- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
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Hello!
I have a bachelors in psychology and am currently weighing grad school paths and practice options. It's currently between counseling or venturing into the medicine world. I am strongly considering getting into an accelerated RN program, working awhile, and seeing if the NP or med school route is viable for me. I would not want to abandon my desire to be a competent psychotherapist though. So eventually I'd want to do whatever it takes to pursue that training. Even knowing a employer would not likely pay me for therapy as a NP.
Do you all think it's realistic to aim to be a good mid level prescriber AND psychotherapist?
Both nursing and psychiatry have always interested me and the pay, employability, benefits, etc of medicine are ridiculous compared to masters level therapists.
Though, what really has me worried about counseling is the lack of job freedom. I just feel like I'd burn out of therapy eventually if the best I could hope for career wise is to crank out therapy hours in private practice. I also currently have no interest in teaching, research, assessment, niche areas in psych, or anything psychologists or counselors seem to pursue in lieu of therapy.
So that's led me to consider the job flexibility in medicine + psychotherapy.
Hope that makes sense. Trying to think very long term here.
I have a bachelors in psychology and am currently weighing grad school paths and practice options. It's currently between counseling or venturing into the medicine world. I am strongly considering getting into an accelerated RN program, working awhile, and seeing if the NP or med school route is viable for me. I would not want to abandon my desire to be a competent psychotherapist though. So eventually I'd want to do whatever it takes to pursue that training. Even knowing a employer would not likely pay me for therapy as a NP.
Do you all think it's realistic to aim to be a good mid level prescriber AND psychotherapist?
Both nursing and psychiatry have always interested me and the pay, employability, benefits, etc of medicine are ridiculous compared to masters level therapists.
Though, what really has me worried about counseling is the lack of job freedom. I just feel like I'd burn out of therapy eventually if the best I could hope for career wise is to crank out therapy hours in private practice. I also currently have no interest in teaching, research, assessment, niche areas in psych, or anything psychologists or counselors seem to pursue in lieu of therapy.
So that's led me to consider the job flexibility in medicine + psychotherapy.
Hope that makes sense. Trying to think very long term here.