Is it worth to get the phD? please help!

[mai0]

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Hello everyone, I need an advice and I hope you can help me. I work part time in private practice (Im a psychologist and I held a master in nutrition science in Mexico). My dream is to work full time in an integrative approach to obesity and eating disorders by using behavior modification techniques, psychotherapy and nutrition. As I live in the border, I thought that maybe I could get a phD from a university in California and after that I could work in the US or move to Europe, BUT thats a long-term plan bc I'll do the GRE next year and in case that I get accepted I'll start the phD until 2013. Calculating that it will take me about 5 years completing it, that means that I'll be 34-35 yo when I'll finally be able to work and living as a student in my 30's doesnt seem so appealing to me.
I met a nutritionist who is is getting a one year certification as a Health Coach from SUNY and I thought that maybe its more convenient for me to get the certification than spend 5 years at the phD (I love studying but my age and the economic factor are what brings me down). I’ve seen her work and I loved it but I don’t know if it’s the best for me to ditch the phD and go for this certification.


For those who are studying or who already got your phD and are working in private practice, what do you think will be the best for me? Im not very sure how does it works in the US but for what I know, you cant work as a clinical psychologist without a phD, right? Is a career as a nutrition and health coach profitable?


The reason I would like move to the US or Europe its because my husband is German and probably will be transfer from his job to the US in a few years. Also we had contemplated the idea of moving to Europe in the future.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Calculating that it will take me about 5 years completing it, that means that I'll be 34-35 yo when I'll finally be able to work and living as a student in my 30's doesnt seem so appealing to me.

A Ph.D. will take you a minimum of 6 years to complete (4 years of training, 1 year internship, and 1 year post-doc), and that assumes you can get your dissertation done by the completion of your internship year.

I met a nutritionist who is is getting a one year certification as a Health Coach from SUNY and I thought that maybe its more convenient for me to get the certification than spend 5 years at the phD (I love studying but my age and the economic factor are what brings me down). I’ve seen her work and I loved it but I don’t know if it’s the best for me to ditch the phD and go for this certification.

I previously worked with eating disorders, and I found that the nutritionists and psychologists did vastly different jobs. Behavior modification + psychotherapy are both squarely in the psychology domain. Nutritional counseling is best handled by a nutritionist. I worked with a nutritionist when I needed to better understand a patient's nutritional needs (how many calories, etc. s/he would need in a given day, so I would know when s/he lied). The nutritionist primarily focused on developing nutrition plans, educating the patient about healthy eating, and working with the patient on making better nutritional choices.

For those who are studying or who already got your phD and are working in private practice, what do you think will be the best for me? Im not very sure how does it works in the US but for what I know, you cant work as a clinical psychologist without a phD, right? Is a career as a nutrition and health coach profitable?

"Clincal psychologist" is a protected term in almost every state, and it requires the person is licensed at the doctoral level. There are masters level people who do ED work, so that may be a viable alternative. The masters level therapists I worked with sought out additional training so they could work with the ED population, as it is a very unique population. The clinical work is fascinating, but it is easily one of the most treatment resistant groups out there.

 

[wigflip]

The masters level therapists I worked with sought out additional training so they could work with the ED population, as it is a very unique population. The clinical work is fascinating, but it is easily one of the most treatment resistant groups out there.

Hi T4C,

Just curious--what additional training did the masters level therapists seek out to in order to work with the ED population? This is an area of interest for me as well.