PsyD, MSW, getting a job conundrum!

[sparklyface681]

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Hi everyone!
I’ve always been leery of online forums but after reading a few threads on SDN my opinion has changed. I’m a graduate student in a Family Studies masters program and I am having a bit of an early life crisis. I’ve always known that I wanted to go into a psychology related field, whether it is clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or social work I am not sure. I graduated college in 2 yrs and then realized that it may not be in my best interest to try and get into a clinical program at such a young age.

I came into the Family Studies program because I had taken a few courses in the department as an undergraduate and enjoyed them. I thought that doing this program would give me some time to get more clinical experience and to just age so that I may be closer to the people who would be in my cohort in a clinical program. The program I am in is going to soon be discontinued and I am starting to feel like completing this degree won’t help me out in the long run as it is not marketable. It is designed for those who want to go on to study Family Studies at the doctoral level.
Since my crisis began I have applied to University of Kentucky’s MSW program, applied for jobs in the city where my parents live, and contemplated PsyD programs. I feel that my biggest obstacle is my age. Do you have an advice as to which degree will better serve me, would there be a benefit to having several degrees? And considering my age what is a good course of action to stay on the road to becoming a clinician?

(Also the Psyd schools I am interested in are Wright State, University of Denver, Spalding, University of Indiana, and University of Indianapolis)

I'm sorry that this post is so long!! I appreciate your feedback 🙂

 

[docma]

Unless you are independently wealthy, they PsyD route is a hazardous one to take when you are still young and uncertain about your focus. You definitely should not accrue a significant debt until you have a clear goal in mind. Work experience will help you clarify what you want and will be useful in the application process when you do decide on a destination. Or it will help you save money to afford the PsyD. You also shouldn't rule out a Ph.D. until you are clearer about your career direction... And getting an MSW will not prevent getting a doctorate later on, once you are more established. This is a good time to sort out what population you want to work with and what specific kind of work you want to do; knowing that is a useful guide to the kind of further training you want/need.

 

[deleted176373]

Hi everyone!
I've always been leery of online forums but after reading a few threads on SDN my opinion has changed. I'm a graduate student in a Family Studies masters program and I am having a bit of an early life crisis. I've always known that I wanted to go into a psychology related field, whether it is clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or social work I am not sure. I graduated college in 2 yrs and then realized that it may not be in my best interest to try and get into a clinical program at such a young age.

I came into the Family Studies program because I had taken a few courses in the department as an undergraduate and enjoyed them. I thought that doing this program would give me some time to get more clinical experience and to just age so that I may be closer to the people who would be in my cohort in a clinical program. The program I am in is going to soon be discontinued and I am starting to feel like completing this degree won't help me out in the long run as it is not marketable. It is designed for those who want to go on to study Family Studies at the doctoral level.
Since my crisis began I have applied to University of Kentucky's MSW program, applied for jobs in the city where my parents live, and contemplated PsyD programs. I feel that my biggest obstacle is my age. Do you have an advice as to which degree will better serve me, would there be a benefit to having several degrees? And considering my age what is a good course of action to stay on the road to becoming a clinician?

(Also the Psyd schools I am interested in are Wright State, University of Denver, Spalding, University of Indiana, and University of Indianapolis)

I'm sorry that this post is so long!! I appreciate your feedback 🙂

You might want to add to that list of Psy.D. programs Baylor, Rutgers, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I disagree slightly with Docma, it's not that the Psy.D. is hazardous. It's only hazardous if you are going to a program that's not fully funded (we agree on that!) I believe that is what Docma probably intended to say.

If at all possible you want to try to get into either a balanced (and funded Ph.D. program) or a funded Psy.D. program. You might also investigate counseling psychology Ph.D. programs as well. The counseling psychology programs are licensable and often fully funded as well. Given your focus on being a clinician you should be placing the funded Psy.D. programs at the top of your list.

I am assuming that you have a solid psychology background or an undergraduate degree in psychology. If not you should make sure that you can demonstrate your psychology knowledge with a solid performance on the GRE psychology subject test.

Don't let your age be a factor, the programs will not pay too much attention to it. The youngest persons (yes, more than one) entered our program at 21 and 22 respectively and interviewed the year prior to that. Just make sure that you carry yourself with some poise and maturity and you will do just fine.

Mark

 

[sparklyface681]

Thank you both for your advice, I will be looking into those schools. When you say fully-funded can you clarify what that means? Does that mean the program offers assistantships to all of their students? I was under the impression that the most financial help anyone could receive from a PsyD program was an assistantship that covered 1/3 of the cost of tuition.

Do you have an insight as to how valuable the Family Studies degree will be or if leaving the program would hurt my chances of getting into another program in the future? (I currently have like a 3.9 if this makes any difference...)

Also, yes I do have an undergraduate degree in psychology and I am reviewing for the Psychology GRE. As for my research/career interests, I would like to work with GLBTQ children and families. If I decide to stay and finish the program here this is what I will be writing me thesis on.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Unless you are independently wealthy, they PsyD route is a hazardous one to take when you are still young and uncertain about your focus.

I don't much agree with the "independently wealthy" and "hazardous" comments, thought it isn't wise to go for any doctorate if you don't have a focus and a good idea of what you want to do. The amount of time and/or resources (including $) necessary to complete a doctorate needs to be evaluated, though with the competitiveness of programs, that tends to force people to do some planning.