Which is best graduate school for me?

[psychinterestwoman]

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[Justanothergrad]

This field isn't a part time or night time training field. So none of those are good, or even close to it.

 

[deleted343839]

None of these seem like very good options. Can you explain a bit more about the type of work you do now, and what interests you about professional psychology?

 

[AbnormalPsych]

I'm currently working as a secondary teacher, and in the past I've taught a psychology course. Based on my own teaching and my discussions with the counselors, I find the counseling and psychology part of the school experience to be interesting. I also find clinical psychology interesting, but I recognize I have more experience and background working in a school setting. What I find interesting about psychology is the way that human development plays a role in student learning and cognition, and I like talking with individual students about their goals. I am not interested in diagnosing, say, autism or learning disabilities, but I relate to positive psychology, cognitive behavioral psychology, growth mindset, mindfulness, and social psychology. In my graduate studies, I found terror management theory and phenomenological methods to be really interesting approaches that rang true. I find sociology pretty interesting too.

My school psych friends say testing is like 90% of their job.

Your list does not have great options. I am guessing you may be in CA from that list. If so, you can be a school psychologist in CA with a masters. Applying directly to a school psych masters program may be a better option for you.

Regardless, if you decide to pursue graduate training in school or clinical psych, it will need to be full-time. I know of 0 quality programs that would make working your current job an option. You may be able to sub here and there.

 

[deleted343839]

What I find interesting about psychology is the way that human development plays a role in student learning and cognition, and I like talking with individual students about their goals. I am not interested in diagnosing, say, autism or learning disabilities, but I relate to positive psychology, cognitive behavioral psychology, growth mindset, mindfulness, and social psychology.

What is the actual job that you envision yourself doing, though? I'm having trouble reconciling your interests (and non-interests) with the day to day work of a school psychologist.

I know a high school teacher who went back to school to become a licensed professional counselor and start a private practice focused on adjustment-type problems in adolescents. That seems maybe more like the kind of thing you're looking for. I would look into master's level programs to see whether you might be able to meet your goals that way.

In my graduate studies, I found terror management theory and phenomenological methods to be really interesting approaches that rang true.

These aren't really directly applicable to the day-to-day work of a clinical or school psychologist. I had to Google terror management theory.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

There are a lot of fine online programs in many disciplines.

.....but not Psychology. Or medicine, dentistry, etc.

I agree about not trusting any clinician (whether it be a physician, psychologist, dentist, podiatrist, etc) who trained online. Trusting a clinician from a training program that hasn’t proven equivalency is not biased...it is good science. Objective measures like standardized test scores demonstrate a clear difference. I stand by my bias.

 

[MAClinician]

If you are interested in the school age population but not interested in testing, what about school counselor positions? Many schools prefer teachers who later get degrees in school counseling because they understand the nature of school scheduling and what happens in schools. If you live in and want to remain in CA, might be worth exploring what is needed to become a school counselor. Most states require a masters degree in school counseling and there may be evening programs to attend near you. However, you will still need to complete field experience which would occur during your work day (school hours) so that is something to consider.