31 yr old single mom, masters route?

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LupaCupcake

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Some of you may recognize me...I have been on this website off and on for years. I had to step away from school in general, from here and get my life in order recently, but I want to jump back in , now that I am mentally clear and emotionally stable. Let me explain....

Last time I posted on here I commented that I may be getting a divorce and due to this I had to be careful about my career/education options. Stated that I was originally looking at med school, which I was. Well I am for sure getting a divorce, he is moving out of my house first week of September and I venture into the land of being a single mother. My child is in second grade this year coming up.

Education wise I have my bachelor degree, psych major/bio minor with a 3.8. Since graduating I worked as a psychiatric technician at an acute inpatient facility for a year and I am now the patient advocate for 1.5 years which falls into the department of quality assurance/risk management. So I have almost 3 years of working in behavioral health. I find myself doing a lot of admin work along with patient interaction, but honestly I am behind a desk more than I am sitting with a patient. I find that when I do take the time to sit down with a patient and talk to them, that is when I feel that inner fire, that is where I thrive and actually enjoy my job. Paperwork, spreadsheets and fancy reports are my nemesis anymore, I loathe them and procrastinate lol. Give me a screaming patient to talk with for a hour over a quiet spreadsheet report any day! :)

I am looking at the options of MSW (LCSW license of course) or maybe LPC route. I have looked at doctoral options, but it seems that the LCSW/LPC are often doing the jobs of psychologists because in all honesty, they are cheaper to pay. I did strongly consider BSN then psychiatric nurse practitioner, but I don't know how feasible that is now. I want to do therapy, I want direct care. Maybe one day I get burnt out and want to go a research route or back behind a desk most of the day, but that is not where my passion is right now.

I cannot quit my job, I work fulltime so I will have to do college along with working along with taking care of my child. This job is stable, I make just enough to support my child and provide things like health insurance for her. I don't make a lot, but I make enough. I cannot risk it all and quit, go fulltime college and live on loans. I can't risk my child's stability and well being like that. This means I need to do an online route. That cuts out the bsn/practitioner option. Not to mention if I go LCSW or LPC their is a good chance I can eventually get a position with my current company or transfer to one of our many facilities nation wide so it is smart for me to stay here. We are owned by UHS (united health services).

With the LCSW I feel like it has more options and is a broader degree/license option, but does that mean the LPC is more specialized in therapy? It seems that many people push the LCSW over the LPC, why? I will also add that a local college has talked to me a few times about an online degree in counseling, leading to LPC and it is a very respected private university (aka VERY high tuition), my state does not have any online MSW options so I would have to go the out of state route.

Any opinions on this or general advice would be greatly appreciated. Please do not tell me to go fulltime in person and quit my job, I have heard this before....I cannot risk my child's stability. This has to be done alongside working fulltime.

Thank you in advance for any advice :)

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Obviously you need to do what you think is best for you and your situation. I completely understand. Hopefully I can address some of your questions in an unbiased way. I do think psychologists and master's level (mid-levels) have different roles, but that's another post for another day. We're not 'almost psychologists.' I'm not saying you specifically said that, just putting that out there :)

I think LPC vs LCSW is a personal decision. Some people pick LPC because they think the coursework for an MSW wouldn't be challenging. In any good MSW program with a clinical specialization, I believe the coursework is very similar to a master's in counseling or clinical psych. You do have classes in policy and every class is taught with a social work "diversity" flavor. It is up to you if you would find this favorable or not. My personal opinion (and advice) is that you need to decide what population you want to work with after licensure. If you want to work with the geriatric or disabled populations at all, then my suggestion is to go for an LCSW, because currently LCSW is the only master's licensure that can bill Medicare.

Tricare (military insurance, and as of 2015) changed their requirements, and will only approve LPC's who have been through an CACREP accredited program. I believe, again personally, this will be the standard nationwide in the future. So if you decide to go the LPC route, make sure you attend an accredited program.

It is true that most of us on this board give the advice to not attend an online program. You can peruse the boards and see the multitude of reasons we suggest not to attend an online only program. The MSW is offered online, but only through a handful of universities. As you discovered, some of the MSW online programs are offered only to people in the same state as the university, and require that you visit the campus at some point in time for a workshop. You will have to take a look through all of these below and see if they meet your need.

Here is a list of those online programs:
http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation/Information/DistanceEducation.aspx

Online Clinical and Counseling Psych programs are everywhere. You can look those up on your own ;)

However, with your situation, there are some things you are going to need to plan for. I realize that you say you cannot give up your full time job for reasons you stated before. However, all master's programs leading to licensure are going to require that you attend a practicum. Depending on specialty etc, you are going to be expected to attend as much as 20 hours a week to earn practice hours in therapy. This is not optional, even in an online program, because these hours are licensure requirements. Sometimes online programs are not as supportive as local programs, and they make you locate these practicums on your own. If it's a hybrid type program, sometimes they do have established ties within the community. Also, please consider that some brick and mortar programs have "adult focused" programs, and you would attend classes on Friday and Saturday only. My MSW program had a part time program that made it easier for working adults to attend.

The second is cost. Online programs come at a premium. USC is a popular university that offers their entire MSW program online. Their program is $90k. I paid 22k for an in person state program (that also offers a hybrid online and in-person option). Again, my good friend attends a state university counseling master's program, and her cost was 18k. Another friend who attends an online counseling master's program is paying 50K for the whole program. I feel like some online programs exist to take advantage of people who cannot afford to stop working, making you pay a premium for your degree. Please research your programs well and make sure they are not taking advantage of your situation. remember, after your degree you can expect to start anywhere from 35-55K, and a good general rule is to not get into debt more than you will make in a year.

Hopefully I addressed most of the questions you had. If you need clarification, please feel free to ask! And welcome to our area of SDN. Most of us who frequent the Mental Health side here are all currently MSWs. We try to be unbiased, but it's not always possible haha.
 
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I agree with your first statement, I apologize if I generalized a bit too much with that. :)

The program in my city is an accredited program and the practicum would be local for me, possibly even able to work it out with my own hospital I already work at. Seems perfect, right? Except it is 70k.... At this point in time I have zero school loans, I am blessed in that regard. Thank you GI BILL! lol. So at least I know I will not be tacking on more debt to previous undergrad debt like many others, but 70k is so high....I like to think I could get some good grants/scholarships being a single mother, but that is hope and I have no certainty in it. I have a few months of GI Bill left so that will take some of the weight off, but I only have a little bit left.

population wise, I prefer adults/adolescents. I also have a special place in my heart for veterans since I am one.

I will continue to research my options. I understand the hesitancy behind online programs, however, I need to work with my situation in a way that is feasible and keeps me stable.
 
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I cannot quit my job, I work fulltime so I will have to do college along with working along with taking care of my child. This job is stable, I make just enough to support my child and provide things like health insurance for her. I don't make a lot, but I make enough. I cannot risk it all and quit, go fulltime college and live on loans. I can't risk my child's stability and well being like that. This means I need to do an online route.

First, I'm sorry to hear about the circumstances that have led to your current dilemma.

Second, before you make this jump and spend your precious dollars on a questionable training path, you should take advantage of your work setting and do some research to find out whether getting an online master's is really a feasible path toward getting a job as a therapist in your organization. Have others in your company done this? What kind of credentials are typical of therapists in your organization? It's worth reaching out to someone in the know to get a better sense of what might be possible. If your organization is already familiar with your performance, reliability, etc., that could be one factor that distinguishes you from some random candidate with a similar degree, and that could give you an edge. But that's just speculation. You really need to find out before making that investment.

Third, I'm not sure why you would rule out nursing at this juncture since it is arguably the one health profession that has figured out how to train its own on a more flexible schedule and timeline. I don't know what you earn as a patient advocate, but I'd bet an RN with a bachelor's degree earns substantially more. In terms of flexibility, return on investment potential, and affording you the ability to save toward your later educational goals (or a shot at having your employer subsidize your further education), nursing is hard to beat.

I'm going to exercise restraint here and avoid sharing the reasons why I believe that becoming a therapist should be a full-time endeavor. I know you don't want to hear them, though it's worthwhile to consider why you don't want to hear them. You have a completely understandable set of constraints. I'd encourage you to think about this as a long game and avoid making a decision that might leave you with few options in the long run.
 
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Hello LupaCupcake.

Have you looked into using Voc Rehab to pay for your Master's? I noticed that you mentioned that you are a Veteran, my best advice is for you to go to your local Veteran's Service Office (VSO) and ask them for the contact info of your local Voc Rehab Counselor. Chapter 31 Voc Rehab is much like the Post 9/11 Gi Bill, the only difference is that although the Post 9/11 Gi Bill covers 36 months of education only, Voc Rehab is the "what do you want to be when your older" education program. Say you want to work in a field that requires a Master's program, well that's ok, Voc Rehab will cover it all. In order to qualify for Voc Rehab, you need to have a service-connected disability rating of 10% and you automatically qualify. I currently work at a Vet Center, a readjustment counseling facility for veterans and their families, one of my coworkers is actually attending the Online MSW program offered at USC and Voc Rehab Ch. 31 is paying 100% of the tuition. My advice; if you don't have a disability rating, file a claim and then once you get your percentage rating, talk to your local Voc Rehab counselor. Any more questions, feel free to contact me.

Very Respectfully,
Salvador Hernandez
United States Marine Corps - Retired
 
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All of this. Also, look into the Yellow Ribbon Program in the event that it is a private school
 
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