Masters or PhD?

[Asm52]

Hey guys. Looking for some advice or some opinions. I'll graduate in the spring with a bachelor's in psychology and am looking at masters and phd programs. I know that I want to go into practice and work with kids that have suffered trauma like severe abuse and neglect. At first I was only considering phd programs but I'm having trouble finding faculty whose interest match. My question is, given what I want to do career wise, would one degree be better than the other?

Thanks in advance!

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[wigflip]

I think if you use the search function and read through past threads you'll find that many people have posed similar questions. The conventional wisdom seems to be that a licensable masters is sufficient for people who want to focus solely on practice.

 

[Asm52]

Okay thanks!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I agree with wigflip--if practice is your sole goal, then a master's will be sufficient (and likely cheaper both monetarily and time-wise). However, I did want to point out that as best I know, there should be a multitude of clinical Ph.D. faculty who do at least some work with children who've suffered abuse/neglect, unless your interests deal with some specific, unique facet of abuse.

 

[wigflip]

I agree with wigflip

That's always wise.

--if practice is your sole goal, then a master's will be sufficient (and likely cheaper both monetarily and time-wise). However, I did want to point out that as best I know, there should be a multitude of clinical Ph.D. faculty who do at least some work with children who've suffered abuse/neglect, unless your interests deal with some specific, unique facet of abuse.

On a more serious note, I thought about mentioning that as well, but then I thought that the OP's "having trouble finding faculty in X area" might actually mean, "having trouble finding faculty in X area within a commutable distance from my current home." Maybe I'm wrong.

I would think that you could find faculty in your area of interest by spending a day or two at the local university/college library, searching for articles that mesh with your interest, and a) researching the lead authors on those articles, b) research the key authors cited in those articles, c) use Web of Science to figure out who has recently cited the original articles you've found and research the authors in this group of pubs. You'll probably get a sense of who's working with who and where they all are geographically. If social work is of interest, I would think that there's a strong SW lit in the childhood abuse/neglect area as well. Chances are good that whatever you're interested in, someone's already working on it, even if your particular interest is very niche. Almost everyone I know has gotten "scooped" by folks who got papers on the very same thing they were working on to publication before they did, self included.

 

[paramour]

That's always wise.

And should be a given at this stage, yes?

On a more serious note, I thought about mentioning that as well, but then I thought that the OP's "having trouble finding faculty in X area" might actually mean, "having trouble finding faculty in X area within a commutable distance from my current home." Maybe I'm wrong.

I thought similarly but did not comment. As AA mentioned, there are faculty aplenty who investigate child abuse/neglect. It's not exactly an uncommon area.

 

[Asm52]

Sorry I should have clarified. Yes I am trying to look at schools within a fair distance from my residence. And I did find a few schools but since they recommend applying to many schools that's where my concern was. I guess I was also looking for a near 'perfect' match to since the interviews are really all about. Some schools that had matches also did not accept applicants who intended to work in a practice which was another thing. But I appreciate your comments and I have been looking for some articles to find professors at schools but I'm pretty intent on staying in the area. But aftter some more research, in starting to thing a masters in community counseling might be more up my ally.

 

[Asm52]

Also, is it uncommon for someone with a masters in community counseling or mental health counseling to become an LPC (or the equivalent) and go back to school for a PhD down the road?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Sorry I should have clarified. Yes I am trying to look at schools within a fair distance from my residence. And I did find a few schools but since they recommend applying to many schools that's where my concern was. I guess I was also looking for a near 'perfect' match to since the interviews are really all about. Some schools that had matches also did not accept applicants who intended to work in a practice which was another thing. But I appreciate your comments and I have been looking for some articles to find professors at schools but I'm pretty intent on staying in the area. But aftter some more research, in starting to thing a masters in community counseling might be more up my ally.

If you're geographically-limited, then yes, a master's might be a better idea at this point. For doctoral programs, to avoid significantly hindering yourself down the line, you (unfortunately perhaps) ideally should be prepared to move for grad school, then again for internship, and possibly again for postdoc/employment. People can, and do, complete doctoral study with geographical limitations, but it makes each of the aforementioned steps a bit more difficult.