UGH! SDN lost my post, so I get to do it all over agaaain. YAY!
How did you do in psych assessment? Do you like it enough? Are you efficient at report-writing? Have you thought about administration at a psychological assessment practice, or better yet, open your own practice and hire a licensed PhD/PsyD to sign off on your (and team of MAs') full and partial batteries? I know of such business in a small Southeastern city. The president is a licensed clinical psychologist, but the vice president is a MA in psychology.
Heeeeeyyyy...isn't that an incongruent thought? Haven't we been arguing about those people all along?
Well, contrary to if it was a past argument. You're like one of our (SDN) own. I vividly remember identifying with your opinion & training views along the way. You've always seemed sound and reasonable to me, if not bright.
I'm sure you'd be good at managing a group of psych assessment folks, especially if you did well in psych assessment (just full batteries - not neuropscyh or child/school batteries unless you're prepared to go all the way with audio & visual screens, etc. as well) and especially if you were a graduate psych assessment TA in a doctoral program (!) and liked it.
What do you think?
Good luck to you during your decision-making process!
I did well in psych assessment, reports, etc. The CEO of the agency where I did my last practicum (primarily assessment-based) is actually one of the many, if not the first, who encouraged me to pursue my LPCC. Although this is a great idea, I have minimal interest in administering assessment (or therapy) services for the duration of my work hours. Yeah, I can do it, but do I really want to? Meh, not especially. I grow tired of it quickly.
As for reasonable and bright, sometimes in a blue moon. Thank you for your thoughts and well wishes. I appreciate it.
🙂
I'm not sure why you would want to go for an LPC if you have no interest in doing therapy, to be honest. It seems like supervisory positions that would require an LPC would also be the type that would require you to get the 2000 (I think it's 2000) post-degree hours to be licensed and possibly some experience on top of that. It seems like you could potentially sell yourself more as an assessment focused practice major with your MA in psychology, your research/psychometrics training, and your assessment experience in grad school. I'm not really sure how much a therapy-only masters credential would help you there. Also, with regards to CA specifically, keep in mind that LPCs have relatively little clout in the state. CA was the last state to recognize / license LPCs, and I believe that they only started doing so about 5 years ago--LMFTs and clinical social workers are the much more established masters-level licenses in the state.
Yep. I'm completely right there with you. I certainly do not see the point (at all), but I also acknowledge that I do not know everything--so to SDN I come with my quandary to determine whether I'm being myopic in my decision. I have people look at me cross-eyed when I tell them that I have no intention of pursuing licensure. Never?! Nope, never. Suppose that they seem to think everyone with a psych degree must be licensed. Who knows. I researched the CA requirements extensively when I realized that I would be relocating here (and desperately needing employment!). I am aware that the LPC is a newer credential to the state. Hell, most employment postings still list for LMFT/LCSW/PhD/PsyD around here. And I would actually need 3000 hours post-degree, not 2000. If I knew that I wanted to be and that I could be satisfied as a therapist, I would suck it up and do it. As I don't, I simply cannot see the purpose of doing it. UNLESS there's something I'm overlooking and someone tells me "but you can't do or shouldn't be doing x, y, or z" unless you're licensed. I'd rather take care of these things now rather than figure it out 5 years down the road.
Administration/administrator of...what, exactly? Obvioulsy, anyone who is an admin over clincial staff or a MH clinicial enviorment needs to be trained to do what the staff are doing..at least to a reasonable degree. I would imagine having a license as a practitioner would be necessary?
It would be you to question this.
I was intentionally trying to be vague, damnit! Ah, well.
I will not be supervising clinical staff. There's a clinical/operations director, clinical supervisors, etc. for all that jazz. To continue my attempt at vagueness, I will be be in control of the general oversight, management, etc. of an expanding behavioral health institute--to be eventually placed as executive director. Is this something that you would still consider as needing a license?
Probably depends on the type of administration, as you've alluded to. After all, there are a whole lot of hospital and medical center CEOs and administrators without formal medical training (beyond perhaps an MPH). I would imagine paramour's two masters degrees likely fit that bill.
The only positions I know of that consistently seem to require training in the area are things like care line executives, chiefs of staff, and the like (i.e., positions that directly supervise clinical practice while possibly also providing such services themselves).
Hopefully, my response to erg cleared this up. I have reviewed numerous profiles of individuals at both hospital/medical and mental health centers. Few of them seemed to have any specialized medical/clinical training. Most of them seemed to have BA's, followed by MBA's/MHA's. Positions that required specific training and/or licensure seemed to be in the areas of nursing, hospital social work, or chiefs of medical staff. I will neither be supervising nor providing clinical services, so I presume that I am okay without licensure... But erg's comment above makes me wonder?
There are public systems that prefer a license for clinical admin/management positions, but not all will specifify that and it is possible that your background, if you have the interest and relevant skills, could make a good fit for positions related to Quality Improvement or various aspects of health care integration. The ability to analyze data, organize program evaluation, etc. all have a place in health care administration. You probably need to find some folks doing the jobs you want to be doing and talk with them about the career pathway.
Indeed! My interests in these areas actually landed my current position, which is intended to ultimately transition into the exec director of the agency. I *think* that my primary concern at this juncture (now that you ladies & gents have helped me work this far) is whether or not I have the necessary education/training for such a position. The current ED (not to be confused with erectile dysfunction
😉 ) has a MBA in organization psych from a place that shall not be named. Not to toot my own horn, but I believe that my experiences, training, and education far exceed hers. Additionally, they hired me, so I obviously must have something, yes?
BUT, I also want to make sure that a) I'm doing this right, and b) I'm not hamstringing my future options. I will certainly remain at the current agency for a lengthy period of time to obtain the experience, to continue networking, etc. However, I cannot guarantee that I will remain here indefinitely. I was searching for positions in both general medical/healthcare and MH settings. The current position is where I landed due to opportunity and the bulk of my most recent experiences (although I have past experience in the other area as well). If I opt to go elsewhere in 5+ years, it would be nice to know that I can transition into another position with relative ease before discovering that I need to be licensed, or that I should have done x, y, or z (whatever those variables might be). I've considered discussing this with the folks here as they're all absolutely, positively FANTASTIC!
😍 Yet, I'm also concerned they'll jump at the chance to have another body providing therapeutic services for less.
😛
Continued thoughts still welcome . . . as I have hopefully cleared things up (or at least muddied them a bit).
