Canadian MSW Applicants 2021

[olivolia]

41 minutes ago, AlexaS said:

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had any insight into becoming a registered psychotherapist vs. a registered social worker. I just got accepted into Laurier's MA in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and was wondering how much job opportunities differ with the two degrees?

 

There is honestly a few better perks to being a registered Social Worker vs. Psychotherapist

- You can get any Psychotherapist job positing with a MSW, but you can't get a social worker specific job being a psychotherapist

- You need to write a final big exam to become a registered Psychotherapist, Social Work you do not - you can apply to be registered upon finishing.

- Hospitals hire Social Workers or Psychologists, not psychotherapists (most hospitals not all)

- In private practice, Social Workers do not have to be GST or HST I forget which one.

- You are able to write the Psychotherapy exam as a social worker and be registered as both!

- Some insurance companies only accept Social Worker or Psychologist, not Psychotherapist (I know this even from experience because mine did not cover psychotherapist)

[soph.tc]

49 minutes ago, AlexaS said:

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had any insight into becoming a registered psychotherapist vs. a registered social worker. I just got accepted into Laurier's MA in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and was wondering how much job opportunities differ with the two degrees?

 

If you’re set on practicing therapy, the MA will better prepare you. I have two friends who completed their MSWs and both said it did not prepare them well to practice psychotherapy.  If you’re interested in a variety of positions, then an MSW is def more generalizable and opens up more doors! 

[MacaroniGirl]

3 minutes ago, soph.tc said:

If you’re set on practicing therapy, the MA will better prepare you. I have two friends who completed their MSWs and both said it did not prepare them well to practice psychotherapy.  If you’re interested in a variety of positions, then an MSW is def more generalizable and opens up more doors! 

I think it also really depends on the school you go to and how clinically oriented their program is

Edited April 1, 2021 by MacaroniGirl

[soph.tc]

Just now, MacaroniGirl said:

S I think it also really depends on the school you go to and how clinically oriented their program is as well 

True. These people went to UofT which I know is known to be more “clinical”. I’m sure experiences vary person to person though! 

[teaandSW21]

1 hour ago, AlexaS said:

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had any insight into becoming a registered psychotherapist vs. a registered social worker. I just got accepted into Laurier's MA in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and was wondering how much job opportunities differ with the two degrees?

 

From what i've been told by my therapist (MSW/RSW) who graduated the UofT 2 year(ironically) and said that in psychotherapy you get paid WAY less and you aren't as valued in the clinical field (pls don't take offence to this people her words not mine). I did some research bc I was trying to decide between SW and psychotherapy.. basically with psychotherapy you have to write an exam to become registered in Ontario and you have to have a whole bunch of additional supervised hours which a majority of the time placements don't cover. With an MSW you graduate your MSW and can immediately register and be on your way!

This being said, for me personally I want to go into private practice which is very clinical. I was told I wouldn't get hired at a psychologists office where therapists do private practice having a psychotherapy masters (majority of the time they hire people with masters in Psych or social work only) there is one psychotherapist that works at that clinic and she gets paid less even though she has way more experience (and is about 20 years older than my social worker). The other side with this is that a lot of insurance providers don't cover psychotherapists but they do for social workers or psychologists (my provider is like this). Not trying to scare you away just have done my research and giving you a very honest answer... 

 

I also have seen jobs that basically require that you are registered with an appropriate college of practice (could be social work, psychotherapy etc) but the process overall to register as a psychotherapist is more complex. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by teaandSW21

[amesyall]

2 hours ago, AlexaS said:

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had any insight into becoming a registered psychotherapist vs. a registered social worker. I just got accepted into Laurier's MA in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and was wondering how much job opportunities differ with the two degrees?

 

Hey! When you have a social work degree you can also practice psychotherapy under the OCSWSSW! So, a degree in social work will open both doors for you  I have also heard that MSW degrees generally open up more career doors than MA degrees, but I that's just what I've heard from peers so I can't promise that that's fully accurate. I hope this helps! 

[ntsgrg]

5 hours ago, olivolia said:

There is honestly a few better perks to being a registered Social Worker vs. Psychotherapist

- You can get any Psychotherapist job positing with a MSW, but you can't get a social worker specific job being a psychotherapist

- You need to write a final big exam to become a registered Psychotherapist, Social Work you do not - you can apply to be registered upon finishing.

- Hospitals hire Social Workers or Psychologists, not psychotherapists (most hospitals not all)

- In private practice, Social Workers do not have to be GST or HST I forget which one.

- You are able to write the Psychotherapy exam as a social worker and be registered as both!

- Some insurance companies only accept Social Worker or Psychologist, not Psychotherapist (I know this even from experience because mine did not cover psychotherapist)

To piggy back onto what Olivolia mentioned, you can also use the title "Psychotherapist" after your MSW credential, you just can't put "Registered" since it is a protected title. So, for example, you can list yourself as:

"Jane Doe, MSW, RSW, Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist"

More information about that is indicated on the OCSWSSW's website as well: https://www.ocswssw.org/professional-practice/regulation-of-psychotherapy/.

While you do have to take the exam to use the recognized title of Registered Psychotherapist, it certainly is nice to be able to use the term to some capacity even without it. Also, MSW's allow for more broad job opportunities. You can pursue many different avenues because the skills are transferable. If I decide I don't like working in the hospital, I can look for work in the school system, or maybe do some policy work.  I personally, felt that if I were to do an MA in Counselling or Psychotherapy I would be pigeon holing myself, because although I want to pursue the counselling and clinical work at the end of the day I don't know what I am going to end up enjoying. I say now I would never do policy but that could change! 

Oh, and also the fees for registration with the OCSWSSW is way cheaper than the CRPO fees!

Edited April 2, 2021 by ntsgrg

[KimMsw2]

Hi all! Those of you who accepted an offer to Carleton's 2-year program, were you asked to pay any deposit? Haven't received ANY follow up emails or whatsoever since accepting the offer so trying to figure out what the next step is ..

[Waiting4AdmissionDecisions]

Are people laying pretty low this weekend? I know acorn's changed on a weekend before, but I would be surprised if they did it on a holiday/long weekend, right?

[Kal008]

8 minutes ago, Waiting4AdmissionDecisions said:

Are people laying pretty low this weekend? I know acorn's changed on a weekend before, but I would be surprised if they did it on a holiday/long weekend, right?

I'm not checking it this weekend at all. Even though Monday isn't technically a holiday I have a feeling they'll start on Tuesday to be honest. I cannot imagine them not starting this coming week though! 

[teaandSW21]

3 hours ago, Waiting4AdmissionDecisions said:

Are people laying pretty low this weekend? I know acorn's changed on a weekend before, but I would be surprised if they did it on a holiday/long weekend, right?

yeah i'm not checking this weekend.. thinking maybe it'll be tuesday at the earliest...

[BCgirl]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on here! This forum has provided me with a lot of helpful information. I have seen a lot of discussion about east coast schools but not much about west coast. I recently got into UVIC 2 year MSW and was wondering if anyone knows how the program is/if they enjoyed the program ?

I am also waiting to hear back from U of T and was wondering as someone who wants to come back to the west coast would it be worth it to go to U of T (if I got in)  as my network would be out there and I would have no social work connections when I get back or does it not really matter when it comes to employment? In terms of social connections I would be out there on my own and was wondering if it is easy to connect with the classmates in the program? I have heard that U of T is not a very social school and many people say it is hard to meet other people! 

Any input would be great! Thanks so much

[afk612]

51 minutes ago, BCgirl said:

I recently got into UVIC 2 year MSW and was wondering if anyone knows how the program is/if they enjoyed the program ?

 

Congrats on your acceptance!!!

I'm just wrapping up my BSW at UVic right now so I can speak to that, I believe the foundational MSW year is basically a condensed equivalent of the BSW program. Overall the program's focus is on anti-oppressive practice with a strong Indigenous focus. It is not very clinical at all. Here are some pros and cons I can think of:

Pros:

-As someone who is on the more radical/ left leaning side of the political spectrum, I LOVED the course content and focus on anti-oppressive practice! I genuinely learned so much as a result of participating in this program. 

Cons:

-The practicum department can be super disorganized. You are not allowed to secure your own practicum, but some of the practicum coordinators do a VERY poor job of finding students placements. Sometimes (even pre-covid) students would book time off work to do their practicum and the coordinators would fail to find them ANY placement... let alone a placement they liked. 

-Many students with disabilities find that the school is not understanding or accommodating. I have heard of numerous students with disabilities (myself included) being told by faculty members that if you have a disability, you are not fit to practice social work. (The fact that the profs telling us this are also the ones preaching about anti-oppressive practice is especially troubling to me).

-The asynchronous online format means you almost never get to interact with your profs or classmates other than in discussion posts and when receiving written feedback. For me it was quite lonely... although I guess you will be in person for half of the MSW so that may not be as much of an issue for you.

-The course content became repetitive by the end of the program.

If I were to boil it down to a number rating, I would say my experience with the UVic SSW was a 6/10. I expect if it were in person it would have been more like a 7 or 7.5, and higher if I had not been treated poorly due to my disability. 

[xtrahotlatte]

Currently waiting for UofT 2 year MSW (only social work program I applied to). I actually predominantly applied to graduate programs in clinical psychology with social work as a back-up option. I haven't been admitted to any clinical programs as of yet, nor do I think I will be, but I was accepted to the psychology research stream (MA/PhD) at Ryerson. I have never really considered research before as I always wanted to do clinical work but now I'm unsure. 

Between MSW and research, why would you guys choose to do social work? I'm pretty confident I will be accepted into MSW at UofT but the deadline to reply to Ryerson is April 15th. I can't believe I'm still this confused about which program to do!!! Any insight about your reasons for doing social work vs. research would be GREATLY appreciated. TIA!  

[ash59]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone can provide me with some insight on Laurier's 2-year MSW program. Is it more competitive then other programs? If you go there how is the program and practicums? I would really appreciate this from anyone who knows more about Laurier's program since I noticed a lot of people talk about other schools not really this one. 

[JMW89]

3 hours ago, BCgirl said:

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on here! This forum has provided me with a lot of helpful information. I have seen a lot of discussion about east coast schools but not much about west coast. I recently got into UVIC 2 year MSW and was wondering if anyone knows how the program is/if they enjoyed the program ?

I am also waiting to hear back from U of T and was wondering as someone who wants to come back to the west coast would it be worth it to go to U of T (if I got in)  as my network would be out there and I would have no social work connections when I get back or does it not really matter when it comes to employment? In terms of social connections I would be out there on my own and was wondering if it is easy to connect with the classmates in the program? I have heard that U of T is not a very social school and many people say it is hard to meet other people! 

Any input would be great! Thanks so much

The advice I have received from social workers who have been in the field much longer than I have has been that doing your msw in the city where you live & are settled in is a very smart career move, in terms of building connections/your network/job opportunities. I turned down an offer from an east coast school to stay in BC as this is where I am for the long haul.

I did my bsw at UVic and had a great experience overall.

[BCgirl]

6 minutes ago, JMW89 said:

The advice I have received from social workers who have been in the field much longer than I have has been that doing your msw in the city where you live & are settled in is a very smart career move, in terms of building connections/your network/job opportunities. I turned down an offer from an east coast school to stay in BC as this is where I am for the long haul.

I did my bsw at UVic and had a great experience overall.

Thanks for the information! In terms of practicums was it manageable to get the placements you wanted? As someone above had mentioned that there was difficulties with this. 

[JMW89]

4 minutes ago, BCgirl said:

Thanks for the information! In terms of practicums was it manageable to get the placements you wanted? As someone above had mentioned that there was difficulties with this. 

I think what helped in my case was that I knew going into the program which specific orgs/agencies I wanted to do placements with. So I basically told my coordinator “please help me get into this place” which may have been less work on her end? Idk, it worked out well for me tbh but there will always be a variety of experiences

[MSWamy]

I know for a fact that there's 99% not going to be any updates today for U of T but I've still checked twice already.... 

[thatcoffeelover]

16 minutes ago, MSWamy said:

I know for a fact that there's 99% not going to be any updates today for U of T but I've still checked twice already.... 

I think we all made some progress this long weekend though.??

I personally did not check anything since Thursday and only gave in today, so I'm feeling pretty good and proud of myself LOL

[Waiting4AdmissionDecisions]

44 minutes ago, MSWamy said:

I know for a fact that there's 99% not going to be any updates today for U of T but I've still checked twice already.... 

 

26 minutes ago, thatcoffeelover said:

I think we all made some progress this long weekend though.??

I personally did not check anything since Thursday and only gave in today, so I'm feeling pretty good and proud of myself LOL

Same here! I hope you all had a restful weekend. I'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow in the hopes that they were mostly done and just didn't want the decisions to be spread out with some before and some after the long weekend

[coffeegirl20]

Do we think there's a chance for offers to go out tomorrow? I always get confused about Easter Monday because I know schools (for the kids) and government offices are normally closed, but for everyone else it's basically a regular work day. I'm hoping we all get some news this week so that we have some peace of mind

[Waiting4AdmissionDecisions]

Just now, coffeegirl20 said:

Do we think there's a chance for offers to go out tomorrow? I always get confused about Easter Monday because I know schools (for the kids) and government offices are normally closed, but for everyone else it's basically a regular work day. I'm hoping we all get some news this week so that we have some peace of mind

I think it's possible - UofT's open so I don't see why not

[1996Msw2021]

Sometimes ignorance is bliss and as the time for decisions approaches, I want you all to enjoy this bliss before getting your decisions  whether it’s good new or bad news. Rooting for us all !! Goodluck to everyone, there’s no way they’ll wait past this week. 

[edz77]

I'm hoping this is the week we hear back from UofT ?