Reply to I think I'd like a new career in psychotherapy

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm the JD to PsyD poster. You may have already researched this yourself, but in case it's helpful here are the options for a career change to psychotherapy.

MSW - usually 2 years full time, but you'll need additional supervised clinical hours to become a licensed clinical social worker, which is what you need to practice psychotherapy independently. My understanding is that social work programs vary a lot in terms of how much clinical work is stressed vs systemic issues. My advice is to check the various programs in the area and see which is the best fit for you.

Masters in Counseling - These are generally 2 year programs leading to becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor. Every state's laws differ slightly about what one must do to become licensed as a psychotherapist at the master's level. Often MA level psychotherapists focus on marriage and family issues or substance abuse.

PhD in clinical or counseling psychology - These programs are usually the most competitive for admissions and take the longest to complete. Good clinical PhD programs are small and often admit few than 10% of applicants. You will have to take many years of coursework, conduct research, as well as complete a dissertation. You will also need an additional year of full-time internship and perhaps another postdoc year of supervised practice before being eligible for licensure. Many PhD programs focus on training clinical researchers rather than psychotherapists, so if psychotherapy is what you want you probably don't want to go this route.

PsyD in clinical or counseling psychology - The good ones are also tough to get into and take 5-7 years start to finish (including internship). I am a PsyD program graduate and feel my program provided the right blend of practice preparation while still educating me in conducting psychological assessment and understanding clinical research. It took me 6 years to get the degree (full time) but some of my peers did it in 5.

While I'm very happy with my PsyD I'd strongly recommend looking into MSW or MA counseling programs if your sole interest is doing therapy with individuals. While doctoral level psychologists can make more money, the differential isn't that great. Most psychologists doing therapy don't make more than 100k; starting salaries if working for institutions usually begin at 40-60k. Private practice is often more lucrative (but no benefits, obviously). If you're still pretty young and the prospect of the PsyD doesn't scare you, I'd also recommend that route. I think my training was fantastic, although it took a long time to get going on my second career.[/quote]

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