Completely new to this path

[Calizboosted76]

Hey everyone!

This is my first post on this side of SDN. I am a 2nd year medical student and my wife just told me that she decided she would like to be a clinical psychologist.

SDN helped me along my way to medschool so I wanted to reach out and ask what the pathway was for this. She isnt sure what population she wants to work with though. She currently is about to graduate with her AA and was curious as to the next steps she needs to take.

Sorry if there is already a thread on this and if there is feel free to link it below. Thank you.

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[Harry3990]

The sticky threads are helpful in the sidebar. As far as next steps, the typical path is earning a bachelors (can be in psychology, sciences or others, but some psychology classes at the very least will be needed usually) with a decent GPA (e.g., 3.3 or above at least, more like 3.8 to be competitive for funded doctoral programs). Research experience while in undergrad is helpful (i.e., working/volunteering in a psychology research lab at the school you attend), preferably with publications or conference presentations along the way. Need to then take the GRE and apply to PhD or PsyD programs in clinical psychology. Funded PhD programs are great because of the small class sizes, great clinical training typically, solid research exposure, and most of all the free tuition price tag and getting paid via assistantship. Either doctoral program path is typically 4-5 years minimum, then 1 year internship prior to graduating, then after graduating many states require a year of postdoctoral fellowship/residency during which people take licensure tests and apply for licensure as a psychologist.

So yeah, the first thing for her to focus on would be to look for bachelors programs at universities that have psychology departments. Other than that, I would recommend she speak directly with as many clinical psychologists as she can to ask about their experience/training/daily work. Shadowing a psychologist would be a good idea too.

 

[Calizboosted76]

The sticky threads are helpful in the sidebar. As far as next steps, the typical path is earning a bachelors (can be in psychology, sciences or others, but some psychology classes at the very least will be needed usually) with a decent GPA (e.g., 3.3 or above at least, more like 3.8 to be competitive for funded doctoral programs). Research experience while in undergrad is helpful (i.e., working/volunteering in a psychology research lab at the school you attend), preferably with publications or conference presentations along the way. Need to then take the GRE and apply to PhD or PsyD programs in clinical psychology. Funded PhD programs are great because of the small class sizes, great clinical training typically, solid research exposure, and most of all the free tuition price tag and getting paid via assistantship. Either doctoral program path is typically 4-5 years minimum, then 1 year internship prior to graduating, then after graduating many states require a year of postdoctoral fellowship/residency during which people take licensure tests and apply for licensure as a psychologist.

So yeah, the first thing for her to focus on would be to look for bachelors programs at universities that have psychology departments. Other than that, I would recommend she speak directly with as many clinical psychologists as she can to ask about their experience/training/daily work. Shadowing a psychologist would be a good idea too.

Okay so what I’ve read on a few of the stickies has led me to believe that the masters in this field is like the equivalent of the masters a PA would obtain in medicine? Then if you go on to either the PSY-D or PHD, that would be the equivalent to a physician in medicine? Am I following along correctly?

What is the benefit to going further than a masters in psychology?

Is it pretty universal what classes she has to take as prerequisites for the PSY-D? She doesn’t want to waste any time.

A buddy in medschool has parents who own a psychiatry clinic, I believe they have some psychologists working there that my wife is going to go meet and talk to but what Ive seen with medicine is that the practicing clinicians are so far removed from the process that SDN provided the best resources and information.

 

[Harry3990]

this is a helpful FAQ for answers to some of the basic questions such as masters vs doctorates: Frequently asked questions about graduate school
from there: "If you are interested in providing health services, you should be aware that most state licensing boards of psychology require a doctoral degree to be a licensed therapist."

Okay so what I’ve read on a few of the stickies has led me to believe that the masters in this field is like the equivalent of the masters a PA would obtain in medicine? Then if you go on to either the PSY-D or PHD, that would be the equivalent to a physician in medicine? Am I following along correctly?

no, not really. a PA masters would make you eligible to be licensed as a PA and practice. Most masters degrees in psychology do not make you license-eligible because most states require the doctorate for psychologist licensure. If she is this early in the process and is not sure whether she might be interest in other routes to practicing therapy, she should learn the different types of therapist licensure paths. Master's level mental health pathways include clinical social workers (requires masters, after some years of supervised practice leads to LCSW licensure) or counseling ( (masters in counseling or similar, then after some years of supervised practice leads to LPC/LMHC licensure). If she only is interested in psychotherapy, going one of these routes is typically quicker and more practical. If she is interested in leadership in mental health, research, academia, or psychological testing, then psychologist licensure would be more necessary.

What is the benefit to going further than a masters in psychology?

as noted above, a masters in psychology doesn't allow you to practice on its own in most states. Some people use it as a stepping stone to get into doctoral programs (if they had horrible grades in undergrad, for instance).

Is it pretty universal what classes she has to take as prerequisites for the PSY-D? She doesn’t want to waste any time.

honestly, no it is not universal. A bachelors (psychology major usually preferred but not required) and good GRE scores will be sufficient for most doctoral programs though as far as I understand.



Again, please check out that FAQ from APA that I linked at the top. It touches on many of these things in more detail.

 

[Calizboosted76]

this is a helpful FAQ for answers to some of the basic questions such as masters vs doctorates: Frequently asked questions about graduate school
from there: "If you are interested in providing health services, you should be aware that most state licensing boards of psychology require a doctoral degree to be a licensed therapist."


no, not really. a PA masters would make you eligible to be licensed as a PA and practice. Most masters degrees in psychology do not make you license-eligible because most states require the doctorate for psychologist licensure. If she is this early in the process and is not sure whether she might be interest in other routes to practicing therapy, she should learn the different types of therapist licensure paths. Master's level mental health pathways include clinical social workers (requires masters, after some years of supervised practice leads to LCSW licensure) or counseling ( (masters in counseling or similar, then after some years of supervised practice leads to LPC/LMHC licensure). If she only is interested in psychotherapy, going one of these routes is typically quicker and more practical. If she is interested in leadership in mental health, research, academia, or psychological testing, then psychologist licensure would be more necessary.


as noted above, a masters in psychology doesn't allow you to practice on its own in most states. Some people use it as a stepping stone to get into doctoral programs (if they had horrible grades in undergrad, for instance).


honestly, no it is not universal. A bachelors (psychology major usually preferred but not required) and good GRE scores will be sufficient for most doctoral programs though as far as I understand.



Again, please check out that FAQ from APA that I linked at the top. It touches on many of these things in more detail.

Thank you for the quick responses. We will read through the forums tonight!

 

[PsyDuck90]

I would just tack on to what Harry3990 and emphasize the research experience and products (posters, maybe publication) are really a key aspect in getting into a funded program. Also, many doctoral programs suspended GRE scores due to COVID and decided to continue not factoring them into their admission decisions even now, so the GRE scores may not be as important as they were even just a few years ago. Your wife’s best bet is to dive into what specifically she wants to do “as a clinical psychologist” to see if a masters level licensure such as a mental health counseling or clinical social work degree would suffice or if she wants the additional aspects of doctoral training and that career path. Mitch’s Uncensored Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Clinical Psychology (https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf) provides a good basic description of all the mental health options. If she decides on getting the doctorate, then good undergrad GPA, research experience, and program fit will be the key aspects in admission into a reputable program.

 

[Calizboosted76]

I would just tack on to what Harry3990 and emphasize the research experience and products (posters, maybe publication) are really a key aspect in getting into a funded program. Also, many doctoral programs suspended GRE scores due to COVID and decided to continue not factoring them into their admission decisions even now, so the GRE scores may not be as important as they were even just a few years ago. Your wife’s best bet is to dive into what specifically she wants to do “as a clinical psychologist” to see if a masters level licensure such as a mental health counseling or clinical social work degree would suffice or if she wants the additional aspects of doctoral training and that career path. Mitch’s Uncensored Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Clinical Psychology (https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf) provides a good basic description of all the mental health options. If she decides on getting the doctorate, then good undergrad GPA, research experience, and program fit will be the key aspects in admission into a reputable program.

I appreciate the response!

Does the research have to be in anything specific or can she use some of the posters/projects I’ve had her on during medical school?

Also, the GPA, I know medical school doesn’t factor in grade forgiveness. If she retakes a class will psy-d programs factor in both scores or just the more recent?

 

[summerbabe]

I will second the advice on gaining a board range of experiences, including research experience (not just running experiments but more hands on engagement with the scientific process).

One thing that might be different from medicine is that while literally everybody has experience with receiving medical care and might more easily picture whether they'd enjoy practicing medicine, there is less exposure to actual clinical psychology practice so having realistic understandings as an undergrad will be helpful.

I even knew people in grad school who left PhD programs, not because they couldn't do the work but they came to the realization that what clinical psychology was setting them up for was in hindsight a poor fit.

What is the benefit to going further than a masters in psychology?

A licensable masters degree (vs a general MA in psychology) is enough if somebody wants to be a full time therapist.

A doctorate includes additional training in objective assessment (think IQ testing) and more thorough research training.

A buddy in medschool has parents who own a psychiatry clinic, I believe they have some psychologists working there that my wife is going to go meet and talk to but what Ive seen with medicine is that the practicing clinicians are so far removed from the process that SDN provided the best resources and information.

Standards for schooling have changed over time (like in medicine) but the day to day work of psychology is still likely relevant. Now, setting and types of patients will matter but the psychologists working there will have valuable info on this as a possible career.

Lots of people are intellectually interested by topics in psychology. It's another thing to want to see ~26 therapy patients a week (or equivalent assessments or a split or academia or even largely admin) for your working life.

 

[PsyDuck90]

I appreciate the response!

Does the research have to be in anything specific or can she use some of the posters/projects I’ve had her on during medical school?

Also, the GPA, I know medical school doesn’t factor in grade forgiveness. If she retakes a class will psy-d programs factor in both scores or just the more recent?

It would be good for her to get some research experience in social science research. Ideally, it would be related to what she hopes to focus her research on in grad school (she will need to do a dissertation) but if it’s not possible, that’s ok, as long as there are transferable skills.

Schools typically look at whatever the final GPA is for any degrees the person has received. Also, it depends on how many classes the person has failed or did poorly on and if they were towards the beginning of their academic career (with an upward trajectory) or more recent. Many programs looks at applicants holistically so it really is hard to say. And every program will key into different things.

That said, if she’s interested in any old PsyD and doesn’t care about the rigor, standards, or cost, there are plenty of professional schools that will be happy to take her money regardless of applicant profile. If she’s interested in PhD programs or the handful of small cohort, funded PsyD programs, then those are more competitive.

 

[Calizboosted76]

I will second the advice on gaining a board range of experiences, including research experience (not just running experiments but more hands on engagement with the scientific process).

One thing that might be different from medicine is that while literally everybody has experience with receiving medical care and might more easily picture whether they'd enjoy practicing medicine, there is less exposure to actual clinical psychology practice so having realistic understandings as an undergrad will be helpful.

I even knew people in grad school who left PhD programs, not because they couldn't do the work but they came to the realization that what clinical psychology was setting them up for was in hindsight a poor fit.

A licensable masters degree (vs a general MA in psychology) is enough if somebody wants to be a full time therapist.

A doctorate includes additional training in objective assessment (think IQ testing) and more thorough research training.

Standards for schooling have changed over time (like in medicine) but the day to day work of psychology is still likely relevant. Now, setting and types of patients will matter but the psychologists working there will have valuable info on this as a possible career.

Lots of people are intellectually interested by topics in psychology. It's another thing to want to see ~26 therapy patients a week (or equivalent assessments or a split or academia or even largely admin) for your working life.

Thank you for the response!

She wanted to be a psychologist back when we met in high-school but sacrificed 10 years of her life making sure I could pursue medicine.

She currently sees a psychologist for her own personal issues and growth.

Her main goal is she wants to help people because she can empathize with some patients. She sees me in medical school and wants to do something similar without the need to do the “bloody medicine” part.

She’s going to look further into everything, I just figured putting a feeler out here would be a great place to start.

 

[PikminOC]

Thank you for the response!

She wanted to be a psychologist back when we met in high-school but sacrificed 10 years of her life making sure I could pursue medicine.

She currently sees a psychologist for her own personal issues and growth.

Her main goal is she wants to help people because she can empathize with some patients. She sees me in medical school and wants to do something similar without the need to do the “bloody medicine” part.

She’s going to look further into everything, I just figured putting a feeler out here would be a great place to start.

You're asking a lot about masters education. Does she want to be a therapist? Can do that with just a masters

 

[PsyDr]

Here's my medicine to psychology translator:

1) MD= PhD.
2) DO= PsyD
3) PA= MA level "counselors"
4) DC= MSW

PhDs say they are better than PsyDs because it's easier to get into a PsyD school. But we all take the same national tests, go to the same residencies, and do the same thing.

Like PAs, MA level counselors can do many of the jobs in psychology. There are significant gaps to their knowledge base, and some being better than others.

MSWs have approximately one year of formal education in mental health, which is guided by a single theory.

 

[ClinicalABA]

Here's my medicine to psychology translator:

1) MD= PhD.
2) DO= PsyDyD
3) PA= MA level "counselors"
4) DC= MSW

PhDs say they are better than PsyDs because it's easier to get into a PsyD school. But we all take the same national tests, go to the same residencies, and do the same thing.

Like PAs, MA level counselors can do many of the jobs in psychology. There are significant gaps to their knowledge base, and some being better than others.

MSWs have approximately one year of formal education in mental health, which is guided by a single theory.

Some slight over-generalizations (e.g., I don't think I'm de facto better than all PsyD's). In regards to the DC=MSW analogy, at least there is a chance that MSW training is not based on belief in some biologically implausible mechanisms (e.g., subluxations).

 

[Calizboosted76]

You're asking a lot about masters education. Does she want to be a therapist? Can do that with just a masters

So up until a few days ago I was ignorant to any of these different pathways. I thought you got a masters and were able to work as a psychologist. She’s since informed me of what she’s found out. I think she’s in between doing the PsyD and MA. She doesn’t want to do much research and would prefer to start helping patients as soon as she could but doesn’t want to limit her scope.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Here's my medicine to psychology translator:

1) MD= PhD.
2) DO= PsyD
3) PA= MA level "counselors"
4) DC= MSW

PhDs say they are better than PsyDs because it's easier to get into a PsyD school. But we all take the same national tests, go to the same residencies, and do the same thing.

Like PAs, MA level counselors can do many of the jobs in psychology. There are significant gaps to their knowledge base, and some being better than others.

MSWs have approximately one year of formal education in mental health, which is guided by a single theory.

This is exactly what I needed to read to be able to understand lol! Thank you very much!

 

[WisNeuro]

So up until a few days ago I was ignorant to any of these different pathways. I thought you got a masters and were able to work as a psychologist. She’s since informed me of what she’s found out. I think she’s in between doing the PsyD and MA. She doesn’t want to do much research and would prefer to start helping patients as soon as she could but doesn’t want to limit her scope.

If she doesn't have any meaningful research experience, and won't be getting any, she won't have much chance at legitimate PsyDs or clinically focused PhDs. So, it's pretty much diploma mills if she wants the doctorate route. If it's between paying 6 figures for a piece of paper with poor training and going the midlevel route, I'd suggest an LCSW with some additional therapy training.

 

[futureapppsy2]

So up until a few days ago I was ignorant to any of these different pathways. I thought you got a masters and were able to work as a psychologist. She’s since informed me of what she’s found out. I think she’s in between doing the PsyD and MA. She doesn’t want to do much research and would prefer to start helping patients as soon as she could but doesn’t want to limit her scope.

Like WisNeuro said, she's not likely to be competitive for PhD programs or decent PsyD programs with no research experience. If she wants to go the masters route, I'd suggest an MA in Counseling or MSW (IMO, Counseling has better training in terms of mental health focus but social work has historically had better lobbying--this is evening out a bit, though) and getting good post-masters supervision. Although it's dangerous, IMO, to think of research as separate from helpinhg patients--lack of research literacy is how we get so much predatory psuedoscience "therapy" in mental health.

 

[Calizboosted76]

If she doesn't have any meaningful research experience, and won't be getting any, she won't have much chance at legitimate PsyDs or clinically focused PhDs. So, it's pretty much diploma mills if she wants the doctorate route. If it's between paying 6 figures for a piece of paper with poor training and going the midlevel route, I'd suggest an LCSW with some additional therapy training.

I should have been clearer. She doesn’t want to do much research as in the amount that she’s read the PHD route has.

She’s fine with being apart of research in order to achieve whatever she decides on doing.

Would you all equate the “diploma mills” to Caribbean med schools?

Sorry for all the questions. We have been reading and trying to learn the pathways and which schools are the ones to look at and what needs to be done.

 

[WisNeuro]

I should have been clearer. She doesn’t want to do much research as in the amount that she’s read the PHD route has.

She’s fine with being apart of research in order to achieve whatever she decides on doing.

Would you all equate the “diploma mills” to Caribbean med schools?

Sorry for all the questions. We have been reading and trying to learn the pathways and which schools are the ones to look at and what needs to be done.

More clinically focused PhDs and reputable PsyDs will be similar in research requirements.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Another thing to think about is that doctoral education typically requires multiple relocations throughout the country. First, it would be super rare for a quality program with a mentor research match to be in your hometown. Second, it is fairly uncommon to do your internship year in the same city as your doc program. Then, depending on your specialty, you might need to move for postdoc.

Something to consider.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Another thing to think about is that doctoral education typically requires multiple relocations throughout the country. First, it would be super rare for a quality program with a mentor research match to be in your hometown. Second, it is fairly uncommon to do your internship year in the same city as your doc program. Then, depending on your specialty, you might need to move for postdoc.

Something to consider.

Thank you for bringing that up! It is something we are thinking about.

She is leaning more towards the MA at the moment because I start rotations for medical school in 6 months then will begin residency in 2025. So she is thinking about just doing the masters first and once I am done with residency doing the doc path.

Still some time to figure it all out.

 

[Cam_Chai19]

Thank you for bringing that up! It is something we are thinking about.

She is leaning more towards the MA at the moment because I start rotations for medical school in 6 months then will begin residency in 2025. So she is thinking about just doing the masters first and once I am done with residency doing the doc path.

Still some time to figure it all out.

If she's sure she wants to go the doctoral route in the long term, it might be better to apply for a research-focused (non-licensable) psychology masters or apply for a post-bach research job such as a research assistant or lab manager/coordinator position in the short term. A licensable masters (LPC/LCSW) often doesn't make you more competitive for reputable PhD or PsyD programs since you don't get any research experience, and many doctoral programs value you getting all of your basic clinical training from them rather than having trainees come in with some things they may need to unlearn. It's also worth keeping in mind that no matter what type of masters she completes, you aren't able to transfer a thesis and are rarely able to transfer course work from a masters to a doctoral program, so the doctoral program will take just as long as without the additional graduate training. All that being said, if she thinks there's a decent chance she could be happy as a therapist and may or may not want to go back for a doctorate, the licensable masters makes a lot of sense.

 

[Calizboosted76]

If she's sure she wants to go the doctoral route in the long term, it might be better to apply for a research-focused (non-licensable) psychology masters or apply for a post-bach research job such as a research assistant or lab manager/coordinator position in the short term. A licensable masters (LPC/LCSW) often doesn't make you more competitive for reputable PhD or PsyD programs since you don't get any research experience, and many doctoral programs value you getting all of your basic clinical training from them rather than having trainees come in with some things they may need to unlearn. It's also worth keeping in mind that no matter what type of masters she completes, you aren't able to transfer a thesis and are rarely able to transfer course work from a masters to a doctoral program, so the doctoral program will take just as long as without the additional graduate training. All that being said, if she thinks there's a decent chance she could be happy as a therapist and may or may not want to go back for a doctorate, the licensable masters makes a lot of sense.

Thank you for the reply! This seems like the logical route!

 

[szymk1sm]

If she's sure she wants to go the doctoral route in the long term, it might be better to apply for a research-focused (non-licensable) psychology masters or apply for a post-bach research job such as a research assistant or lab manager/coordinator position in the short term. A licensable masters (LPC/LCSW) often doesn't make you more competitive for reputable PhD or PsyD programs since you don't get any research experience, and many doctoral programs value you getting all of your basic clinical training from them rather than having trainees come in with some things they may need to unlearn. It's also worth keeping in mind that no matter what type of masters she completes, you aren't able to transfer a thesis and are rarely able to transfer course work from a masters to a doctoral program, so the doctoral program will take just as long as without the additional graduate training. All that being said, if she thinks there's a decent chance she could be happy as a therapist and may or may not want to go back for a doctorate, the licensable masters makes a lot of sense.

This is not accurate and is likely school specific. Something to ask about on interviews if you have completed a separate master's prior to entering a doctoral program.

I completed a research-based master's degree and was able to transfer my thesis to my doctoral program (thus not having to do a second one). I was also able to transfer 4 classes (they were at the grad level - course instructors reviewed the syllabi and thought they were comparable to what my doctoral institution offered - stuff like Social Psych, Developmental Psych, etc.). I still had to make up the credits for these courses - just didn't have to re-take those actual classes - so my timeline for completing requirements prior to internship did not change.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

This is not accurate and is likely school specific. Something to ask about on interviews if you have completed a separate master's prior to entering a doctoral program.

I completed a research-based master's degree and was able to transfer my thesis to my doctoral program (thus not having to do a second one). I was also able to transfer 4 classes (they were at the grad level - course instructors reviewed the syllabi and thought they were comparable to what my doctoral institution offered - stuff like Social Psych, Developmental Psych, etc.). I still had to make up the credits for these courses - just didn't have to re-take those actual classes - so my timeline for completing requirements prior to internship did not change.

That's what I was going to mention as well. I know of a few folks in my program (way back when) who were able to transfer their thesis and/or some course credits, but like you, they had to make up the credits elsewhere so that the total number of completed credits "in house" was the same. They also completed another research projects during their first couple years, they just didn't have to do another thesis.

 

[Cam_Chai19]

This is not accurate and is likely school specific. Something to ask about on interviews if you have completed a separate master's prior to entering a doctoral program.

I completed a research-based master's degree and was able to transfer my thesis to my doctoral program (thus not having to do a second one). I was also able to transfer 4 classes (they were at the grad level - course instructors reviewed the syllabi and thought they were comparable to what my doctoral institution offered - stuff like Social Psych, Developmental Psych, etc.). I still had to make up the credits for these courses - just didn't have to re-take those actual classes - so my timeline for completing requirements prior to internship did not change.

That's what I was going to mention as well. I know of a few folks in my program (way back when) who were able to transfer their thesis and/or some course credits, but like you, they had to make up the credits elsewhere so that the total number of completed credits "in house" was the same. They also completed another research projects during their first couple years, they just didn't have to do another thesis.

That's a helpful clarification that this is possible at some programs. My understanding was that it's pretty rare for a program to transfer a thesis from a master's, especially in recent years, but agreed it's definitely worth asking in interviews. No one from my program (or others I've spoken to) was able to transfer a thesis and at best were able to get credit for one or two basic classes, but like you both said, had to take additional course credits so this did not speed up graduation.

Also as an aside, a couple years ago I learned from my program's training director that my program decided to stop offering any course credit from a prior master's based on their interpretation of some updates to APA's accreditation guidelines. Some students who had previously been given credit for master's coursework even had to go back and take some 1st year coursework so the program would be in compliance. I don't know the specifics or if this is a common interpretation of the APA guidelines, but if so might make this even less common across programs. I'd be curious to hear if anyone in the DCT sphere has additional insights.

 

[WisNeuro]

That's a helpful clarification that this is possible at some programs. My understanding was that it's pretty rare for a program to transfer a thesis from a master's, especially in recent years, but agreed it's definitely worth asking in interviews. No one from my program (or others I've spoken to) was able to transfer a thesis and at best were able to get credit for one or two basic classes, but like you both said, had to take additional course credits so this did not speed up graduation.

Also as an aside, a couple years ago I learned from my program's training director that my program decided to stop offering any course credit from a prior master's based on their interpretation of some updates to APA's accreditation guidelines. Some students who had previously been given credit for master's coursework even had to go back and take some 1st year coursework so the program would be in compliance. I don't know the specifics or if this is a common interpretation of the APA guidelines, but if so might make this even less common across programs. I'd be curious to hear if anyone in the DCT sphere has additional insights.

One big factor is whether or not it was original data collection vs. a review paper, the latter of which are common in some of the masters programs.

 

[R. Matey]

That's a helpful clarification that this is possible at some programs. My understanding was that it's pretty rare for a program to transfer a thesis from a master's, especially in recent years, but agreed it's definitely worth asking in interviews. No one from my program (or others I've spoken to) was able to transfer a thesis and at best were able to get credit for one or two basic classes, but like you both said, had to take additional course credits so this did not speed up graduation.

M.A. in counseling to Ph.D. counseling psychology is a more common, but still rare career path (a couple of the usual people on this board have done it though). If you look at the APPIC applicant surveys something like 3-5% of people have a mental health master's degree prior to becoming a psychologist and my guess is that not all of them attend these kinds of programs. For those that do, the M.A. will knock off 1-2 years of an otherwise 6 or 7 year program of study depending on what classes you've taken (UW-Madison was one example that immediately comes to mind but I haven't checked lately if that's still true). They are increasingly rare though given all of the pettiness between credentialing organizations so the OP's partner would likely have to move to one and then move again for internship, which I don't know how that would factor in to the OP's own career.

There is a larger discussion about if moving from a licensable mental health master's degree to a licensable mental health doctorate degree should be as difficult and convoluted as it is, but, regardless, it is the way of things right now. So, OP, if your partner is planning on a master's degree in mental health counseling, she should probably view it as a terminal degree, unless you folks are able or willing to relocate multiple times for her career or risk repeated classes so she can practice later rather than sooner.

I also tend to agree with the advice that those who want to just see patients can do this with a master's degree, but also having a master's in "counseling" myself makes me sympathetic to concerns of feeling incompetent when you complete formal training. Post-graduate supervision is the next step, but this can often be a hustle since the formal training mechanisms for postgraduate training in, say, psychology or medicine (e.g., a formal residency) are more well-established. So if you're going to go down this road, I'd be sure to identify a clinical specialty and a place where you can obtain specialized training in addition to the master's program.

 

[RxPsych]

That's a helpful clarification that this is possible at some programs. My understanding was that it's pretty rare for a program to transfer a thesis from a master's, especially in recent years, but agreed it's definitely worth asking in interviews. No one from my program (or others I've spoken to) was able to transfer a thesis and at best were able to get credit for one or two basic classes, but like you both said, had to take additional course credits so this did not speed up graduation.

Also as an aside, a couple years ago I learned from my program's training director that my program decided to stop offering any course credit from a prior master's based on their interpretation of some updates to APA's accreditation guidelines. Some students who had previously been given credit for master's coursework even had to go back and take some 1st year coursework so the program would be in compliance. I don't know the specifics or if this is a common interpretation of the APA guidelines, but if so might make this even less common across programs. I'd be curious to hear if anyone in the DCT sphere has additional insights.

Anecdotal evidence, but I'm a current doctoral student and 3/8 members of my cohort came in with master's theses and all ours got waived. This is likely due to ours all including original data collection, though. To my understanding, the faculty members just meet and decide if it's up to the standards of the theses their students typically complete, and if so it gets waived.

For the OP, I'd recommend your wife first finish their bachelor's and try to get involved with as much psychology research as possible. If your wife is unable to get any research experience, she may have to consider a masters degree in psychology or clinical psychology and try and get as much research experience as possible. Definitely complete a thesis with original data collection if possible. It's probably unlikely she could get a research focused post-bac position (with pub/poster opportunities) unless she knows someone somewhere. This is just from my experience, though, so others may disagree.

She likely has a long road ahead of her if she tries to pursue a clinical psych degree (please not at a diploma mill PsyD, though) and you may have to consider moving (for potentially both masters and doctorate) unless you're willing to do long distance. However, if she puts her mind to it, it's definitely possible and I encourage her to do so!

 

[Calizboosted76]

Anecdotal evidence, but I'm a current doctoral student and 3/8 members of my cohort came in with master's theses and all ours got waived. This is likely due to ours all including original data collection, though. To my understanding, the faculty members just meet and decide if it's up to the standards of the theses their students typically complete, and if so it gets waived.

For the OP, I'd recommend your wife first finish their bachelor's and try to get involved with as much psychology research as possible. If your wife is unable to get any research experience, she may have to consider a masters degree in psychology or clinical psychology and try and get as much research experience as possible. Definitely complete a thesis with original data collection if possible. It's probably unlikely she could get a research focused post-bac position (with pub/poster opportunities) unless she knows someone somewhere. This is just from my experience, though, so others may disagree.

She likely has a long road ahead of her if she tries to pursue a clinical psych degree (please not at a diploma mill PsyD, though) and you may have to consider moving (for potentially both masters and doctorate) unless you're willing to do long distance. However, if she puts her mind to it, it's definitely possible and I encourage her to do so!

Thank you for the response!

Yea as of right now she’s just going to get the bachelors and see what our living situation is once she’s done (I’m pursuing neurosurgery so we are going to have to move for my residency 100%).

One step at a time. I’ll update as the process progresses and we have more questions pop up.