Psyc degree question

I am considering "attending" Walden U online to get my master's and phd in psyc. I'm still in the process of obtaining my bachelor's degree, but I figured it's better to check out schools earlier than later. Anyway, the two choices Walden has for the Master's in psychology is I/O and General. I was wondering which one would be better. I am planning on doing one of those degree programs for my Master's, then doing the PhD in Counseling Psychology. Which degree program (I/O or General) do you think I would get the most benefit out of and the most job opportunities once I finish my PhD? Thank you very much for your responses. Quite a few of you responded in my other thread about choosing Walden or Capella and I really appreciate your feedback.

 

tnysgrl98: " I am considering "attending" Walden U online to get my master's and phd in psyc. I'm still in the process of obtaining my bachelor's degree, but I figured it's better to check out schools earlier than later. Anyway, the two choices Walden has for the Master's in psychology is I/O and General. I was wondering which one would be better.

Simon: It is not a matter of "which one would be better" but which one is congruent with your interests and future goals. It is understandable that at this point you may not be ready to make a decision. However, you can become more acquainted with the I/O specialization through reading, speaking with doctorates in the field or perhaps engaging in shadowing an I/O Psychologist within the context of an organization to observe the nature of their work. The same can be done with Counseling and General psychology.

tnysgrl98: I am planning on doing one of those degree programs for my Master's, then doing the PhD in Counseling Psychology.

SIMON: It may be in your interests to learn more about the Counseling Psychology specialization prior to making any decision regarding pursuing a doctorate in this field.

tnysgrl98: Which degree program (I/O or General) do you think I would get the most benefit out of and the most job opportunities once I finish my PhD?

SIMON: As noted above, the primary issue to consider is whether you will derive satisfaction from your work rather than the future job opportunities that no one can predict at this time. Studies have demonstrated that when one enjoys their work they have more potential to make a good living.

Keep in mind that NO ONE can decide what specialization will provide "the most benefit" for you. This has to come from you and requires your exploring your interests, values, personality style and professional needs. It also requires performing a significant amoung of research so that when you make a decision it will enhance your opportunites to achieve career satisfaction and a good career adjustment.

 

I am a Walden U PhD in Psych student and feel their program is very solid, but I am not pursuing the clinical area I find more enjoyment in organizational psych. Do a search it is difficult to find anything negative about Walden mostly just negative stuff on Capella which I did attend for a semester and disliked the school. By all means PM me if you want more detail.

Rich

 

Bad,

I'm sorry that you had a negative experience doing psychology courses at Capella. I have not had that experience and neither my wife. I have my Ph.D. in Family Psychology and my wife is getting her MS in Mental Health Counseling, which happens to be CACREP accredited. I can say that I watch her doing work that is pretty rigorous as part of that Masters degree.

I'm not throwing dirt, but the reality is that Walden, as good as it is, is not currently CACREP accredited for their Masters degree leading to Mental Health Counseling.

I wish you success, and again, I am sorry you had a negative experience with Capella. There are thousands that have not had that kind of experience.

 

Blackbird,

Everytime a poster notes that they had a negative experience at Capella (or any other school for that matter) does not mean that you or anyone else has to respond so defensively! In fact in the current case the poster is merely expressing his/her opinion, no more, no less. An opinion, observation, impression does not constitute fact and does not require you to get into a defensive posture each time such a comment is made. In fact, you not only become grossly defensive BUT tangential as well focusing on the differences in the accreditation of Capella's and Walden's masters degree mental health counseling program that has absolutley no relationship to the poster's initial comment regarding Capella's doctoral program in psychology.

The reason I am making a statement regarding your propensity to be defensive is that it appears to reveal your own doubts regarding your alma mater. If one is confident in their school and the degree they obtained there is absolutely no need to jump and engage in such discussions. The school and its degrees will stand on their own credibility and need no such defense.

 

Simon,
Your diagnosis of me is incorrect. I defend one of my alma maters not because I have doubts about my own school but rather out of principle of setting the record straight. One person complaining about their bad experience does not mean that the school is a bad school. I know that you have shared negative thoughts about my school in the past. Many jumped on your statements.

Anyways, your jumping on me so suddenly could show the same about you having a need to be "one up" and "superior." Which if it were true, I would call Maximus Narcissus. Your case might be as simple as taking some Metamucil and getting unplugged, my friend.

 

Your response above to my feedback reveals very clearly your level of professionalism and maturity. Zero! In fact every poster has a right to form their own opinions and impressions about any school, including the negative, without having posters such as yourself attempt to negate their experiences. My initial impression of your inordinate level of defensiveness stands and quite frankly it is the receptivity of graduates of any school to differences of opinion that actually reflects well on the school that they graduated from. Based on your continued pattern of engaging in accusations and misrepresentations of others who did not have a favorable impression of your alma mater is actually your issue and not other posters. Get it together my friend and start coducting yourself with some professional decorum and maturity that a person with a doctorate in Psychology should be demonstrating.

 

Simon,

You have the uncanny ability to attack me and diagnose me FIRST, THEN I respond to your jumping on me for defending my school, then you say I am unprofessional and throw out a slew of superlatives about me. Simon, you shot the first salvoe, not me. You asked for it, not me. I would kindly suggest to you to chill out and stop playing policeman and superior on this forum.

Simon, also, you don't have the foggiest idea how good or bad of a psychotherapist I am. You cannot form judgement on that and yet you try to play God. I labeled you as Maximus Narcissus because your posts exude an air of "I'm better and superior to you." That's not a great way to make friends here. You know quite well that I have conducted myself on these forums as a gentleman.

Simon, if you chill out, I don't mind giving you the "peace pipe," friend. I have no desire to get into a "pissing contest" with you.

 

BlackBird: You have the uncanny ability to attack me and diagnose me FIRST...

Simon: This is a major part of the problem. You tend to personalize differences of perceptions and opinions regarding your school as attacks on yourself. Once again, others have a right to their opinions about your alma mater or any other school without your going off track and going off on tangents and on the offensive.

Blackbird:... THEN I respond to your jumping on me for defending my school, then you say I am unprofessional and throw out a slew of superlatives about me.

Simon: No my manipulative friend, I was reflecting back to you how you appear to others! You are attempting to prevent others from voicing their perceptions and opinions and there is something very much off base in doing so.

Blackbird: Simon, you shot the first salvoe, not me. You asked for it, not me. I would kindly suggest to you to chill out and stop playing policeman and superior on this forum.

Simon: Don't worry Blackbird your attitude and actions relating to this issue is "chilling" me out quite well! A doctorate in Psychology should denote the ability of its possessor to listen intently to others even in the face of disagreement and to allow them to express their opinions without going on the offensive.

Blackbird; Simon, also, you don't have the foggiest idea how good or bad of a psychotherapist I am.

Simon: Another example of your pattern of misinterpreting and distorting others' feedback. There is not one iota of a comment emanating from me regarding whether you are a good or bad psychotherapist. You, as always, are reading into others post that which does not exist. What I obviously commented on was your level of professionalism and maturity on this forum relating to how you interact with others when faced with disagreement regarding your alma mater. No more, no less. If you continue to misinterpret my and other posters intent and actions that is your issue not ours.

Blackbird: You cannot form judgement on that and yet you try to play God. I labeled you as Maximus Narcissus because your posts exude an air of "I'm better and superior to you." That's not a great way to make friends here. You know quite well that I have conducted myself on these forums as a gentleman.

Simon: You are engaging in projection. In fact you are talking about yourself because your proclivity to attempt to negate others opinions, perspectives and beliefs regarding your alma mater is narcissistic and controlling. And in fact I do not agree that you have have conducted yourself as a gentleman on this forum relating to this issue because a gentleman allows others to express their opinions without the need to attempt to suppress or negate their perceptions with a vindictive response(ie, such as when the poster pointed out his feelings regarding your alma mater you immediately counterattacked vindicatively that Walden's masters degree program in mental health counseling is inferior to your schools program).

Blackbird" Simon, if you chill out, I don't mind giving you the "peace pipe," friend. I have no desire to get into a "pissing contest" with you.

Simon: A peace pipe is not what is necessary in this situation but an understanding on your part how you are attempting to suppress free speech on this forum. It does not lead to a free exchange of opinions and ideas but in flame wars and quite frankly Blackbird you are contributing to these flame wars and need to cease and desist!

 

Simon,

I am fascinated by your ability to create drama and chaos so easily. Of course, you will not take responsibiliy for that. It appears that no one escapes your most amazing setups and then trashings. A well-intentioned person quickly becomes a "bad" person around you. You're not safe to be around and therefore scary to some of us, socially. Anyone around you gets burned sooner or later.

I lose, Simon. You win, Simon. To you, I am unprofessional, incompetent, and my Ph.D. stinks.

 

BlackBird:Simon, I am fascinated by your ability to create drama and chaos so easily.

Simon: Let us examine Blackbird's logic as noted above. He alleges his fascination with my "ability to create drama and chaos so easily" which is exactly what he has been doing whenever there is a discussion regarding his alma mater!

In fact, Blackbird has displayed a continuous pattern of responding offensively to other posters who express opinions and perspectives that diverge from his regarding his alma mater. In fact as in the current case he did not even bother to inquire of the other poster as to why he/she did not like Capella's doctoral program in Psychology BUT immediately went on the defensive and then on the offensive to negate this poster's perspective. The problem with such a mode of response is that it detracts from the purpose of this forum; to discuss differences of opinion and perspective regarding schools and other issues in a respectful manner to better understand each of our perspectives, right or wrong. We may not like what we hear but hopefully being mature individuals we are "big" enough to learn from others' experiences rather than to attempt to negate them.

Blackbird: Of course, you will not take responsibiliy for that. It appears that no one escapes your most amazing setups and then trashings. A well-intentioned person quickly becomes a "bad" person around you. You're not safe to be around and therefore scary to some of us, socially. Anyone around you gets burned sooner or later.

Simon: All that has to be done is to review Blackbird's threads regarding Capella and it quickly becomes transparent that he is extremely defensive and offensive regarding any divergence of opinion regarding his school. So instead of taking responsibility for his pattern of behavior he attempts to project the onus onto me by engaging in pseudo-analytical assessments of my personality. Unfortunately such manipulative attempts to evade responsibilty for his actions and behavior will not cease my bringing his controlling behavior to his attention. In short it is destructive to open and respectful dialogue that we all expect to have on this forum with other posters and is quite frankly disrespectful of all of us.

Blackbird: I lose, Simon. You win, Simon. to you, I am unprofessional, incompetent, and my Ph.D. stinks.

Simon: Folks the above ranting hyper-dramatic and chaotic statement is another example of the misinterpretations, manipulations and attempts to deflect the feedback I provided. In fact the remarks that he attributes to me were obvioulsy never made or inferred by me or anyone else! Nonetheless this issue needed to be brought out publicly because this guy will continue to attempt to block others' right to speak their mind regarding his alma mater which in turn is impinging on our rights to hear and learn from others with divergent perspectives.

 

COMMENTS REGARDING THE ABOVE POST:

Here we have a situation where another poster, Bad 92LX, merely expressed his experience and perspective regarding Capella with absolutely no evidence of an attempt to create a flame war. Along comes Blackbird with his proclivity to be hyper-defensive but in this case even worse! Under the guise of being a "gentleman" (his description of himself which IMHO appears to be passive-aggression) replies to Bad 92LX, " I'm not throwing dirt, but the reality is that Walden, as good as it is, is not currently CACREP accredited for their Masters degree leading to Mental Health Counseling". Regardless of his attempt to appear as a "gentleman", by prefacing his comment with "I'm not throwing dirt, BUT..." it is quite evident that there is vindictiveness and an attempt to negate the legitmacy of Bad 92 LX's experiences byy Blackbird noting a totallly unrelated and irrelevant point that clearly implies that Walden is inferior to his alma mater. And this is one of many examples of such responses on the part of Blackbird that is preventing other posters from elaborating on their experiences that may be of interest and significance to many of us.

 

Wow

My goodness, I had no idea when I started this thread that it would turn into this kind of heated argument between two people who don't even know each other. I'm apologize that my simple question caused such a ruckus.

 

Re: Wow

There is no need for you to apologize. Your thread is not the cause of this "discussion."

 

Folks,

I apologized for being suckered into a debate with Mr. Simon. I regret it. I think I understand why some of you guys feel the way you do when you have a discussion with Mr. Simon. Gee whiz...

 

Mr. Blackbird has once again been caught attempting to silence another poster, Bad 92LX, who merely expressed his opinion about his experiences regarding his former school with absolutely no evil intent or motive. Due to the fact that Mr. Blackbird does this each time someone has an experience with his alma mater that does not agree with his perspective, he immediately comes out of the wood work without any attempt to inquire or to understand other posters' rationale for their difference of opinion and immediately goes into an overblown defense of his school without any justification with the exception that he sees it as a personal attack. According to Mr. Blackbird's worldview any opinion or perspective that differs from his is a personal attack, necessitating his immediate defense followed by an offense.

If this pattern of response was done through private e-mailing there would obviously be no problem. However, this controlling and out of touch behavior is preventing other posters from freeling expressing their differences of opinion including many of us from hearing others' impressions including the good and the not so good, in order for us to be able to form our own opinions.

So what does Mr. Blackbird do when he is asked to cease and desist from this obviously disrespectful pattern of behavior, he attempts to evade and dodge responsibility for his obnoxious behavior by attempting to throw the problem on me. He falsely alledges that I stated that he was incompetent, that his degree stinks, that he is an awful psychotherapist, etc in a manipulative attempt to distract from the legitimate criticism that I presented to him. Now he manipulatively and disingeniously apologises to all posters for alledgedly getting involved in a debate with me in an attempt to split other posters to take his side against me. What Mr. Blackbird should be doing is owning up to his obviously poor mannered behavior and apologizing first to BAD92LX and then to the rest of us and then ceasing interfering with our right to hear all sides of an issue without his sophomoric and totally unjustified defenses and offensive responses.

 

Re: Wow

Tnysgrl98,
No need to apoligize. Simon has a history of Capella hating, bashing, pissing on, etc..... You can be sure that he will follow my post with some type of insulting, psychological babble that will impress no one other than himself. Personally, I think Blackbird makes some pretty good points. He is merely sharing his exeriences. You will find that there are some institutions that are truly hated on this forum. It is thus not a good source to post questions/observations about them. As far as Simon...... he realllllllllllly needs to get a hobby or have his levels check. It may be that his Haldol is less than at therapeutic levels.

 

Re: Re: Wow

Glimeber, I am willing to making a deal with you. If you can prove that your allegations above are factual beyond any reasonable doubt I will leave this forum. However, if you can't you will leave! You made some serious allegations above and now you need to support it with proof and factual data, not your opinion, belief or impressions.

If you don't take up this challenge or cannot definitively prove your allegations we will know what you are all about (we already know) and will insist that you leave for dishonest conduct and lack of credibility in fabricating stories about another poster's intentions and motives. So let us see your conclusive proof that demonstrates my "hating, bashing and pissing" that proves your point beyond a doubt and I will leave. However, if you don't we expect you to keep your part of the deal and get out!

BTW, your defense of Blackbird is ludicrous. He is NOT "merely sharing his experiences" BUT preventing and negating others from freely expressing their divergent opinions and vindicatively attacking their schools in the guise of being a "gentleman" as he did with poster BAD regarding Walden U. The problem resides in him and you because you guys are disrespecting other posters' rights to hear all sides of an issue rather than to accept your spin as the last word. Got me Glimeber!

So let us put an end to our disagreement by your providing your absolute proof that substantiates you accusations above and put this matter to rest! WE ARE WAITING!

 

As a "sophomoric" and "evasive" person (according to Simon), I wish God's blessings on him and on all those around him trying to love him.

 

Blackbird,

You know that what you did was wrong so be big enough to admit it and move on. Quite frankly I had more respect for your judgement and would expect you to acknowlege that you have gone too far in regard to this matter.

In fact you are not sharing your experiences regarding your alma mater or appropriately defending it when it is ACTUALLY being attacked BUT are impulsively and hyper-reactively responding offensively to ANY other posters' perspectives that differ from yours. That is fine if you wish to do so privately but it is really interfering with our right to hear ALL opinions and perspectives. The issue is clear so now be big enough to own up to it and move beyond it like a true gentleman. We will all respect you for doing so.