PhD/PsyD General Advice for a Career-changer

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hallowmann

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So my wife is interested in a degree in Psychology, with the goal of being clinically focused and opening up a practice/organization that serves individuals from a specific background.

She has a Ph.D. in a relatively unrelated field from a University well-known in that field and has been working on and off in that career for ~5yrs. She has an undergrad GPA of ~3.8 in a major that was sort of a mix between Psych/Cognition and CS, and her GRE, which she took more as a formality after not studying, wasn't impressive and was around 1200-1250.

I believe her courses fulfill most of the pre-reqs for a Ph.D./Psy.D. program, but she'll have to retake the GRE (old score), take the Psych subject test GRE, and will probably have to take a couple courses in Psych to get LORs (her last undergrad psych courses were something like 10yrs ago).

She's interested in primarily clinical psych with less emphasis on the academic side, and she'd like a relatively quicker (within reason) path given her being a career-changer. Given that, a PsyD program seems to be preferable, but cost is an issue, as I am currently in a relatively costly professional program right now, and she doesn't want to take out a lot of loans if she can avoid it.

I'm posting mainly to get some advice. Are there programs she should avoid (I see negative posts about Argosy)? Are there funded Ph.D. programs that are more clinical vs. academic that she should aim for? And if so are any closer to 4 years as opposed to 5/6? Does her plan make sense (taking the GRE, courses, etc), and if so, does it matter where she takes those courses (e.g. university, state-school, community college, etc. - cost is an isssue)? What kind of GRE scores should she be aiming for? Will programs look down at her for being a career-changer or having a previous Ph.D. in another area? Is there something else she should work on that I'm missing?

I really appreciate any help or advice anyone here has to offer. SDN was extraordinarily valuable for me in applying, so I figured it could help her out as well. I'm also sorry if any of these questions are basic or obvious.

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PhD programs on average give students more clinical hours than PsyDs. And, there are many funded PhDs that definitely focus more on clinical work. Really depends on your area. I did mostly clinical work in trauma and neuropsych at a fully funded PhD. Keep in mind that you can indeed find a 4 year program at a ****ty for-profit diploma mill, but you will still spend 2-3 years trying to get an accredited internship, or settle for one that will limit your career options.

The field is full of career changers, no problem there for the most part.
 
PhD programs on average give students more clinical hours than PsyDs. And, there are many funded PhDs that definitely focus more on clinical work. Really depends on your area. I did mostly clinical work in trauma and neuropsych at a fully funded PhD. Keep in mind that you can indeed find a 4 year program at a ****** for-profit diploma mill, but you will still spend 2-3 years trying to get an accredited internship, or settle for one that will limit your career options.


The field is full of career changers, no problem there for the most part.

Thanks WisNeuro! So basically, its better to go to a longer program with better placement of graduates than risk it at a less well-known one. That makes sense.

We're in the east coast-ish area right now. Western PA - I think that just barely makes it into "east coast". We'll be here for at least 3 more years while I'm in school, and possibly longer depending on where I am for interniship/residency. Our ultimate goal is to end up in CA, where she's from and did her undergrad, but that might be a while away (6 years or so).

Do you know of any programs nearby that are funded, have a good rep, and a strong clinical focus? I know nothing about Psych schools, so anything you know will help us.
 
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I'm more familiar with schools in the Wisconsin/Illinois and Southwest, so I can't speak about schools in your immediate area. But, I would recommend definitely considering APPIC match rates and EPPP pass rates when making a decision. Also, strong clinical focus is good, but you need to demonstrate some research competency as it informs your clinical practice. If I'm reviewing internship and fellowship apps that have little to no research background, those things get thrown on the bottom of the pile right away.
 
I'm more familiar with schools in the Wisconsin/Illinois and Southwest, so I can't speak about schools in your immediate area. But, I would recommend definitely considering APPIC match rates and EPPP pass rates when making a decision. Also, strong clinical focus is good, but you need to demonstrate some research competency as it informs your clinical practice. If I'm reviewing internship and fellowship apps that have little to no research background, those things get thrown on the bottom of the pile right away.

She shouldn't have a problem doing research, I think she just wants to make sure that where she goes won't only lead to an academic position (I don't know how real of a risk that is - I figure most programs are well-rounded, but its something she's concerned with).
 
She shouldn't have a problem doing research, I think she just wants to make sure that where she goes won't only lead to an academic position (I don't know how real of a risk that is - I figure most programs are well-rounded, but its something she's concerned with).

Definitely a misconception of PhD programs. The majority of PhD's go on to clinical careers.
 
She's interested in primarily clinical psych with less emphasis on the academic side, and she'd like a relatively quicker (within reason) path given her being a career-changer.

Why doesn't she just get a MSW to become a LCSW? They can practice independently, and I think it only takes 18 months to 2 years for coursework / internship requirements (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
 
Why doesn't she just get a MSW to become a LCSW? They can practice independently, and I think it only takes 18 months to 2 years for coursework / internship requirements (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm not too familiar with an MSW, but I assume its probably not a funded program, as most masters are out of pocket. She really wants to avoid loans as much as possible. I'm not sure, are there funded MSW programs?

Also, I was reading somewhere that to get licensed as LCSW, you need to work for multiple years under a licensed therapist's supervision. Is that true? If so, she'd still be spending a long time before doing exactly what she would want to do.
 
I'm not too familiar with an MSW, but I assume its probably not a funded program, as most masters are out of pocket. She really wants to avoid loans as much as possible. I'm not sure, are there funded MSW programs?

Also, I was reading somewhere that to get licensed as LCSW, you need to work for multiple years under a licensed therapist's supervision. Is that true? If so, she'd still be spending a long time before doing exactly what she would want to do.

Well, if your wife attends an in-state public school to get her MSW, the overall costs will be relatively low. There may also be MSW programs that are funded or have some funding, I personally don't know much about the social work field.

And yes I believe you do have to have some kind of supervision, I can't personally clarify how much. I just thought it may be a potential option for your wife :)
 
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