MA/MS Psych...some thoughts please.

[Delusive]

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Hello, new to the boards. Before I start, I have read some of the online education debates, and I am sorry for having another. Hopefully this one will not be bad.

I attended a community college for my AS in Criminal Justice; I also met the requirements for elementary education, but didn't like teaching young learners. I later went to vocational school for computers and that is what I do for my profession now (had to start work because I got married). I decided I wanted to get a Bachelors Degree, so I signed up for night classes at a local college. It was one night a week, with study groups another night of the week. Between work, school, and taking care of my father; it was too much. So I dropped out after the first class. I then signed up for online school, and decided on a BA in Psychology. I always enjoyed my Psych classes at the community college.

The point of the post is I am almost finished with my BA; last class ends Dec 09. I work on PC's at a medical facility and one of the docs here is a Psychologist. She recommended (I want a private practice like she has) me getting a MS in Human Services with a focus in Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling/Therapy. Capella offers this and is CACREP accredited, so I signed up.

Now I am second guessing the decision and luckily haven't started there yet. I'm not second guessing online school, but am second guessing myself with the residencies and internships. I can get time off work for residencies, but not internships. I could probably find someplace local, but no way can I keep my current job at the same time, which I need. Also, the requirements for lisensure in TN are 2 years experience post, not counting internship. How does a working stiff ever get ahead in life? (Rhetorical question)

So I am reconsidering my options. I thought of obtaining a MA/MS in Psych online, and maybe teaching at a community college. What other options do I have? Anyone know of schools in Eastern TN, near Knoxville?

 

[erg923]

Another option is an MSW-assuming you are interested in doing therapy (sounds like you are since you signed up for an MFT type program). However, whatever route or degree you choose will require time, and thus, will require you to cut down your hours at your other job for the sake of training (classes and practicum experiences). One cant have it all. Something has to give.

 

[Delusive]

Do you know, or anyone else on these boards, if there is a decent local program? Something a bit closer? Capellla said I might have to travel to Minneapolis Minnesota for residencies, and that they might be able to set it up in Atlanta. That is one huge road block I have (though I could probably manage Atlanta). The other is not knowing what kind of internship options I have. I don't really see a private practice psychologist needing an intern. So what options have some of you taken?

Also, about the MSW, will that limit me if I ever want to go further with my education? There is a local school that offers the program, UT. Is there a different kind of lisense for a thereapist with a MSW, than what I was originally looking at?

Also, I've seen in other posts that some skip (for lack of a better term) the masters, and go straight for a Psy.D. or Ph.D. Is this a good option? Like I've said, I want to be in the psychology field, but want to take the best path. Capella's masters will cost 45k and take over 4 years to complete according to them, so it sounds like a Psy.D. might be comparable (not certain).

Thanks!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Also, I've seen in other posts that some skip (for lack of a better term) the masters, and go straight for a Psy.D. or Ph.D. Is this a good option? Like I've said, I want to be in the psychology field, but want to take the best path. Capella's masters will cost 45k and take over 4 years to complete according to them, so it sounds like a Psy.D. might be comparable (not certain).

Thanks!

MA/MS v. Psy.D/Ph.D. training is an apples and oranges comparison. The scope is much different as doctoral training requires additional research requirements, assessment requirements, and more intensive training. You would have to most likely relocate (unless you have a local university that has a doctoral program), pursue it full-time, and it would realistically take 6-7 years (at least 4 years of classes/campus time, 1 year internship, 1-2 year post-doc).....assuming you can get your dissertation/reserach requirements done by the end of internship.

If you are looking to primarily do therapy, stick with MA/MS training because that will give you the best bang for your buck. I'd also caution doing online training, as it has not been fully accepted in the field. Frankly I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice to spend that much money for a program that may or may not be looked upon favorably by people in the field and/or people in a position to hire you. You would be better off to look at a local university to take night classes. Once you reach your internship/clinical hours requirement you will need to sacrafice for that because there is no easy way around getting your hours in.

 

[erg923]

Also, I've seen in other posts that some skip (for lack of a better term) the masters, and go straight for a Psy.D. or Ph.D. Is this a good option? Like I've said, I want to be in the psychology field, but want to take the best path. Capella's masters will cost 45k and take over 4 years to complete according to them, so it sounds like a Psy.D. might be comparable (not certain).

Well now im confused. You can't dedicate the appopriate time or travel for a MA or MSW, and now your curious about a doctorate? How would you pull that off if you cant even dedicate the appopriate resources for a MA degree? You do realize you would be unable to work at all during a doctoral program, and that you would almost certainly have to move out of the state for a year for the pre-doc internship, right (assuming you could even get in a doctoral program in TN, I think there are only 2)? And.....where's your research experience for all this doctoral psych talk?

 

[Delusive]

Well now im confused. You can't dedicate the appopriate time or travel for a MA or MSW, and now your curious about a doctorate? How would you pull that off if you cant even dedicate the appopriate resources for a MA degree? You do realize you would be unable to work at all during a doctoral program, and that you would almost certainly have to move out of the state for a year for the pre-doc internship, right (assuming you could even get in a doctoral program in TN, I think there are only 2)? And.....where's your research experience for all this doctoral psych talk?

I said I couldn't dedicate the time to do interns, practicums, residencies, etc while keeping my full time job and traveling back and forth to Minnesota. Also as I researched some options in Tennessee, I saw that if accepted into the Doctoral program, that school can be paid for and that stipends are offered through assistanceships. Once again, I may be wrong, but it is what I read. If that is true, that could act as my job, and as you stated their are programs in Tennessee, so no drives to Minnesota. As for research experience required to enter the program, I didn't see it as a requirement. It mentioned a GPA score, a GRE score, and 18 hours undergraduate studies in Psychology. There are apparentlyt interships available in the area also, according to my research. It also said that through the program I would earn a masters in psychology. So this is why I mentioned it. I didn't think my question was inappropriate, and I would not have taken the time to ask, without at least looking into the option a little. If I knew everything though, I would have no need to ask.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[erg923]

Even the cream of the academic crop apply to 10-15 programs because of the competitive nature of clinical psych. Acceptance rates are about 5-10 percent for most ph.d programs. SO FIRST THING IS FIRST. You would need to get research experience. The ph.d is a research degree. Moreover, you will need rec letters from academics attesting to your abilities as a researcher (as well as academic abilities). What kind of research are you interested in? Does tennessee or vandy have faculty doing that? Both vandy and tennesee operate on mentor models and are heavily research-oriented clinical programs. I know the stats at vandy are intimidating to say the least as well. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/doctoral/clinical

If you really want to explore doctoal education, please go over the sections in this website. I think its pretty good overview of the nature of the process.

http://mindcampus.learnpsychology.com/

PS: STIPENDS IN CLINICAL PROGRAMS ARE ABOUT 15-18K PER YEAR. You would be taking a big pay cut from your current job im sure.

 

[Delusive]

Even the cream of the academic crop apply to 10-15 programs because of the competitive nature of clinical psych. Acceptance rates are about 5-10 percent for most ph.d programs. SO FIRST THING IS FIRST. You would need to get research experience. The ph.d is a research degree. Moreover, you will need rec letters from academics attesting to your abilities as a researcher (as well as academic abilities). What kind of research are you interested in? Does tennessee or vandy have faculty doing that? Both vandy and tennesee operate on mentor models and are heavily research-oriented clinical programs. I know the stats at vandy are intimidating to say the least as well. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/doctoral/clinical

If you really want to explore doctoal education, please go over the sections in this website. I think its pretty good overview of the nature of the process.

http://mindcampus.learnpsychology.com/

PS: STIPENDS IN CLINICAL PROGRAMS ARE ABOUT 15-18K PER YEAR. You would be taking a big pay cut from your current job im sure.

Thanks for the links. That was some serious info and reading. The main reason for looking at the Ph.D. is because, though I want my own private practice, I also want to teach (really like the idea of teaching). Most jobs in teaching want a Ph.D. and unless at a community college. So now I'm looking at a Ph.D. or MSW. The MSW would definately fit my current life better, since UT is close and offers the program. I have a lot to think about. Thanks for the info thus far. Any other suggestions?

 

[erg923]

Many many psy.ds (and even masters level folks at CCs) teach. Mainly at smaller schools and often times they are adjucts, not tenure track faculty. Tenure track academic jobs obvioulsy require some teaching, but the thrust of the job is research. They want ph.ds cause they can produce research and can pull in grant money for the department. It doesnt have to anything with their ability to teach.

If you are not interested in research at all, you should not pursue a doctorate, ph.d or psy.d. The fact that you are wavering between a MSW and ph.d is very odd. They are very very different different degrees (that require very different skills sets). A person who is a good fit for one, would generally not be happy in the other.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

While an MSW/Psy.D./Ph.D. all can do therapy (as long as they have trained in that area), there are many more differences than simliarities to the areas. One of the biggest distinctions between Masters and Doctoral level therapy is the use of assessments in treatment. Doctorally trained individuals are primarily responsible for providing the assessment portion.

I'm on clinical internship now at a hospital and 70% of my time is done doing assessments (clinical interviews, MSE, personality, IQ, neuro, etc) and consultations (suicidality evals, differential Dx, etc), 10% doing supervision, and only 20% on actual therapy (individual and group). Obviously people can have a different split, but most places won't put you in a position to do 90% therapy, 10% other because Masters level people do most of the therapy.

 

[Delusive]

Wow, there is so much to consider. I also learned reading online (how true it is am not certain yet) that a program like the one I originally signed up for will put me on track for LPC, but I won't be able to bill Medicare/Medicaid. So it seems if I go a Master's route that I would want to go MSW. But I have found programs that let you earn your Master's and the credits apply toward the doctorate.

I guess I will do a bit more research and get back to you all. I mainly just don't like limitations, and I'm afraid that I might be limited with a MSW.