Feeling Overwhelmed

[OneDayPhD219]

In September I will be starting my 4th year at a university in Ontario taking Psychology.

I want to do primarily therapy - not so much interested in research, but its not a closed option. 90 average throughout university so far, honours thesis and undergraduate research experience. Volunteering at a seniors centre.

I am taking my GRE in September but I have NO idea where I even want to go to graduate school. I don't even really understand the difference between clinical and counselling psychology and which is better for what I want to do. All I hear is that clinical opens more doors/higher salary ect.

I know I need to start contacting supervisors but I'm not even sure how the whole thing works - do I apply to a masters program first, or directly to a PhD? I feel lost because I'm not even sure what program I should be going in to! Do masters programs even need a supervisor?

 

Ideally my day would consist of therapy 100%, whether working under someone else, or ideally private practise of my own.

I have a strong interest in working with a senior population and primarily in a health psychology related spectrum. Ie: coping with health problems/patient doctor communication ect.

 

Please, I would appreciate any guidance possible. I'm starting to really freak out.

Edited May 4, 2016 by OneDayPhD219
typo

[COGSCI]

If you want more practice based career, I would suggest looking into MSW. In Ontario, you can register as a psychotherapist or social worker with your MSW. 

 

[OneDayPhD219]

13 minutes ago, COGSCI said:

If you want more practice based career, I would suggest looking into MSW. In Ontario, you can register as a psychotherapist or social worker with your MSW. 

 

Really? This would allow me to call myself a "counsellor".. or what title would I get with a MSW?

I just would have thought social work would not provide the same type of psychological training/intervention techniques in order to provide effective therapy.

 

[COGSCI]

There are many different streams within social work. UofT in particular, they have gerontology stream and you can focus on aging population. You can call yourself a counsellor and they learn intervention techniques. There are many clinical social workers working at mental health field as counsellors. 

If your goal is to become a clinical psychologist or counseling psychologist with a PhD, look into psyc programs. However, if you are just looking to get a Master's in order to become a clinician, there are other ways to fulfill your goal through different programs. You just need to take this summer to research as much as you can and solidify what you want to do. 

[Guest joshw4288]

44 minutes ago, OneDayPhD219 said:

In September I will be starting my 4th year at a university in Ontario taking Psychology.

I want to do primarily therapy - not so much interested in research, but its not a closed option. 90 average throughout university so far, honours thesis and undergraduate research experience. Volunteering at a seniors centre.

I am taking my GRE in September but I have NO idea where I even want to go to graduate school. I don't even really understand the difference between clinical and counselling psychology and which is better for what I want to do. All I hear is that clinical opens more doors/higher salary ect.

I know I need to start contacting supervisors but I'm not even sure how the whole thing works - do I apply to a masters program first, or directly to a PhD? I feel lost because I'm not even sure what program I should be going in to! Do masters programs even need a supervisor?

 

Ideally my day would consist of therapy 100%, whether working under someone else, or ideally private practise of my own.

I have a strong interest in working with a senior population and primarily in a health psychology related spectrum. Ie: coping with health problems/patient doctor communication ect.

 

Please, I would appreciate any guidance possible. I'm starting to really freak out.

You will find much of what you need here: http://www.crpo.ca and here http://www.cpo.on.ca

My recommendation is to approach one of the clinical faculty or one of the counseling faculty in your department/university and discuss your interests. You have many options open to you: Clinical psychology M.Sc. to become a psychological associate, clinical Ph.D. to become a psychologist, MSW or M.Ed. will allow you to practice therapy in certain contexts (community centers, hospitals, schools).

 

[OneDayPhD219]

13 minutes ago, joshw4288 said:

You will find much of what you need here: http://www.crpo.ca and here http://www.cpo.on.ca

My recommendation is to approach one of the clinical faculty or one of the counseling faculty in your department/university and discuss your interests. You have many options open to you: Clinical psychology M.Sc. to become a psychological associate, clinical Ph.D. to become a psychologist, MSW or M.Ed. will allow you to practice therapy in certain contexts (community centers, hospitals, schools).

 

 

@joshw4288 I suppose I will do that - the undergraduate research that I have been doing has been with a social psychologist and thus she is not much help in this area. I feel like if I can achieve what I want to do (ie: therapy) with a MSW then this would be a viable option. An M.Ed in what stream? Counselling psyc? 

Do you feel that going a different direction (as in NOT Clinical PhD) will hinder my ability to find work?

[OneDayPhD219]

20 minutes ago, COGSCI said:

There are many different streams within social work. UofT in particular, they have gerontology stream and you can focus on aging population. You can call yourself a counsellor and they learn intervention techniques. There are many clinical social workers working at mental health field as counsellors. 

If your goal is to become a clinical psychologist or counseling psychologist with a PhD, look into psyc programs. However, if you are just looking to get a Master's in order to become a clinician, there are other ways to fulfill your goal through different programs. You just need to take this summer to research as much as you can and solidify what you want to do. 

 

I'm definitely going to check into that UofT gerontology stream. Is it a Psych program, or Social Work?

The thing is that I'm not sure if I want to be a clinical/counselling psychologist if I can do similar things oriented to my interests with a MSW/ lower degree (ie: less time in school, less debt). 

[COGSCI]

1 hour ago, OneDayPhD219 said:

I'm definitely going to check into that UofT gerontology stream. Is it a Psych program, or Social Work?

The thing is that I'm not sure if I want to be a clinical/counselling psychologist if I can do similar things oriented to my interests with a MSW/ lower degree (ie: less time in school, less debt). 

Gerontology stream is under social work. If you are not sure about going to school for the next 6 years for clinical/counselling psychologist, perhaps you can volunteer or shadow some psychologists. This would allow you to look at what they do and build experience at the same time. Most research based clinical/counseling MA/PhD programs are funded so you don't really have to worry about debt. However, it is that much competitive because the programs are funded. 

Look into securing SSHRC or CIHR if you are interested in staying in Canada. They have doctoral fellowships. MSW or M.Ed. Counselling psyc are generally not funded. 

[OneDayPhD219]

20 minutes ago, COGSCI said:

Gerontology stream is under social work. If you are not sure about going to school for the next 6 years for clinical/counselling psychologist, perhaps you can volunteer or shadow some psychologists. This would allow you to look at what they do and build experience at the same time. Most research based clinical/counseling MA/PhD programs are funded so you don't really have to worry about debt. However, it is that much competitive because the programs are funded. 

Look into securing SSHRC or CIHR if you are interested in staying in Canada. They have doctoral fellowships. MSW or M.Ed. Counselling psyc are generally not funded. 

 

 

I did find the program you were talking about - MSW with a focus in Genontology. This looks great.

You can register with the CRPO with a MSW? Call yourself a "Registered Psychotherapist"? Would this route be better/worse than doing a MA or M.Ed in Counselling? 

SSHRC / CIHR applications will absolutely be happening. 

Edited May 4, 2016 by OneDayPhD219
typo

[COGSCI]

39 minutes ago, OneDayPhD219 said:

I did find the program you were talking about - MSW with a focus in Genontology. This looks great.

You can register with the CRPO with a MSW? Call yourself a "Registered Psychotherapist"? Would this route be better/worse than doing a MA or M.Ed in Counselling? 

SSHRC / CIHR applications will absolutely be happening. 

Look into CRPO. Since they changed their requirements recently, you would need to visit the website frequently. You can also talk to UT social work and see if they have any information on that. As someone mentioned above, MA would allow you to register as psyc associate and M.Ed. would allow you to become psychotherapist. With MSW you can register as a social worker and if you take the right courses you should be able to register as a psychotherapist as well. 

You still have few more months before December so take the summer and research programs that can allow you to become a registered professional

Good luck