Should I get a Psy D or MSW?

Question

if I want to counsel adequately functioning older children / younger adolescents in group or one-on-one therapy. I want to do as little research as possible and have no desire to teach

Answer 1

MSW and then LCSW

Answer 2

If you want to councel adolescents you may want to lean toward a Psy D. It depends on exactly what you want to do (see sources). A MSW will provide you the education to deal with heavy issues involved in social services & DCS, such as child neglect, parent & child mental illness, drug addiction & abuse, etc, but you may end up being primarily a case worker, & not be able to actually provide one-on-one counseling to the children. In understaffed depts you may end up being the one who would refer certain cases to a psychologist/counselor with a Psy D because of your heavy case loads that involves entire families (vs. concentrating on the children's issues). I have a degree in beh science & I've thought about these routes too.

Answer 3

The PsyD degree is a terminal professional degree as is the MSW. The PsyD doesn't require the same research as the PhD. Usually you can earn a MSW degree with two years of graduate study while the PsyD requires an average of four years. Psychologists with PsyD degrees on the average earn more money than a Social Worker with a MSW; however, there are far more job opportunities for Social Workers.

Psychologists, as a rule, engage in psychotherapy more than Social Workers. You might want to consider School Psychology as an alternative to either a PsyD or and MSW. It is possible to get a master's degree with two years of study, and most school systems employ school psychologists. If you like the work, you can enter a doctoral program and most of the graduate work you've taken will count toward the doctoral degree. School Psychology programs are often found in Colleges of Education as well as some Psychology Departments. Usually, School Psychology students take courses in both the Psychology Department and Colleges of Education.