To become a psychology therapist, one can obtain a PhD or Psy.D in psychology with a focus on therapy, or a master’s degree in counseling or marriage and family therapy. Alternatively, one can pursue a master’s in social work and become a licensed clinical social worker. Supervised experience is required for licensure.
“Psychology therapist” is a redundant term that typically refers to a clinical psychologist who primarily practices therapy or a person with a master’s degree in psychology who works as a therapist, usually as a marriage and family therapist (MFT) or a licensed professional counselor. (LPC). It is easy to briefly describe what it takes to become a psychology therapist when the term means any of the above.
For the person who would like to become a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist, there is a very simple path. The person will almost always have an undergraduate degree in psychology and will need to obtain one of the two psychology doctorates available – the PhD or the Psy.D.
The doctorate may or may not have a clinical or therapy-based focus. Students planning to take this course should look for a program with a strong emphasis on learning to do therapy. The Psy.D is considered a degree aimed at performing therapy after graduation and licensure.
Those who don’t want to search through various degree programs on their way to becoming a psychotherapist can simply search for Psy.D programs. People should still check whether these programs are more focused on preparing to become a therapist. After completing a Ph.D. or Psy.D, students may need to do supervised internships for a year or more to become licensed psychologists.
If a person would like to become a psychotherapist with just a master’s degree, he can find many master’s programs that focus on counseling or training marriage and family therapists. An undergraduate degree is required, and some schools only accept people with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. This can be flexible and students with a strong interest in that field and demonstrable knowledge will be competitive in many programs without an undergraduate degree in psychology. Common prerequisites when a bachelor’s degree is not in psychology include statistics, abnormal psychology, and personality theory.
Upon completing the master’s degree, those who would like to become a psychological therapist will spend several years accumulating supervised experience in the counseling field. The general recommendation is that license applicants have about 3000 hours or more of supervision before they can obtain a license. This can be a challenging time because some people struggle to find the hours they need and wages tend to be very low.
There is one more path to becoming a psychotherapist, but it doesn’t involve studying psychology at the master’s or doctoral level. Instead, people can pursue a master’s in social work (RSU), gain the same experience as MFTs and LPCs in supervised training, and then become licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs). These professionals can also work as therapists.
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