What can one do with an MA in counseling psychology?

[chloe333]

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Besides counseling what can they do? 🙂 Where do you work, what settings, etc? Are there any jobs in this economy? Thank you in advance for sharing!

 

[Rapunzel]

I'm a master's level therapist (graduated this year). I work in a residential treatment center, as a lot of others I know of do too. I think that many counselors work for community mental health clinics. Once we get independently licensed private practice is an option. They taught us in my master's program that we can do anything that psychologists do, but for a lot of assessment we would need a supervisor who can sign off on it. That's where I feel limited. It's disappointing to me when treatment team decides to send one of my clients out for psychological testing, and I think I'd really like to be doing that, and for them to accept that I understand my client and know what I'm doing. I do feel limited, and I still want to get a doctorate and be a psychologist. But this is not too bad, and I'm qualified to do most of what I want to do. And there are jobs, but perhaps a bit harder to find than a year or two ago. I'm seeing more jobs available recently, so maybe things are looking up.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I'm a master's level therapist (graduated this year). I work in a residential treatment center, as a lot of others I know of do too. I think that many counselors work for community mental health clinics. Once we get independently licensed private practice is an option. They taught us in my master's program that we can do anything that psychologists do, but for a lot of assessment we would need a supervisor who can sign off on it. That's where I feel limited.

Unfortunately I'm hearing this more and more, and it is disconcerning because it puts the student in a position where he or she may be encouraged to act out of scope, and/or take on more than they reasonably should be expected to handle.

It's disappointing to me when treatment team decides to send one of my clients out for psychological testing, and I think I'd really like to be doing that, and for them to accept that I understand my client and know what I'm doing. I do feel limited, and I still want to get a doctorate and be a psychologist. But this is not too bad, and I'm qualified to do most of what I want to do. And there are jobs, but perhaps a bit harder to find than a year or two ago. I'm seeing more jobs available recently, so maybe things are looking up.

I think the challenge is that in your area you may have a great handle of your client and what you are doing, but additional information may be required for the team to accurately evaluate where the client is at in their current level of functioning. For example, you may be working with a client that has memory issues, and the treatment team wants to know how and where these memory issues may be impacting the client. A referral is made to a neuropsychologist to do some testing, and another referall may be made to a neurologist to rule out organic/medical issues. In this example both referalls aren't a slight on your abilities, but instead pieces of the puzzle that need to be addressed so eveyone on the team (yourself included) can make an informed decision about the client.

In regard to the OP's inquiry....MA level counselors can work in a variety of settings. It can vary by state (both legally and by facility "preference"), so it would behoove you to take a look at the job descriptions in the state(s) you'd like to work. I mention preference because some facilities may prefer MSWs over LPCs, while another facility prefers LPCs over MSWs and MFTs.

 

[lookitssara]

Great point about the overlap between counselors and MSWs when it comes to come positions.

Most counselors work at residential trx centers, mental health agencies, etc. Some work as family or marriage counselor/therapists. There are some counselors (not even specifically school counselors) that work in schools as well. These last two options generally pay the most.

 

[Kyle3309]

In Texas, you are able to get licensed as a LPC and have independent practice and have all privileges of a psychologist with the exception of diagnosing and psychological testing.

Kyle

 

[munising16]

I work at a Community Mental Health agency, and we have a mix of LPCs, MSWs, LLPs, and one LP (me), plus four MDs. Clinicians havce equal roles.