Therapy and different fields involved in it

[pacman8794]

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Being that i'm a junior in college, majoring in Biology, w/ only my intro to psycho honors class and stats class taken, I'm at a huge disadvantage already and so i wanted to ask everyone here if they could give me some advice to this:

More than anything, I would like to have therapy sessions w/ people and do a little of psychotherapy and just listen to them and give them my attention. I don't know if i need a masters or a phd and if that goes under counseling psychology or something else. Also what could i do w/ a masters in counseling psychology or something else w/ therapy involved having a masters? Does anyone know if i could do something w/ my biology degree in therapy? I just have no idea and am trying to figure all this out b/c to go for something in psychology would require me to take more psych classes, having only 1 or 2 free electives left, and having to study for the GREs and not knowing much on the psych portion of that test. So, let me know guys and I would greatly appreciate all opinions and advice.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You'll need at least an MA/MS. It really depends on the area you want to work in, since counseling is a bit different than social work, compared to marriage and family, compared to clinical (there are other areas, I just picked some common ones). My bias is that clinical offers the most complete training, but it also takes the longest, and is the hardest to get into. If you just want to do therapy, I think an MS or MSW is the best compromise for time/money/job.

I'm sure others have input, so I'll check back in a couple days.

-t

 

[brightness]

I don't think a BS in biology is necessarily a big disadvantage. At my institution, the psychology major is 30 credits, which isn't all that much- you could do that in a year. Then, you could get your master's degree in psychology or in counseling so you can do therapy. You could also go to graduate school in social work and get an MSW- Master's of Social Work- degree, which also allows you to do counseling. All of these are valid routes to becoming a therapist, and social work programs are generally viewed as less competitive than others- but I'm not really sure if masters level psychology/counseling programs are competitive or not.

 

[pacman8794]

thanks guys, the one main problem I have now is seeing how i can fit a couple of psych courses into my schedule here and there. i don't want to have to go college another year after i graduate b/c it would cost a lot of money. if anyone else has advice on therapy type situations please let me know.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You can always volunteer for a crisis hotline or something similar. It isn't therapy, though it is intervention, and it will give you a glimpse of the types of things you may encounter if you choose to pursue this field further.

-t

 

[pacman8794]

You can always volunteer for a crisis hotline or something similar. It isn't therapy, though it is intervention, and it will give you a glimpse of the types of things you may encounter if you choose to pursue this field further.

-t

I've had a few experiences w/ hotline type situations and I was able to help out which made me feel really good. i did a little browsing and found out an MSW can allow me to psychotherapy and getting a masters in that would make more sense than getting PhD in that b/c the masters doesn' really focus on research. Then again, do you know what I could do w/ a Masters in counseling psych.?

 

[jdawgg]

I've had a few experiences w/ hotline type situations and I was able to help out which made me feel really good. i did a little browsing and found out an MSW can allow me to psychotherapy and getting a masters in that would make more sense than getting PhD in that b/c the masters doesn' really focus on research. Then again, do you know what I could do w/ a Masters in counseling psych.?

You can ultimately practice psychotherapy with either an MSW or a terminal Master's in Counseling Psych. A lot of these programs do not require you to have a prior degree in psychology. From my understanding the MSW is a more versatile and established degree. It allows you to pursue avenues other than psychotherapy if you decide it isn't for you. From what I've heard it's also easier to get licensure as an LCSW rather than an LPC in most states due to the way they count clinical hours. Depending on what state you're in the MSW is also better recognized and carries a bit more weight from what I've heard since the program is more uniform.

That being said, I'm in a counseling psych master's program and think it fits my particular needs well. There seems to be more counseling psych programs than social work programs so that may play into it if location is a major consideration (it was for me).

 

[trudy]

Look up Psychology Today and check out profiles; lots of types of degrees, non-master's even, who work with people.