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stayl0vely

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Hi,
I want to specifically become someone who counsels cancer patients only and helps them get through their day and help emotionally. I want to get a PhD though. With what I want to do, is counseling or clinical PhD graduate programs better?

thank you.

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Hi,
I want to specifically become someone who counsels cancer patients only and helps them get through their day and help emotionally. I want to get a PhD though. With what I want to do, is counseling or clinical PhD graduate programs better?

thank you.

Either, so long as your training program can provide experience in this area, as well general health psychology service and consultation.
 
I want to specifically become someone who counsels cancer patients only and helps them get through their day and help emotionally

That's fine, but you don't need a Ph.D. to do that. A clinical social work or advanced nursing degree could help you achieve the same goal, especially if you mainly want to do supportive counseling for typical adjustment/coping issues. What are your specific reasons for wanting a Ph.D.?
 
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That's fine, but you don't need a Ph.D. to do that. A clinical social work or advanced nursing degree could help you achieve the same goal, especially if you mainly want to do supportive counseling for typical adjustment/coping issues. What are your specific reasons for wanting a Ph.D.?


Because it's harder to find a job with just a broad degree and masters degrees typically aren't funded while doctorates are. I can't afford schooling so I'd have to get it funded.
 
Because it's harder to find a job with just a broad degree and masters degrees typically aren't funded while doctorates are. I can't afford schooling so I'd have to get it funded.

Understandable, but that doesn't tell me much about why you want to be a psychologist specifically. You should choose the path that is a good fit with what you want to be doing in your career. Assuming you could enter a fully-funded program (these are highly competitive), would you willing to spend 6-8 years on a trainee's income to become licensed and gainfully employed as a psychologist?

In my experience, many institutions prefer master's level clinicians for front-line counselor roles, so do not assume that more qualified = greater likelihood of employment.
 
I've worked in/side by side a few oncology departments along the years, in and outside of the VA. For the job description that the OP described, those jobs have almost exclusively been filled by social workers. The psychologists that I have seen in these areas have been more C&L in nature.
 
Hi,
I want to specifically become someone who counsels cancer patients only and helps them get through their day and help emotionally. I want to get a PhD though. With what I want to do, is counseling or clinical PhD graduate programs better?

thank you.

You probably could get a masters and be fine. With what you want to do, a masters would serve you well.
 
Hi,
I want to specifically become someone who counsels cancer patients only and helps them get through their day and help emotionally. I want to get a PhD though. With what I want to do, is counseling or clinical PhD graduate programs better?

thank you.
The main reason to get a doctorate would be if you wanted to be designing and researching and directing these types of programs. The last conference I went to I met a woman who was the head of a major university hospital's research program on psychological interventions for cancer patients.
 
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