More Capella/Walden ?'s...this time from captive audience

Yes, it can be done, but I, and many other just do not recommend it. The cost and the probability for less than stellar training, and poor internship match are just a few of the reasons. The rigors or graduate training in clinical psychology (in the current paradigm) are just not emendable to part time or online study. I would not want to see a physician who went to an online medical school and I don't know any patients that would feel comfortable placing their trust in someone who will diagnose, test, and treat their psychiatric illness after going to school on the internet either.

I was really not aware of any other licensing boards for doctoral programs in psychology other than APA. Bottom line, if the program is not APA accredited, you will have to jump through hoops for licensing. Therefore, I would say it doesn't matter which accreditation is more "legit", because neither will carry any weight behind them. Remember, this is on top of having a degree from an online program, which is already going to limit who is going to even look at your application for a job realistically. I would say both are not worth it really, and I can't really endorse one program over the other.

double post

I spent nearly 10 years as a military wife myself so I understand where your coming from, its difficult to have your own career when your shipped around every few years. I have a psychology professor that is doing a general phd from Capella, she believes its one of the better online programs for pyschology. I live in Texas as well and online phds are accepted at several schools in my area in fact on the chancellors here highly recommends Walden to current faculty that do not already have phd's. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decided to do.

With the online programs not being accredited with the APA, you will have a hard time getting a match for an internship. Also, if you have any interest in working in a government job, ie, the VA, most require you to have done an APA internship and to have gotten your doctorate from an APA school. If you're ok with eliminating those job options, and don't mind going through the hoops to prove your schooling was "worthy" of whatever licensing "Gods" you're dealing with...then good luck! Let us know which one you choose and how it goes for you!

kitdotcom said:

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly ...there's still so much I have to research - specifically, the licensure qualifications as well as the internship process. I have no idea how the latter is mandated. I think I'm still under the impression that I can pretty much wander into any military hostpial, get the green-light from the Psych Dept chief and the Red cross folks to work there as a volunteer, snag a LSW or Psychologist as a supervisor and start collecting hours. Reading through these threads is rapidly smacking me into reality.

Apropos programs, I found something on Alliant In CA - a PsyD program that's a bit of a hybrid deal - one year F2F (which might be do-able when my husband's deployed), one year on-line, and one year internship...is anyone out there familiar with that?

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So it's only 3 years, including internship? I don't see how you could get the training you need in that amount of time-- it seems impossible. I think 4 years including internship is impossible. Most programs are 4 or 5 years plus internship.

What are your career goals? Are you sure that getting a doctorate is necessary? There are some career paths that require a doctorate, but those are the ones that would shun a graduate of an online program.

kitdotcom said:

Apropos programs, I found something on Alliant In CA - a PsyD program that's a bit of a hybrid deal - one year F2F (which might be do-able when my husband's deployed), one year on-line, and one year internship...is anyone out there familiar with that?

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That seems really short. I would be very skeptical of any program with that format, both because of length and also because of what corners they may/are cutting that they aren't mentioning.

Here are some things to consider:

1. What do you want to do career-wise that requires doctoral level training? People who want to primarily do therapy have a lot of hurdles to jump to get to that point (assessment, research, etc), and often would be better served seeking out additional training at an institute or from a supervisor if they want to expand their therapy training.

2. Have you considered the cost (time/money/resources) involved in pursuing a doctoral degree? Realistically it will take you ~6-7 years (4 + 1 year internship + 1-2 post-doc) to complete your training and licensure. From my experience and the experiences of others here, it seems that 50-60+ hour weeks are the norm, and quite a bit more during finals and deadline time.

3. Have you considered the internship and licensure challenges? Internship and licensure are two large hurdles in the process, and need to be STRONGLY considered when looking at programs. 743 internship applicants did not match to a site this year (842 didn't match in 2007), and there haven't been any changes that seem to address the large numbers of unmatched people.

4. Are you considering working at a VA? All VA hospitals require applicants to have trained at APA-approved programs AND internship sites. I am not sure about other military-based positions, but it is something to consider.

kitdotcom said:

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly ...there's still so much I have to research - specifically, the licensure qualifications as well as the internship process. I have no idea how the latter is mandated. I think I'm still under the impression that I can pretty much wander into any military hostpial, get the green-light from the Psych Dept chief and the Red cross folks to work there as a volunteer, snag a LSW or Psychologist as a supervisor and start collecting hours. Reading through these threads is rapidly smacking me into reality.

Apropos programs, I found something on Alliant In CA - a PsyD program that's a bit of a hybrid deal - one year F2F (which might be do-able when my husband's deployed), one year on-line, and one year internship...is anyone out there familiar with that?

Click to expand...

With all due respect, you are mistaken. internships is done through a matching system run by the APPIC. To match requires that one be at least somewhat geographically flexible, as the vast vast majority of students relocate for their internship. Sites need to be accredited by a body, however, if it is not an APA accredited internship (the match rates for these online programs is abhorrid), it severely limits your career and the job opp you can realistically have. For example, to work in any VA you need an APA approved program and internship. I do not understand how that program you mentioned is feasible, or allows for the accumulation of enough hours and the appropriate breath of training experiences in such a short amount of time.

Pursuing doctoral training in psychology requires one to be relatively flexible (especially geographically) and to make alot of sacrifices. This is just the nature of the beast. Unfortunately, not everyone is at a point in their life where they can make the commitments and sacrifices necessary for doctoral level training. Looking for as many training "short cuts" as one can get is just not a good idea and will undoubtedly produce less than adequate training in comparison with the more established training models. Again, I would ask you if you would like to see a physician who went to med school online, or who took as many "shortcuts" as they could get by with? I know what my answer would be.

1) in order to get licensed from either place, you will have to complete 2 practicums of approximately 1000 hrs/ per to be eligible to be licensed (found by the student). AND a 2000 hr internship (found in the APPIC match, which places you somewhere rather than otherwise). AND a 2000-3000hr post doc in the state you in which you want to be licensed (found by student or APPIC).


i question how one would do this without geographical stability and flexibility.


2) i would contend that if anyone is trying to sell you a doctorate that takes 50% less time than the national AVERAGE they are up to something that does not benefit you, your future patients, or the profession. again, this does not meet any of the above standard level of training for all state licensure.

3) you might also wish to consult with an attorney about the possible legal and related financial ramifications of receiving training that is substantially different from the standard. (e.g., malpractice, board complaints, etc).