Re: Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LC
Posted by lacey on 5/06/08

i would ask around professionals in your state
specifically. i am in grad school for school counseling in
NC and my program is the same exact program as the community
counseling track with minor differences: school track
people take 2 school courses and an education based elective
while community track people take a community course and
DSM...obviously our internships reflect our chosen track as
well.

i want to work in the schools and earn my LPC (licensed
professional counselor) certification so i can do private
practice on the side if i chose. the only difference i see
in my state is that i can do both school and community
counseling with my degree, while community track people can
only do community unless they get the add on certificate.
both our school and community tracks are 60 credits.

i haven't heard anything about community people looking down
on school people who enter the community counseling setting,
but i think it would be easier to get a job with a degree in
community because your clinical experiences would be in
community.

i think it's possible to be a fulltime school counselor and
do some outside community counseling work, BUT it would be
very naive to think that a school counselor's work day ends
when the school day ends, so i don't think you could do too
much work outside of the school without short changing your
students.


On 5/06/08, Jeff wrote:
> I am interested in becoming a counselor. I used to work
in
> a psychiatric hospital and loved it. I enjoy being a
> teacher. I would be happy as either a therapist or an
> educator. I would like to do things in a way that
> qualifies me for both. I live in MD and do know what I
> need to become a school counselor and an LCPC (Licensed
> Clinical Professional Counselor). However, I don't know
> the job market that well.
>
> My original thought was a 48credit MA program in school
> counseling. Then, to get the additional 12 credits I'd
> need for my LCPC I'd take a 15 credit Clinical Counseling
> certificate at Hopkins. That way, I'd be qualified for
> school counseling (most school counseling jobs actually
pay
> better than mental health counseling jobs) AND for mental
> health work. I'd work as a school counselor during the
day
> and do mental health work part-time in the evening. Once
I
> had the experience to get my license I'd consider either
> staying with that combination, or getting a private
> practice started.
>
> However, my concern is that when I worked at the psych
> hospital they looked down on any degree with "school" in
> front of it. For instance, a school psychologist with a
> Ph.D. and their state license is a fully qualified
> psychologist who is qualified to work in any setting any
> other psychologist may work (school, counseling and
> clinical psychology are considered the three fields
> within "professional psychology"). However, the reaction
> to the hospital staff about any school psychologists
> working there was "this is a hospital, not a school".
>
> So, I am concerned that I may be at a disadvantage for non-
> school counseling jobs if the degree is in school
> counseling no matter what certificates and licenses I pick
> up later.
>
> I've started considering going for a clinical counseling
or
> mental health counseling degree and then take a CAGS/Ed.S.
> in school counseling to enable me to be qualified for
> either type of position. It may take a bit more
> coursework, but if it was the best way to get where I
> wanted to go, it may be worth it. However, I read that in
> many states there is already many more school counselors
> applying than there are positions. My concern is that
they
> may use the degree outside school counseling as a way to
> weed me out of the running just to pare things down a bit.
>
> So, has anyone out there used their school counseling
> degree and additional coursework to obtain therapist
> positions? Has the degree been a hinderance when applying
> for positions? Also, has anyone used a mental
> health/community/clinical counseling degree and additional
> coursework to obtain a school counseling position? Has
> that degree been a hinderance when applying for positions?
>
> I thank you in advance for your help.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LCPC, 5/06/08, by Jeff.
• Re: Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LC, 5/06/08, by lacey.
• Re: Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LC, 5/07/08, by Musicmae.
• Re: Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LC, 5/07/08, by Jeff.
• Re: Which direction to become BOTH a school counselor and LC, 5/08/08, by Counselor.