Is anyone here a counselor or therapist?

[Luanne]

My daughter is considering becoming a counselor. What should she do to prepare for it? Will she need a 4 year degree to become one or is there some other way that is better? Can you tell I don't know anything about this?

[Ibbygirl]

There were some gals in this thread who mentioned they were therapists. http://welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166293 Maybe you could contact them? Sorry I don't have anything better to offer. Hope that helps. :)

[tex-mex]

It is usually a graduate degree program -- I majored in Elem Ed and I can complete my Master's in Counseling for Education or choose to be a Counselor in clinical setting. Both ways are different degree programs and you need to pass a certification exam to pursue your career or be hired.

[G5052]

You can get an institutional job in an hospital, clinic, or school with a master's degree, but if you want to go out on your own in an office and work full-time, most insurance companies require a PhD for reinbursement now.

[Alyce]

first she needs to decide which she wants to do. If she's interested in school counseling there are specific degrees for that usually school psychology. If she wants clinical counseling she can get her degree in social work or clinical psychology. With both of those she can set up private practice. You can practice as a counselor without having your phD and insurance companies pay for them but you must be licensed. All 3 of these options require a master's degree and you must take a state test to get a license to do so.

[laughing lioness]

I have a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and my dh is a Clinical Psychologist (doctoral level). A four year degree (Bachelor's level) will not allow you to practice as a licensed therapist (which you'll need if you want to get insurance reimbursement). You will need, as someone else stated, a graduate degree for that. Does she want to work in schools, hospitals, military, private practice? There are various degrees for each. You can make decent money with a master's degree, but you will need pre-graduation clinical hours (I would find a program that required this) in addition to post graduate hours and it varies by degree and state. In SD, with an MFT I need 2000 post graduation hours. You will pay for clinical supervision (unless provided by a job). Pre-licensed jobs usually consist of seeing lots of chronic, high needs, impoverished folks- young and old, criminal and others who need help, have a low chance of improvement and can't pay. It can be depressing, stressful (there is TONS of paperwork in this field) and doesn't pay much.

There are tests to take for licensure that are difficult and costly.

Many therapists are going the route of "personal coach" due to insurance changes.

Also, when the economy changes, private practice changes. Gone are the days of very wealthy therapists, due to Insurance and ethics changes, economic down-turns and HIPPA.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to pm me. My parents were a psychologist and therapist as well so I've been around the therapy world for a while.

[jelbe5]

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker here in IL. I have an MSW. It took me two years of part-time study at night and one year of an internship. While going to school at night I worked a full time job but that was impossible for the internship. I did know many people in my program who had a BSW who then went for the MSW and were able to use their social work position as their internship. I was not working in the field at the time which is why I had to leave my job to complete the internship.

 

Initially I worked with mentally ill adults. Then I worked in a school for children with behavior disorders. While at the school I completed the requirements to be a school social worker here in IL. That can be a nice position because sometimes (not always) school social workers are on the same schedule as teachers, which can be nice when trying to work and raise a family.

 

The work can be demanding in that you have to be able to give of yourself while working but not take your work into your personal life. I am not working at this time . . . after the birth of my third child we learned my son has autism and I left work to focus on homeschooling and helping my son. I have not regretted leaving work but I do feel my social work training and work experience have helped me to be a better homeschooling mom and mom to a child with a disability. It can be a very rewarding, but demanding, career. If your dd has specific questions you would like to email to me I would be happy to try to answer them.

 

Adrianne in IL

[Jane in NC]

I have a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and my dh is a Clinical Psychologist (doctoral level). A four year degree (Bachelor's level) will not allow you to practice as a licensed therapist (which you'll need if you want to get insurance reimbursement). You will need, as someone else stated, a graduate degree for that. Does she want to work in schools, hospitals, military, private practice? There are various degrees for each. You can make decent money with a master's degree, but you will need pre-graduation clinical hours (I would find a program that required this) in addition to post graduate hours and it varies by degree and state. In SD, with an MFT I need 2000 post graduation hours. You will pay for clinical supervision (unless provided by a job). Pre-licensed jobs usually consist of seeing lots of chronic, high needs, impoverished folks- young and old, criminal and others who need help, have a low chance of improvement and can't pay. It can be depressing, stressful (there is TONS of paperwork in this field) and doesn't pay much.

There are tests to take for licensure that are difficult and costly.

Many therapists are going the route of "personal coach" due to insurance changes.

 

 

I just wanted to echo agreement here. One of my walking buddies just completed her master's degree in clinical psychology. I was astounded by the number of hours beyond course work that she had to perform, most on her dime by the way. She became such an asset to the clinic that they began paying her as a part timer before she completed these hours--not everyone is so fortunate.

 

One thing that I learned as she was on this path is that the psych department in which she studied offers a variety of degrees, some easier to obtain than others because of coursework, licensure exams, etc. Applicants need to consider carefully where they want to end up because the paths are so different or require very different prerequisites. Neural psychologists need a significant background in biology--clinical people need less but my friend ended up studying a great deal of pharmacology because of her interest in substance abuse.

 

Good luck to your daughter.

Jane