Forensic Psychology vs Forensic Mental Health Counseling

[SweetPsych]

Hello!
I am hoping to gather some more information regarding these two majors: forensic psychology and forensic mental health counseling.

Forensic mental health counseling (FMHC) is a licensure eligible program while forensic psychology is not, so I am thinking of switching to that major, but I wanted to be thorough before making a decision.
Apart from FMHC leading a path to licensure, would there be any other differences in terms of career paths? And if I did change to FMHC, would FP careers be possible (i.e. in law enforcement) for an FMHC major?
Thank you in advance!

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[WisNeuro]

This may be more of a masters degree forum question.

 

[SweetPsych]

This may be more of a masters degree forum question.

Oh! My bad, I didn't see a MA forum so I didn't know. Where can I post this question?

 

[WisNeuro]

It used to be clearly labeled with MA/MS I believe, but this is generally where the masters level questions get answered. Though, in general, far fewer master's peeps on here relative to doctoral.

 

[PsyDr]

Psychologists are licensed at the doctorate level. You can get licensed with either a PhD, PsyD, or EdD in clinical or counseling psychology. Those programs must follow the APA curriculum, whcih include two practica and one internship.

Psychologist largely specialize AFTER completing the clinical or counseling psychology doctorate.

Forensic psychology is one of those specialities. It requires a 2 year fellowship after graduation.

There are exploitative programs that offer “forensic psychology” degrees. Because these programs do not follow the licensure requirements, they do not lead to licensure. They know this and they know the path to speciality. So why do they sell them or than exploiting suckers?

Forensic counseling is going to be BS work in a correctional setting, most likely with sex offenders. Because that’s what the market is for that skill set.

You will NOT be a profiler, you will NOT join the fbi with any of those credentials.

 

[SweetPsych]

It used to be clearly labeled with MA/MS I believe, but this is generally where the masters level questions get answered. Though, in general, far fewer master's peeps on here relative to doctoral.

I see, thank you!

 

[SweetPsych]

Psychologists are licensed at the doctorate level. You can get licensed with either a PhD, PsyD, or EdD in clinical or counseling psychology. Those programs must follow the APA curriculum, whcih include two practica and one internship.

Psychologist largely specialize AFTER completing the clinical or counseling psychology doctorate.

Forensic psychology is one of those specialities. It requires a 2 year fellowship after graduation.

There are exploitative programs that offer “forensic psychology” degrees. Because these programs do not follow the licensure requirements, they do not lead to licensure. They know this and they know the path to speciality. So why do they sell them or than exploiting suckers?

Forensic counseling is going to be BS work in a correctional setting, most likely with sex offenders. Because that’s what the market is for that skill set.

You will NOT be a profiler, you will NOT join the fbi with any of those credentials.

I appreciate your response!
I have no intention of joining the FBI so that's just fine with me! I chose this major because I am very much interested in psychology within law enforcement.

 

[summerbabe]

It sounds like you're in an exploratory stage so gathering the right info might be most important thing now.

Forensic psychology is a very specific subfield and forensic psychologists as PsyDr mentioned receive very specific training and generally focus on very detailed evaluations of various types. This will take the most amount of time and there's no guarantee one will be successful if they initially pursue this, often based on factors outside of our control.

Doing clinical work in a forensic setting most commonly happens in a prison and you don't necessarily need any specific experience or training, just a licensable clinical degree (master's or doctorate). In fact, some places are incredibly short staffed since most mental health clinicians also do not want to be law enforcement officers first and clinicians second. Nor do most want to work with this patient population, especially when COVID now allows some the luxury to do therapy from our home.

There is an even smaller subset of clinicians who work with police officers and first responders (fitness for duty evals, therapy for job-related trauma, managing stress), sometimes on a part-time basis and sometimes contracted to a local PD department.

And there are of course other opportunities since the term forensic gets defined differently.

I am very much interested in psychology within law enforcement

Starting to figure out what you specifically want to do within this field should give you some direction about education to pursue.

If the idea is to do therapy only, getting good training from a reputable MA/MS program (like a MSW program at a local state school that's been around for 100 years) is often a better choice for your career and wallet than paying extra for a 'specialized' program that sounds fancy on paper.

And lastly, this is nowhere near my wheelhouse so like most things you read on the internet, keep researching and asking questions. Good luck!

 

[bluecolourskies]

Oh! My bad, I didn't see a MA forum so I didn't know. Where can I post this question?

Mental Health and Social Welfare

[M.A., M.S.W., B.S., B.A.] For discussion of undergraduate and masters degree issues. Co-hosted with PsychCentral.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[PsyDr]

I appreciate your response!
I have no intention of joining the FBI so that's just fine with me! I chose this major because I am very much interested in psychology within law enforcement.

Then the relevant specialty in psychology is called "police and public safety". It's most in pre-employment exams, fit for duty exams (e.g., after a shooting or whatever), and officers who are trying to get workers comp.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Hello!
I am hoping to gather some more information regarding these two majors: forensic psychology and forensic mental health counseling.

Forensic mental health counseling (FMHC) is a licensure eligible program while forensic psychology is not, so I am thinking of switching to that major, but I wanted to be thorough before making a decision.
Apart from FMHC leading a path to licensure, would there be any other differences in terms of career paths? And if I did change to FMHC, would FP careers be possible (i.e. in law enforcement) for an FMHC major?
Thank you in advance!

If you want to do therapy then go with the path that is licensable. There is plenty of opportunity for providing treatment or education or crisis counseling or suicide risk assessments with law enforcement or in correctional settings. I have been involved in both as a clinical psychologist. I am not sure what you mean by forensic psychology career in law enforcement. I think those are mainly on tv. If you want to investigate criminals, maybe just go straight into law enforcement and become a detective.