Which job is better?

[Kristyna]

I am preparing to change my professional career of working with families and youth in community and recreation based programs to going back to school and doing a psyd in counseling psychology or a masters in mft.

Since I need to prepare my application this year (online psyc. courses, gre prep, clinical work etc) I am at a crossroads.

I have two jobs I can take: one is working as a behavior specialist at a children’s mental health facility, the other an aide for students with developmental disabilities. The first job offers a behavior tech certification and it is one on one with the student in a public or community setting. The second job is at a facility with a team, where I work with sub acute clients with their daily routine, do evaluations, intervention/de escalation,have weekly meetings/training opportunities, etc. The clients have more severe conditions than the aide job, which seems to be a more supporting/teaching role.

I cant figure out if these jobs would be considered “clinical experience”, which psyd or masters programs would accept. I also can’t figure out which would be a better experience for me in terms of learning and exposure to different mental health conditions. 

Any advice would be great! 

[squirrelene]

I vote for the job that involves evaluations and intervention and training opportunities 

I feel like experience with running protocols is more valuable than clinical exposure