. I am expecting to graduate with a GPA of 3.3. I am taking a year off from school after graduation to gain experience. I just started working as a Crisis Worker (similar to a Psychiatric Technician) at a mental health/substance abuse facility. I also have a few years of experience volunteering as a mentor for at-risk youth. I am taking the GRE later on this year, and am studying well in advance so that I can receive a solid score.

I am extremely interested in pursuing a higher education in either Social Work or Psychology. I am very interested in working directly with patients within the mental health field. My specific interest is personality disorders. After speaking with one particular professor from my university, they recommended that I pursue a PhD in Psychology, because they stated that pursuing an LCSW will not provide me with the training to work with extremely disordered individuals. However, my GPA is a 3.3. I don't believe that will get me into any reputable or even decent Psychology PhD programs (if I am wrong, please correct me). I spoke with another faculty member, and she recommended that because of my lower GPA, that I pursue a masters degree first. If I were to pursue a masters first, then going into Social Work makes the most sense in terms of job options. However, I am unsure of whether or not getting my LCSW would give me the training I am looking for. So what I was thinking, was that I should pursue my LCSW and then once I have worked for a good amount of years, pursue my PhD in Psychology.

I am truly appreciate of any advice. Basically, my questions are 1) Will getting my LCSW prepare me to work with more disordered individuals/Will I be as competent as a Psychologist when working with individuals who are extremely disordered? 2) Is it a strange thing to move on to get my PhD in Psychology once I have completed my LCSW? I would like to go straight into a Psychology PhD program, but my GPA is holding me back. That is why I am wanting to get my masters first (and if I do that, then an LCSW would offer me more job opportunities than a masters in Psychology).

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[Vasa Lisa]

Leave room for your interests and clinical population to change. My experience with MSW type folks - licensed and not - is that they have a breadth of preparation that insures them many job options. My own experience of working with MSW folks in their field placements is that they know very little about theories of counseling and even less about doing psychotherapy.

YMMV and for the MSW folks here - that is my experience.

My training had hundreds of hours of videotaped closely supervised practice of one on one and group counseling and psychotherapy with the general public before I graduated. In my internship I worked with MSW graduates who had never done a one on one therapy session with clients. But their breadth of experience and case management skills and resource skills were amazing. If you are interested in working with Axis II clients - do your own work in tx - because they will challenge you in ways you cannot even imagine. And in your current job - hopefully you will get to experience a lot of those types of clients.

My recommendation is a CACREP approved masters level counseling program if you want counseling skills. If you want job portability - the MSC/LCSW will offer more jobs and better salaries - their professional lobby has been around a long time and has successfully advocated for the profession.

 

[Theresa92]

Thank you for your response! I'm not quite sure if I understand your post. Are you saying that LCSWs typically do not fare well in counseling positions?

I am leaning towards a LCSW because there are more job opportunities. I have spoken with a few LPCs who are at my current place of work, and they all recommend that I do not pursue an LPC because there aren't as many opportunities (in my area, at least).

Also, what do you mean by "do your own work in tx" when you were talking about Axis II? Thank you for the response! I truly appreciate any advice I can get.

 

[ikibah]

I will start off by saying that I know many lcsw's who work with what I would call "extremely disordered" The place in which I work now definitely sees it fair share of "extremely disordered as well. My question to you is what do are you considering "extremely disordered"? I, (like the practice in which I work) approach disorders in a two step process. First there is a psychiatric assessment in which a psychiatrist assesses whether or not medication and future sessions will be needed. Then the patient is passed on to the lcsw's to conduct therapy if needed. What I'm saying is this: I think there are patients with whom only a psychiatrists can deal with as therapy will not help without medication and than anything under that a properly trained lcsw can deal with. Training depends on what school you go to (as some just have one track for all while others have specific clinical mental health specializations) and what the lcsw decides to take on themselves afterwards in the form of continuing education whether that be more training in psychopharmacology, pathology etc.

BOTTOM LINE: If you find the right MSW program who's goals are aimed at training people to deal with severe disorders and if you take it upon yourself to find internships and mentors who can help you become an expert in dealing with these things than the lcsw will not limit you in any way.

 

[socwrkr]

Out of the gate, those who are in counseling and clinical psychology programs would have taken more clinical classes. MSW programs have to offer community and advocacy classes, so they have to skimp on the clinical classes offered in order to graduate students in two years. If you want a more thorough exposure to clinical content and assessments by graduation, the counseling or clinical psychology route is a better option. Personally, I think social work programs should be three years full-time in order to graduate competent clinicians, but that's just my opinion

As an MSW, you will be going to quite a few classes, conferences, and institute training afterward to make up for what was not covered in school. If you don't mind this, then the MSW is a good option. Whichever route you pick, choose a program that observes and videotapes your counseling sessions. Preferably, pick an affordable, accredited (i.e., CSWE, CACREP, etc.) STATE school with stipends and funding options.

Sorry, can't answer your question about whether master's level clinicians are as good as psychologists; there are competent and incompetent clinicians regardless of degree. The letters at the end do not guarantee quality or competence. I think there are scholarly papers that you can read about this. Hopefully, somebody here can provide you with doi links to full articles to help you decide.

LCSW's have gone on to become clinical psychologists, but primarily through the professional school route. They tend to be older students who have been in the mental health field for years.