PsychedOnCaffeine
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Posts posted by PsychedOnCaffeine
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Beyond happy that this thread exists!! I'm going to be applying to schools in Philadelphia and my SO and I are moving there soon--would love some recs on personal statement writing as I've previously applied to Clinical Psych PhD programs and the personal statements for MSW programs seem super different. Also, have either of you looked at MFT programs? I'm curious as someone who wants to do more micro SW whether I should be applying to MFT programs as well. Luckily, Philly has a LOT of schools so I have options (I hope)
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10 hours ago, louise86 said:
My advice would be to look at the curriculum of programs you are interested in to better understand the differences in degrees. The MSW is very social and economic justice oriented. I encourage you to read the NASW Code of Ethics and browse around the website.
In general an MHC or MFT is going to narrow your career focus and options. You will be trained to provide therapy. An MSW will train you in therapy, community organizing, advanced case management, policy, leadership, etc. The MSW is more broad because social workers work in many different types of organizations and in many different roles. That is why the degree is considered more flexible. You can be a therapist, you can be a case manager, you can work in policy, you can work in program development, you can work in advocacy... the possibilities are vast. You can work in nonprofits, government agencies, hospitals, private companies, managed care organizations, private practice, etc.
If you start out as a therapist and decide that's not for you or 5, 10, 15+ years from now want to do something else, you can transition more easily with an MSW in my opinion.
I started out as an outpatient therapist in community mental health then transitioned to medical social work, which is more on the case management side. In my experience MSWs are the ones typically promoted into leadership and management roles.
There are fewer LMFTs and LPCs so it can be more difficult to find supervision. You will want to research the area you plan to live and practice in to assess how difficult this may be.
I'm not sure if this has changed, but years ago LCSWs were the only ones that could bill Medicare and therefore are preferred by a lot of agencies. This may have changed so that's something to look into and consider.
I would also encourage you to look into licensing requirements for the state you want to live in to gain insight into what will be expected of you for an independent license. If you plan to move around, LCSW requirements vary widely from state-to-state, whereas LPC is more transferable (pretty sure I'm remembering correctly, but double check this). I'm unsure how the LMFT transfers.
Hopefully this has provided some helpful information.
Thank you!! This was super helpful!! The area I'll be in has not yet been determined, which is maybe why I'm having such a hard time! All of this is great advice though, I appreciate it!
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Hi everyone! I'm going to be applying to professional programs this fall/winter but am getting such mixed reviews on the benefits of MSW/MFT/MHC degrees. I know that the kinds of programs I apply to will be partially reliant on location (my S.O. is looking for jobs, and I'm going to be looking for programs in/near the same city), but can someone help me clarify what the difference is between these kinds of programs?
For background, I have a lot of research experience (I had been planning on going for Clinical Psych PhD programs but had a mild quarter life crisis and decided not to), but am more interested in direct practice. I have a little bit of "practice" experience through a peer counseling program at the university I work at, and I would ideally like to work with adolescents (particularly interested in eating disorders) and possibly their families. However, I'd also like the flexibility to possibly be on a research team at some point (not a PI)
Some people have told me that an MSW degree is more flexible, and because of NASW is the way to go, but others have told me that with either an MFT or MHC you get more direct practice training. I've also been told MFTs and MSWs are both great but that MHC programs aren't as well received? HELP PLS. I'm so confused about the differences in quality and in training!
I'm sure there is another post somewhere on this site, so feel free to just point me in that direction. Would love to hear about experiences of others in this kinds of programs!
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Hi everyone! I'm also starting to prep for another app season. I have a loooooong list of "yes" "maybe" and "no" schools with a whole spreadsheet of info that I'm modifying from this most recent application season (with the intent to move some maybes to the yes list depending on which mentors are accepting students and such).
I only applied to clinical programs this time around, but I have a couple of counseling programs on my list right now--this is probably kind of a dumb question, but what are the major differences between clinical and counseling? I've definitely Googled this before, but I'm trying to wrap my head around how to modify my personal statement for the two kinds of programs, and whether I should be looking more closely at some counseling programs.
Also, does anyone have some solid advice on how to make your application stand out? I have some poster and oral presentations, but at this point no publications on my CV so that's definitely something I'll be working on over the coming months, but any other thoughts on that would be super helpful.
Good luck to all and thanks for being such a supportive community
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So, after this most recent application season ending with 2 interviews and no offers of the 13 schools I applied to, I'm trying to psych myself up for another round of apps. I'm wondering if my research interests are too specific for some of the people I applied to this round, or maybe just weren't the best match and that's why I didn't get as many interviews as I would have hoped. I'm hoping this lovely community of humans can help me either find some schools with mentors that would be a good match for my interests OR a way to market my interests in a broader way that might appeal to more mentors. I'm assuming this is something at least some others have struggled with and thought this would be a good place to start our search early
In a nutshell, I'm interested in how relationships with parents in adolescents are related to the development of maladaptive coping mechanisms/emotion regulation. I'm particularly interested in self-injury and eating disorders, and I'm also interested in how trauma and resilience plays a role in these relationships.
Any places/people in mind that fit? Thanks so much Café-ers!!
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23 hours ago, rllyneedcoffee said:
I have an interview coming up in about a month where the POI's research matches my current experience pretty well, but not necessarily my future interests (from what I can tell). They don't have a lab website, so I can't see what current grad students are working on unfortunately. Any advice on how to ask questions about this, and how to answer questions about my own research? Happy to clarify if this doesn't make sense, thinking is hard this month ?
17 hours ago, ilobebrains said:^Totally feel you on that.
I don't know if this would be helpful, but I think generally PIs are willing to move, within reasonable limits, away from their main research focus if it helps their graduate students. They're also looking for new ideas and possible future directions from their grad student so that they can produce new and exciting research. I think it would benefit you to be honest about your research interests, see if they have something similar in mind (they might) and whether they have the resources to start it with you. Something along the lines of "I'm really excited about your current research, as I have a lot of experience in the same arena such as xyz, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts about going along this path....*elaborate more on your interests* This might be something I would want to explore during my graduate training, and I wanted to get your two cents on it." Granted, if it's waaaay off from their current research, then I don't know and this might be indicative of a poor fit.
Thank you this is helpful!! I've found some recent (and some older) publications that pretty clearly link my POI's interests and my future interests (which makes sense, considering my current experiences have helped lead me to my future interests) so I think I may use that as a jumping off point, as in "I'm excited about your current research and would be interested to expand it into xyz interest, especially given current research has shown a strong link between the two." I do think the general theories this POI does research with fit pretty nicely with most, if not all, of my interests so that's encouraging!
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I have an interview coming up in about a month where the POI's research matches my current experience pretty well, but not necessarily my future interests (from what I can tell). They don't have a lab website, so I can't see what current grad students are working on unfortunately. Any advice on how to ask questions about this, and how to answer questions about my own research? Happy to clarify if this doesn't make sense, thinking is hard this month ?
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MSW Applications Fall 2020
in Social Workers Forum
Posted
@msw715 I would love to hear about your interview experience, if you're willing! I have my interview next week and just have no idea what to expect tbh.