I tried Charles Sturt, but they have been very slow to respond to my inquiry about their PhD program. I am wondering about the University of Melbourne. Has anyone had any success working with the officials there? Are there any problems I should know about? Is being slow to respond (over 4 weeks) typical of Australian schools? I have an Ed.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy and would like to persue studies in at least a related field. Any words of wisdom are appreciated. I can't be away from home for a semester, and I cannot afford to fly to another state every month..... my wife and children would not understand why they are hungry and I am out studying for another degree. Thanks in advance! Harijan (a poor child of God)
My own experience is that if you feel that you're waiting too long for a response it is likely due to having made your inquiry to the wrong person. Email addresses such as [email protected] sometimes go unanswered. Contact the head of the department that interestes you. They might not answer you personally, but they'll delegate it to an appropriate person (who won't ignore a specific task from the boss.) Otherwise, I understand others have had good luck using the telephone. A bit more costly but better than waiting a month. BTW, if you use the phone method be sure to get the time difference right. Good luck, Jack
I received rather timely replies from the psychology department. I went to the psychology home page and emailed from there. I beleive the reply was in one or two days. For any of the Sturt PhD's in psychology you will need to go to Australia at least once per year. This was a draw back for me, but their PhD in clinical psychology sure was/is tempting. Good Luck.
I would gladly make one trip a year for a program that fits me. With my degree it is difficult to find a DL doctoral program that supports it.
I have a background in business, how many classes do you think it would take to be able to seek a doctorate in psychology? Just a thought?
Hi Kristie, You are probably going to need a masters degree in psychology first. Some programs have an entry program into the Ph.D. that will cover the masters coursework although a masters degree is not awarded. This is usually a little fasters and less expensive than getting a masters. My first degrees were in business and I have really enjoyed the change to the human service field. Don't make as many $$$$$'s but don't work as hard either. Good Luck.
Hi Kristie, I'm a licensed psychologist and I am also a supervisor in an APA approved pre-doctoral internship program. I would estimate that 50% of the students I encounter are transitioning from other majors and professions. I haven't found that it makes any difference in the length of the degree. People who enter doctoral programs with masters degrees may have a leg up. David
Kristie, Doctoral training in psychology is an issue that has been addressed at significant length on this forum. You may find it helpful to do a search on my name since I generally join in. There are a few key cuts you need to consider in your decision tree. The first is to be sure you really want it since many of us think the profession has become overpopulated and managed care has had an adverse impact. The second is to decide what area of psychology you want to pursue where the first cut is if you want to go into applied work like testing and counseling v. an academic area of specialization. If you’re interested in applied work I would advise you to only consider APA approved programs. If you’re limited to distance learning this restricts you to the Fielding Institute insofar as Fielding is the only APA approved distance-based program. If b&m is doable then you have the option of clinical, counseling or school psychology programs, since the licensure is the same. Another key cut is to decide if you want to pursue your degree from a university-based v. a freestanding program. Freestanding programs are generally much more expensive. There were a couple of articles in the APA Monitor several years ago that discuss this very important issue. I see students coming from professional schools with major debt loads. I don’t have the reference at hand, I want to say 1999, but I’m sure I gave the reference in a previous thread. In your case I think you will find that most programs will require 3-4 years on campus; additionally, you will also require a one-year pre-doctoral internship. People vary in terms of how long it takes to do the disser; some never finish. Many students do a residency in order to acquire the necessary post-doctoral supervision necessary to be license eligible. Kristie, it can be an extremely rewarding profession but it is a long grind. Good luck and feel free to post other questions here or to me directly. David
