Unsatisfied with teaching freshman writing courses, and uninterested in getting a PhD in English, I am considering a career change. Specifically, I’m considering going into clinical psychology or a similar-type program.
I’m interested in doing family therapy, but I am most interested in working with teens and young adults, probably in a school setting. I got into teaching for the chance to work with young people on a personal level, but I’m finding that I don’t really get to. I guess my absolute ideal job would be at a small college where they still might have occasional use for my English MA. Failing that, maybe a high school … but when I think of high-school guidance counselors, I think of people administering the tests that tell you what to do for a career, and that doesn’t sound like what I want to do. If anyone here is a GC, I’d love some, umm… guidance.
I’m not sure I’d want to do a PhD, but from a quick look around, MA counselors seem to be making salaries in the 30s to 40s even with experience, and at least down the road I’d like to be doing better than that.
I guess I don’t have any specific questions, but I’d love it if some dopers in the feild could just share their experiences.
I am a therapist, although I work with adults, not adolescents or kids.
I highly recommend getting a Ph.D., rather than a master’s degree. Laws concerning MA level therapists change and vary by state, but a Ph.D. will never go out of style.
Oddly, enough, I was an English major as an undergrad for my first two years before seeing the light. I absolutely love what I do, which is not something everyone can say.
All of the colleges I know of (I used to teach full time) have counseling programs. I think they would be a great place to work–lots of smart young clients. Most offer free counseling (although the number of sessions is limited) so you wouldn’t have to mess with insurance, which is a pain in the ass.
IANAT but I know a lot of them and thought about going into clinical psych at one point and did tons of research. You may want to look into licensed social work programs. They are similar to clinical psychologists in some ways but they focus more on actual real-world therapy whereas clinical psychologists tend to be more academic and theory based. Time to degree would probably be shorter and there isn’t an academic requirement for a dissertation.
I know the one that I saw billed for $120 hour in private practice although I can’t know his annual salary. That is pretty typical in my area.
Hey, here’s a specific question: how did you finance grad school? I paid my way through undergrad and MA … were you able to get grants/scholarships/fellowships to cover living expenses?
Yep. I made it all the way through grad school without taking out a loan. Steer away from professional schools–they are expensive and have a poorer reputation than universities do.
$125 an hour is unusually high for a LCSW. They typically make about what people with a MA make. OTOH, especially if your grades won’t get you into a good clinical or counseling program at a university, I would recommend an LCSW program before a professional school.
I think you misunderstood. I was saying that I was able to go to grad school fulltime and support myself on the stipend I got for being a teaching assistant and then for teaching my own classes. In other words, no loan, no outside job, finished in 5 years.
