Registering with a Master's in Clinical Psych and a PhD in Experimental Psych?

[baba ganoush]

I have a Master's in Clinical Psychology. This year I am applying to PhD programs. Although I would prefer to get a PhD in Clinical Psychology, I was considering as Plan B, a PhD in Experimental Psychology.

However, does anyone know how this would impact me when I graduate and register?
I know one psychologist who has a Master's in Clinical Psychology but a doctorate in Education, yet he practices as a clinical psychologist. He graduated probably 30+ years ago...so I'm not sure how it works now.

I want to ensure that I can practice as a Clinical psychologist. This would be in Canada. If I got a doctorate in Experimental Psych, it looks like I could register in provinces (e.g., Ontario) at the doctoral level because I would have taken the additional courses needed...?

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[AcronymAllergy]

It's likely going to vary from province to province (as it does from state to state, to some degree, in the US), but in general I believe you'd actually need to finish some type of re-certification program. I can't speak for Canada, so this may be completely erroneous, but most US states require a doctoral degree in clinical, counseling, or school psychology in order to be licensed as a psychologist; a master's in clinical psychology is in many ways "useless" down here, at least in a licensing perspective.

 

[thewesternsky]

I'm from Ontario too, so I think I can help. If you're able to find an appropriate supervised practice position after your Ph.D., you will be able to register. Your declared scope of practice would likely need to be narrow unless you acquired an extremely broad supervised practice experience (because you won't have the breadth of experience that people with PhDs in clinical psych would have).

The reason you can become registered with an experimental psych Ph.D. is because currently the only limitation for registering in Ontario is that the Ph.D. program be "primarily psychological in nature". There are murmurs that this 'back door' will soon be closed, and that the legislation will be revised to require that the PhD be in clinical psychology (and perhaps CPA/APA accredited or equivalent). If this change were to happen before you finish your degree and supervised practice, you'd be out of luck re: registering.

Depending on your career goals (especially if your goals don't involve a heavy research component), you may be better off skipping the Ph.D. and instead working on getting enough supervised practice hours to register at the Master's level, as a psychological associate. If you register in certain provinces (not Ontario), you may even be able to call yourself a psychologist with only a Master's degree.

 

[thewesternsky]

Even if this is currently legal in Canada, don't you think it's misleading and unethical to register and present yourself to clients as if you completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology?

Um, if you said "I have a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology," to clients, that would certainly be unethical. Saying that you're a clinical psychologist in Ontario, though, is within your rights.

It would be unethical to practice outside your scope of practice; however, the licensing board determines whether you have adequate experience (through both training and supervised practice) in the areas you've declared as scope. The most common things I've seen are:

- people with Ph.D.s in Developmental Psych doing 2 or so years of full-time supervised practice (plus other training opportunities like workshops) and then declaring competence solely in child therapy.
- people with Ph.D.s in cognition and neuropsych doing assessment training during grad school, 2 or so years of supervised practice, and then declaring competence in cognitive assessment.

I don't think either of these are unethical. If person B above decided to do therapy without obtaining acceptable further training and supervision, that would be a problem and they would be reprimanded/likely have their license revoked.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Um, if you said "I have a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology," to clients, that would certainly be unethical. Saying that you're a clinical psychologist in Ontario, though, is within your rights.

While it may be legal to use that terminology in Canada, I don't believe it is ethical. The title of "Clinical Psychologist" is almost universally understood to represent a person who completed a doctorate in clinical psychology, which implies the successful completion of all classwork, supervision, and related training required from a clinical psychology program. Calling yourself an "Experimental Psychologist" I think is a far more appropriate catagorization.

 

[The Everglow]

Hey there, nice to see more fellow Canadians on this board!

Check out this link, it tells you the level of education necessary for each province to register and practice as a psychologist or psychological associate. As you can see, in some provinces, you can register and call yourself a psychologist with only a masters in clinical psych, counselling psych, or school psych assuming you've passed the required exams etc. However, keep in mind that there are rumblings in the CPA about making a doctoral degree in clinical psych, counselling psych, or school psych necessary to register as a psychologist in any province.

http://www.cpa.ca/education/accreditation/PTlicensingrequirements/

Cheers!

 

[thewesternsky]

The title of "Clinical Psychologist" is almost universally understood to represent a person who completed a doctorate in clinical psychology, which implies the successful completion of all classwork, supervision, and related training required from a clinical psychology program.

*nods*. You're right-- the term that registered psychologists without a doctoral degree in clinical psychology should be using is simply 'psychologist'; I made a mistake by using the word clinical in my previous post on this thread.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Precisely. Given that the OP specified a desire to practice as a *clinical* psychologist, it's pretty shady to go get a Ph.D. in experimental and then use the title.

This was my concern.

Unfortunately I've seen some less reputable programs sell someone on an unlicensable Ph.D. so they can call themselves "Dr.", but then they can only get licensed at the MS-level. Technically the person can call themselves Dr. So and So, but they really aren't trained at the same level, and pretty much any way they cut it they are pushing into sketchy/unethical territory.

 

[baba ganoush]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I hope I didn't come across like I was trying to be "shady". Sometimes I forget that the psychology and registration terminology is very specific. What I meant is if I could register as a psychologist, but have a practice area in Clinical Psychology.
Also I forgot to mention that the PhD is a Clinical Experimental program, but am not sure if that makes a difference. Does any one know?

Right now I am practising in Canada in a province that allows one to register at the Master's level. My practice areas are Clinical psychology and Research psychology because my training meets the requirements and I work both in research and in a clinical position. Because I require 4 years of supervision and I need to to write the EPPP and pass an oral exam, the term I am allowed to use currently is Psychologist (Candidate Register). Once I meet those requirements, I can use "Registered psychologist".
I was not aware that the term "clinical psychologist" was reserved for registered psychologists with a PhD in Clinical Psychology...I mean, I thought, at least in Alberta or Nova Scotia that someone with either a Master's or a PhD who is registered is called just a "psychologist". I guess my mistake was thinking that any psychologist (i.e., Master's or Doctoral level) who has a practice area in Clinical Psychology can be called a "clinical psychologist"...? Not sure if this is only in the U.S.?