Please I need advice!!!

[YoungTrizzle]

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I have been accepted to a school in their Ed.s Program, however along the the way to the ed.s I have the option of earning the LMHC degree. My Advisor told me that if i did the LMHC on the way to the Ed.s by the time i was done i would only have 14 classes left for the PH.d in counseling Pyschology at the university. I Really want the option of being able to decide where I work, in a private practice, school setting, and many other settings. To complete both degrees it would take about 4 and a half years and then i would continue to the PH.d in counseling psychology. Does this make sense or is it doing way to much?

 

[ClinicalABA]

It would be easier to answer your questions (e.g. "does this make sense?") if you would more specifically identify what is is you want to do after your education (for example, do you want to teach? do academic testing? direct therapy with adults or youths?) . You've listed very different work settings and different degree options, but without a better sense of the specific type of work you want to do, it's difficult to answer your question. For example, if you just want to do therapy, than an LMHC alone may be the best option, and going on for the Ph.D. might not make short or long term financial sense. If you want to also teach at a community college level, than the additional Ed.S. might make sense, but not getting both the Ed.S. and the Ph.D.

 

[YoungTrizzle]

It would be easier to answer your questions (e.g. "does this make sense?") if you would more specifically identify what is is you want to do after your education (for example, do you want to teach? do academic testing? direct therapy with adults or youths?) . You've listed very different work settings and different degree options, but without a better sense of the specific type of work you want to do, it's difficult to answer your question. For example, if you just want to do therapy, than an LMHC alone may be the best option, and going on for the Ph.D. might not make short or long term financial sense. If you want to also teach at a community college level, than the additional Ed.S. might make sense, but not getting both the Ed.S. and the Ph.D.

Thanks for the respose. What i would like to do is cross train to be able to counsel and work is schools as well. I would lik Yee to work in a school setting but i do not want to be restricted to schools only. Maybe a program that cross trains would be a more sound choice instead of all the different programs. I would just like to be able to be extremely marketable

 

[KillerDiller]

I'm a little confused. When you say you would need 14 additional courses, do you mean only that and nothing else, or do you mean that you'd need 14 courses to complete the classroom portion of a Ph.D? Ph.D.s involve much more than course work, so wouldn't you also need to do doctoral-level practicums and an empirical dissertation? If so, you're talking about 3 years minimum plus an internship year after you've already put those 4.5 years into the masters degrees--that's at least 8.5 years before you get the Ph.D. This doesn't seem all that different from others who do a masters first and then a Ph.D., so I don't think you're gaining a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

If it is simply 14 additional courses and nothing else, I'd seriously be wary of any program that accepted masters-level training in lieu of doctoral-level pracs and a dissertation. I also doubt you'd be competitive for an APPIC or an APA accredited internship in that case, so you'd be handicapping yourself out of the gate.

 

[YoungTrizzle]

I'm a little confused. When you say you would need 14 additional courses, do you mean only that and nothing else, or do you mean that you'd need 14 courses to complete the classroom portion of a Ph.D? Ph.D.s involve much more than course work, so wouldn't you also need to do doctoral-level practicums and an empirical dissertation? If so, you're talking about 3 years minimum plus an internship year after you've already put those 4.5 years into the masters degrees--that's at least 8.5 years before you get the Ph.D. This doesn't seem all that different from others who do a masters first and then a Ph.D., so I don't think you're gaining a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

If it is simply 14 additional courses and nothing else, I'd seriously be wary of any program that accepted masters-level training in lieu of doctoral-level pracs and a dissertation. I also doubt you'd be competitive for an APPIC or an APA accredited internship in that case, so you'd be handicapping yourself out of the gate.

Excuse me, I should have been clearer. I would have 14 additional courses on top of the dissertation and Doctoral level practicum as you said. The only thing is that i would Have the masters level Ed.s and then a PH.d in counseling. Is that common?

 

[ala2246]

I wouldn't say it's common, but it's not unheard of. My mentor has a M.S. Ed. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He specializes in creating sound curriculum and developing pedagogy for graduate level psychology training and he has a private practice.

However, with an LMHC you can practice as well, so getting the Ph.D. would really just be about whether or not you think it will benefit you in the future. If you plan to teach at the post secondary level, it would be necessary to complete it.

Have you considered cutting out the Master's altogether and doing a Ph.D./Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in school psychology?