Ok, so I decided to go with Walden to do my Ph. D in Psychology. My problem is I have been debating with myself on whether or not I should go with the General psychology or the Clinical Psychology. Of course the General Psyc with a specialization in Education (non licensure) is shorter because there is no Internship or practicum, but I was don't know the benefits of having the licensure. I am so confused....I live in Texas, so can anyone help me with advantages of going with the licensure vs. non-licensure career wise in my state? What career options do I have with both? I am a teacher and want to stay in the school system, possibly college psychologist or professor. I am getting my LPC so I will have that if I don't go with the licensure track. We are talking about 3 years versus 6 years of learning.
It depends what you want to do with your degree. Normally license is for practicing such as Lawyer needs the BAR, Accountant needs CPA, and etc. If you your Ph.D in Psychology is to teach or school administration....I don't think you need any license.
I'm not 100% familiar with the requirements of Texas for licensure. However, I would recommend going for the Clinical Psychology route. Here's why: Some jobs may require you to be licensed, have done an internship, or be eligible for licensing in your state You may decide that you want to counsel or be involved in a research setting (where you may need to be licensed -- see above) You would probably be ineligible for Fielding's APA-approved PhD program because you already have one Other than time and possibly cost, I can't see any real problem with licensure This is a situation where you really have to consider all the angles before making a move. If you want to stay within education, that is excellent! With a PhD you will have a lot more options (as you said, college would be more open to you). Do you have a Master's degree? And what is LPC? Licensed Professional Counselor (totally guessing)? If you are a licensed MA-level counselor, there may not be a substantial benefit to being licensed further up. I'd recommend talking with someone in the education field (such as a college advisor that holds a doctorate in psychology). Also, if you aren't necessarily concerned with licensing, you may want to check out Saybrook's PhD program. It's 76 credits, $19'900 per year in tuition (for <32 credits).
If you want to have the options to do clinical work (therapy), you may want to really look at the importance of APA certification before enrolling at Walden (assuming it isn't too late to change.) My understanding is that a lot of positions, and some insurance reimbursement, is dependent on graduation from an APA accredited school. As far as I know, the only APA-approved schools with distance-based doctoral degrees are Fielding and California Institute for Integral Studies. (I'm not even sure either of those are 100% distance-based.) If clinical work isn't important, then as others have said, having a good idea of what you want to do will be the best pointer toward which specialization you go for.
