What are the drawbacks to a career in school psychology?

[ClinPsycMasters]

It seems to be a well-paying career that is in fairly high demand. Any downside? I'm in clinical psychology so I know that a career that is challenging and stimulating can also be stressful. What kind of stressors in this field? I'd appreciate your comments, specially if you're a student in the field or have already graduated.

Thanks

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[lookitssara]

I've asked this question myself several times while shadowing school psychs. The two main answers I get are 1) parents and 2) paperwork. Parents who don't allow their child to be tested and/or parents who don't allow their child to receive services or don't go along with the plan can be really frustrating. Even the waiting game to find a day/time that the parent can come in can be rough (depending on the district). Also, school psychs usually fill out mass amounts of paperwork that is generally seen by them as unnecessary. Since most school psychs have too large of a caseload and are bogged down with testing (instead of other roles they would prefer to fill), the paperwork is an added hassle.

Since the role of the school psych differs so much district-to-district and state-to-state, some hassles will be more specific to where one works and their particular duties (especially in small rural districts where school psychs may get stuck with roles such as "RTI coordinator" or "Section 504 paperwork guru" - NOT what they should be doing). HTHS

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

Thanks. I want to go into a career that's less stressful than clinical psychology, but I'm not sure school psychology qualifies. I bet many times it's the situation where the school/staff/admin want one thing, parents another, child still another, and you're in the middle juggling everybody's needs and fighting off undue influences due to role ambiguity. I wouldn't mind paperwork too much if other aspects of the job are to my liking.

 

[Schooled]

As far as how stressful it is, I'm sure its comparable to a clinical psychologists. Also, school psych PhDs can practice in clinical/medical setting so they can share in the clinical stress.

Paper work and parents are a reality that all practicing psychologists (or any child health care provider) has to deal with. Also, clinpsycmasters pointed out the push and pull forces of the agency vs. the patient vs. yourself. Keep in mind that those also exists in any arena of practicing psychologists. Now is it MORE of a headache for school psychologists? The answer is... it depends.

So the things that others have mentioned are indeed drawbacks, but they are realities all psychologists put up with to one degree or another.

One thing that is specific (and like lookitssara aptly pointed out it varies on distract) is that school psychologists have to go from one school to another. I once shadowed a school psych that essentially kept her office in her car because she had to drive from school to school so much. In the same vein, how you are treated and seen may vary between schools. Some schools might see you as bother, while other view you as an integral member of the team. Whereas if you were working in a hospital, for example, you adjust to the ONE climate, as a school psych, you may have to adjust to many just in one day!

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

One thing that is specific (and like lookitssara aptly pointed out it varies on distract) is that school psychologists have to go from one school to another.

Why?

 

[lookitssara]

Why do they go from one school to another?
In many rural (and poor) districts, they cannot hire one school psychologist per school. Even in Nashville this is the case, though they travel to 2 schools at the most.

Why is this stressful?
Traveling from school to school itself takes time which is stressful, as is dealing with multiple bureaucracies (as opposed to one). Additionally, because of IDEA laws, school psychs often provide services at private schools within the district too. It also means you're spreading yourself thinner and thus not having the time to provide the services you'd like to the students that need it.

Not trying to indicate that it's a highly stressful job - it depends so much on the district and your personality. If you're really interested in school psychology, I highly recommend shadowing some local ones. Additionally, I have found the blog below to be really informative. Realize while reading it however that this school psych provides much more counseling and related non-testing services than some do (and she notes this in one of her entries). She also has an entry that is "a day in the life of..."

http://studentsgrow.blogspot.com/

 

[Schooled]

Why?

To add to what lookitssara said, school psychologists are typically hired by the school district not necessarily one school in that district. So you would serve an entire ISD along side other school psychologists. I think masters level school psychologists and specialists are likely to work with one school however. By comparison, clinical psychologists will have patients come to them in private or medical practice. In residential settings you'll have a "captive audience" which is even less stressful.

 

[Big Psych]

It seems to be a well-paying career that is in fairly high demand. Any downside? I'm in clinical psychology so I know that a career that is challenging and stimulating can also be stressful. What kind of stressors in this field? I'd appreciate your comments, specially if you're a student in the field or have already graduated.

Thanks

Working for the school system can be a real beating. You'd be working for people who are on average less intelligent and less educated than yourself and having to put up with the BS red tape that make you jump through just to scratch your own butt. Plus, dealing with adolecents who NEED therapy is one thing. Trying to have a conversation with Johnny about why he ditches 4th period English to smoke pot with his friends, when Johnny is only there because the Principal forced him to, can be like beating your head against a brick wall.