MS(MA)/PsyD or MA/MS + Employment

[mftPsychSoc]

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I'm a recent graduate of SUNY at Buffalo, I was a psych/soc double major. I am in the process now of trying to find employment to "save up" money for grad school, as well as to refine my area(s) of interest. I seem to be leaning more toward Marriage andFamily Therapy/Clinical Psychology realm, BUT am undecided about going just for my Masters and then seeking licensure, or going for a Masters en route to a PsyD(MS/PsyD) type of program. Would it make sense to just go for a Masters then seek licensure, and then work for a few years (seeing that I would really be lacking in finances) then try for a PsyD, or should I try to "cut out the middleman" and go for a MS/PsyD track? Any thoughts or comments, or "personal experience" pointers would really be appreciated!

 

[Anthockey00]

I consulted with several of my professors with this same question. I've heard time and time again, "if you think you may one day want to get the doctorate, then go straight for it." Yes, the money thing can be rough. Either way, we're gonna have loans. I made the decision based off if I thought one day I would like to teach at the university level. My answer was yes, therefore I chose to skip the masters. Best of luck.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Your profs were right. If you JUST want to do private practice, MS would be fine, though if you want more flexibility, to be a professor, etc....doc is the only way to go. I'm biased towards a doctorate because I think the training is much more thorough, but YMMV.

-t