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

Jeff, you sould like you have done your homework. I think you
are on the right track with getting the School Counseling Degree
first and then taking the extra courses needed for the mental
health program. Remember that the important thing will be that
you are concentrating on the school level and school based
knowledge first, which will enable you to get a job right away.
Once you have a job, then go back for the extra classes to get a
mental health licensure. Also you might keep in mind that the
internship thing will be easier for the school one associated
with your entire program as opposed to trying to add it later as
just a class. The internship requirement may be less for
different programs once you have your MS in School Counseling
and may therefore be beneficial to "add" the mental health
intenship after you have your degree. I hope that makes sense,
but like i said it looks like you researched everything properly.


On 5/07/08, Jeff wrote:
> Yeah, there don't seem to be many differences in the degrees.
> In some programs the only difference may be one or two classes
> and the internship. Both the school counseling and clinical
> counseling programs seem to be designed to give you the
> specific classes you need for licensure so all you need after
> the degree is to be sure to get the full 60 credits if you are
> in a masters program that stops at fewer (most MD school
> counseling programs are 48, clinical/community/mental health
> counseling programs and clinical psychology MA programs seem
to
> run from 45-60 depending upon the specific program).
>
> I don't think people look down on the school psych or school
> counseling degree, it is just in some settings I don't think
> people understand what it qualifies you for. In the
> psychiatric hospital I worked in they were a HOSPITAL, the
> medical staff were the primary staff and they lived in the
> medical model. The doctors and nurses who ran the place
didn't
> understand that a Ph.D. school psychologist is a fully
> qualified psychologist or a school counselor with his/her LCPC
> is a fully qualified counselor. To them, the school in front
> of the name means that the person is just qualified to work in
> the schools. What counselors, psychologists, or social
workers
> as the hiring professional would think in another setting I'm
> not sure.
>
> One drawback of the school counseling degree is that I am
under
> the impression that to get an LCPC in MD one must have some
> clinical/community experience, they don't accept purely school
> counseling experience for the 2000 hours pre-licensing
> experience. So, I'd have to take a part-time job before I
> could be licensed and start a private practice.
>
> I certainly understand that the day isn't over when the kids
go
> home. I am currently a special education teacher. The
> beginning of the year can be a good 12 hour day for the first
> month or two, then it drops to about 45-50 hours a week much
of
> the time. More experienced teachers can be assured to always
> be finished around 4 or 5pm on even the worst days (we come in
> at 7am). I do notice the counselors going home earlier than
> the teachers on almost all days (and few seem to bring
> briefcases or backpacks to carry work home). So, I figure
that
> I should have time for a part-time job or practice, though I
> wouldn't want to do it every evening.
>
>
>
> On 5/06/08, lacey wrote:
>> 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.
>>
>>

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.