MSW to be a Psychotherapist

[jmferan]

Hi everyone I'm new here!

I have my bachelor's in psychology and tried the Master's in counseling and clinical psychology route and didn't like it. I didn't want to go the whole way with getting my Phd in psychology. I want to be a psychotherapist with my own private practice eventually. My friend's mom who has her Master's in Social Work was telling me about going the MSW route if I want to be a psychotherapist and don't want to go for my PhD in psych.

I am researching right now about social work in general to see if this is truly for me bcecause I feel like I have been misinformed about social work. I never took a social work class, but I took psychology and sociology classes and have always known I want to help people. I have also learnt a lot about minority groups.

My question is, what do I look for in an MSW program if I want to be a psychotherapist down the line? Should it be clinical and accredited by the Council on Social Work Education? What are the top clinical MSW programs in the states and Canada primarily or even worldwide? Do MSW programs train you well in being a psychotherapist? After the MSW, do I go for the LCSW and work under someone for 2 years or some amount of hours until I am a licensed psychotherapist? Would going the MSW route be good for someone with a psychology undergrad?

Anything you can share with me about becoming a psychotherapist through the MSW route would be gladly appreciated, I don't know where to start with my research. Thanks in advance!

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[lookitssara]

1. In at least some states, you CAN have private practice with an LCSW. This it NOOOOT the point of the degree however.

2. No sense doing a program that isn't accredited and clinical.

3. Most people on here will tell you that MSW programs don't have really enough training in psychotherapy for that to be your profession. Some programs certainly have more training in this than others.

4. You would have to be licensed to have private practice, and although I don't know the specific state laws for this, it will involve hours of supervision.

5. Why didn't you like your masters program in clinical and consulting? An alternative would be an MFT program, or a straight counseling program.

 

[jmferan]

Oh okay thanks. I have heard of a lot of psychotherapists having their MSW and heard this is a very good route to pick if I want to become a psychotherapist. My friend's mom was telling me about the MSW route to being a psychotherapist. She said the training is very good and that I would have to get a PhD in psychology to become a psychotherapist. I don't want to do this. When I was in the Master's in counseling psych program, the director told me himself that I wouldn't be able to find a job with only a Master's in psychology. He said that their program was more designed to prepare you to get into a PhD program. I also found this to be true with other programs I looked into as well. Never heard or thought of an MFT. I will look into this. Thank you for the information you provided though.

 

[Psy01]

There's another option for you in mental health counseling.

 

[BSWdavid]

Hi everyone I'm new here!

I have my bachelor's in psychology and tried the Master's in counseling and clinical psychology route and didn't like it. I didn't want to go the whole way with getting my Phd in psychology. I want to be a psychotherapist with my own private practice eventually. My friend's mom who has her Master's in Social Work was telling me about going the MSW route if I want to be a psychotherapist and don't want to go for my PhD in psych.

I am researching right now about social work in general to see if this is truly for me bcecause I feel like I have been misinformed about social work. I never took a social work class, but I took psychology and sociology classes and have always known I want to help people. I have also learnt a lot about minority groups.

My question is, what do I look for in an MSW program if I want to be a psychotherapist down the line? Should it be clinical and accredited by the Council on Social Work Education? What are the top clinical MSW programs in the states and Canada primarily or even worldwide? Do MSW programs train you well in being a psychotherapist? After the MSW, do I go for the LCSW and work under someone for 2 years or some amount of hours until I am a licensed psychotherapist? Would going the MSW route be good for someone with a psychology undergrad?

Anything you can share with me about becoming a psychotherapist through the MSW route would be gladly appreciated, I don't know where to start with my research. Thanks in advance!

The MSW route is rocky, and it really depends where you go to school and what state you want to practice in. Some MSW programs have a strong clinical focus, while others have more of a generalist focus. Even within the programs that claim to be clinical, there is variance. I would recommend looking at different websites of MSW programs and glancing over their curriculum. Also, check out the electives that are offered. This is often a great way to determine a program's orientation and focus. Reason being, all CSWE accredited programs have to offer a standardized curriculum, however, the actual content of those courses is determined by the individual program. So even though a clinical program has to offer clinical practice with individuals and families, the program will decide what content they teach in that course. Some programs might take a traditional psychotherapy approach and teach you therapy skills, while others might give you a general overview of clinical work. Each program is different. Looking at the electives gives you a good idea of the program's orientation because for example, if they offer a lot of psychodynamic, cbt, and psychopathology courses than that is a good indicator the program places a strong emphasis on psychological constructs of human behavior and intervention, which would also indicate that those ideals will cross-over into the required coursework. Conversely, if the electives appear more socially oriented or macro oriented, than that might mean that even though its a clinical program, the content of the courses might be more macro or socially influenced. Part of the issue lies with the fact that the term "clinical" can be interpreted in many different ways. Point: determine the mission and orientation of the MSW program to ensure it will highlight the skills you are interested in. If you want to be a therapist, you want a program that will take every opportunity to teach psychological theories and interventions. Unfortunately, not all clinical programs approach clinical work from this perspective. Some don't even teach "therapy" per say, so browse the electives, check out their mission, and contact the program and ask what their focus is. If they really can't describe their focus, than keep looking at other programs. The ones that do have a therapy focus will be able to exactly describe their program's emphasis.

I know this is long-winded but hope it helps.

BTW: if you want to become licensed as a clinical social worker, you have to graduate from a CSWE accredited program. Not only do all states require this, but they all require a minimum of 2-years post graduate supervised experience in order to become licensed. However, once you become licensed, you can go into private practice independently in most states.

 

[jmferan]

Thank you for the respones. This information was very useful and did help a lot. I will definitely factor in all of this. Thanks again everyone!

 

[PK87]

Hello jmferan

I am from India. I am in the same position as you are in.. Rather was in.. I know it has been quite a long. Please share your inputs regarding MSW route to psychotherapist.

 

[ikibah]

I was in the exact same boat as you for a long time. My goal is to become a psychotherapist in private practice and I really wasn't sure if I would be able to accomplish that with an MSW as opposed to a PsyD. You should do what I did; I asked family and friends about who the top therapists around were (who are practicing the kind of therapy that I would like to) and I waited until a few of the same names kept coming up. After I got a few of the names down I gave them each a cold call and asked them if I can come in to talk to them about their career. After sitting down with two of them, I discovered that they are both doing EXACTLY what I wanted to be doing (in terms of working with the population I want to work with and charging what I would like to charge in addition to doing the kind of therapy I would like to do) so I asked them each what route they took to get there. One was an LCSW (a licensed MSW, which happens after a few years of suprvision) and one was a PhD. Both of them were doing virtually the same thing and both of them were making the same income. After getting down and dirty with both of them about the better route to take, they both told me if my goal was to do what they were doing I should the lcsw. This is not to say the lcsw is a better degree or that I think PhD's and lcsw's are equal, I'm not addressing that topic. All I am saying is that your best bet is to find people who are successful at doing what you want to be doing and take their advice. It can be hard finding people to talk to but ask around or do an internet search and don't settle to just listening to anyone; make sure the person your listening to is somebody who is doing what you want to do and is good at it. In my opinion there is nobody better to help you out. And be warned, there a lot of biases in this field.

Hope this helped, I know the whole phdpsydlcswmftlcpc differentiation and decision can be tough.

Good Luck.

 

[PK87]

Thank you so much ikibah! It really helped a lot.. I am planning to go for Canada. Can you help me with the working conditions and colleges in Canada for MSW

 

[ikibah]

Sorry, I don't know anything about colleges or working conditions in Canada, good luck though!

 

[PK87]

Ok.. Thank you so much. And what about USA, one of my friends wants to apply to the US. Which school and state is the best for social work!