Easiest States for Temporary License, EPPP Eligibility & Career Advice in Psychology...

If the addictions licensure works out and that is an avenue that you want to pursue you might consider easing into the field. I don't know your field of IT but you could apply for jobs in the IT field in the large metroplexes of Houston, Dallas, or large cities like Austin and San Antonio. Perhaps even working for one of the large medical entities like MD Anderson.

After that, begin working in the evenings in the addictions therapy field to get experience and develop connections. Because you are employed you could even volunteer. There are addictions group therapy sessions run by entities like the juvenile probation or detention departments (or treatment centers) that meet in the evenings. Also if you happen to be doing or running IT for a major hospital entity you would be engaging with psychiatrists and psychologists connected to the medical center.

Kind of a win-win in terms of keeping your financial footing and branching out into something you are very interested in doing.

 

Here is an exam of an IT job in Houston at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD. Pays $114,000.

https://g.co/kgs/Dee16TL

 

I'm assuming that you'll be practicing I'm California. You won't be able to do that with a Texas license unless you go federal, but if I remember correctly, federal addictions counselors don't need to be licensed. Don't quote me on that. Does California not have an addictions counselor license?

Your electives are not in a singular sub-field of psychology. For the Virginia license, they need to all be in one applied field, such as I/O psychology.

 

Anyone know whether Virginia would accept someone remedying this by taking additional courses after the doctorate, and if so, could the additional courses be from a different institution or part of a different degree program? (e.g., adding a master's in an applied field such as I/O.)

 

I wonder if PS could do one of the 18 credit hour certificates (such as Organizational/Industrial Psychology). Would cost another 9 grand or so. Probably have to make sure it was at doctoral level and acceptable as an add on).

 

Maybe @Chanel1 knows. I can't find Virginia's rules on this. I know that other states have strict limits on post-doctoral remediation. The OP should probably email the psychology board.

There's sometimes more flexibility when one completes a structured respecialization program, but most are for research psychologists who want to qualify for clinical or school psychology.

 

Exactly. There are some state laws that are written very strictly. I was looking at one psychological associate law that said you had to have so many hours of practicum and it had to be part of the degree program itself and for example no less than six credit hours worth. This would seem to limit people getting some sort of degree and trying to add on those hours after.

One of the problems with many types of licensure is the individual State requirements that don't make the licenses very portable. I think several professions are working on that in terms of interstate reciprocity. And if I recall correctly in the mental health field there are several states signed on and so there is supposed to be some portability.

Since Positive Soul was talking about Texas. Here is an example of reciprocity info.

https://www.tcbap.org/page/12

 

I recall seeing rules that limit post-doctoral remediation to a low number - something like 6 credits. I think it's ridiculous. What difference does it make if you take psychopathology from UCLA or UC Berkeley? What makes the same course acceptable inside of its own program but not when it's taken externally?

 

Mentorship is a problem as it has to come from another licensed psychologist and very few will do it for free. If you have the cash to invest, just go to psychologytoday.com and look for psychologists that are willing to supervise. They normally have hourly rates published but many charge the same as therapy or even more so be ready to pay 150+ an hour for the hours you need.

 

Here a more narrow link:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/california?category=supervision-services

Since you need so many hours, they might give you a deal.
This is the reason why online PhDs in psychology can be difficult. Most on site psychology programs come with supervision included.

 

Paying for supervision is not the norm in the U.S. and, as mentioned earlier in the thread, state laws could make those supervision hours ineligible.

 

I believe there is supervision and there is supervision. You cannot pay your supervisor at the internship or residency (if you prefer) site where you're doing your hours for your license. If they are qualified to do supervision they can provide it for free.

In addition, there is off-site supervision which I believe is 1 hour for more than 10 hours of accumulated hours in a week and probably depends on the state. Some of that can be done in group supervision by a qualified licensed supervisor, some must be one-on-one, and I'm sure there is an online component today.

This is a way that some licensed professional counselors who are approved supervisors make money (when supervising would be licensed professional counselors). I knew one. And she would have groups for several people accumulating their required hours, and then one-on-one sessions and charged accordingly.

Again, this is different than a situation where you are working and have a qualified supervisor on work site who is doing all of it.

You pay and pay. You pay for your education, you pay for the limited amount of supervision, you pay for your licensure exams, and you pay for ongoing continuing education.

 

Sorry, it wasn't this thread. It was the thread below where Chanel1 stated that California does not allow trainees to pay for supervision.

https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/calsoutherns-psyd-disclosure-statement.62888/page-4

 

@sanantone
Correct, in CA, specifically speaking about the Board of Psychology, no one can pay for supervision, in any form - that is 100% against the law and again (the specific law cited in the above post), really no reason to with the job opportunities available. The Supervising Psychologists pay is embedded in their W2 job, not separate. Again, this is different at the master level where an MSW, MFT, LPC in CA can pay for supervision which is okay by the Board of Behavioral Sciences.

In CA, for Psychologist, unfortunately there is no "off-site supervision" option - the supervisor must be employed by the organization. For MSW/MFT/LPC, sure, they can have an off-site, however, the same rules of supervision apply, nothing is different (1-2 hour of supervision depending on number of hours gained in the week). The off-site supervision still needs a contract with the organization - the organization does not have to pay the offsite supervisor so they can sign a volunteer agreement, however, the MSW/MFT/LPC will then pay for that time. I have done this for pay and for free over the years, but only for free at the non-profit level to encourage new associates to give back to the community a few hours.

A quick look on indeed provided multiple job opportunities for Psych Associates in CA to the OP in other thread.

 

@Chanel1 did you pursue a degree through California Southern University? If so, what is your assessment of the quality of the program?

 

Licensing is like the Chicken and the Egg. For someone to hire you as a clinical intern, they need to trust your education and have a good connection with the school. If you do an online degree from a school with no clinical connection, you will have a hard time getting someone to hire you as clinical intern. Passing the exam is also another issue as most clinical programs are geared towards the exam while the online doctoral program not. I think the counselling license makes more sense as it is easier to get and less hours are required for supervision. Clinical psychologists in California charge 200 or 300 a consultation so entry barriers are high.
The other path is just teaching or research, there is no need for licensing for these two paths. You can also practice as an unlicensed therapist, some states allow this designation but you cannot bill insurance companies. You can always join a church and claim to be a pastoral counsellor but the same issue, you cannot bill insurance companies that is the big thing to make money in the field.

 

You mentioned Europe. At least in Spain, it is not the PhD that makes you a psychologist but the first degree. Most likely the same issue, you would need to go back to school and get the first degree and also do the hours to become a psychologist. Most unlicensed psychologists call themselves psychotherapists in Europe so this could be an option.
In the UK, psychology is not regulated so I think you could just work with your PhD but still need to get an employer willing to hire you.

I think it is acceptable for counselling but not for psychology I believe. Technically someone has to be very close to you for these hours to be valid so you would need to develop a relationship with a psychologist and become as assistant. The issue is that when you are 53 years old, I am not too sure if you are ready to be an assistant to a psychologist for several years with little or no pay. Emailing people out of the blue is not going to work out, you would need to go to clinics and show interest, you would need to develop a relationship with someone willing to help and this would require years. This why most people with online PhDs just end adjuncting or taking other jobs. If you are in IT, you could work as a User Experience designer or researchers as this field usually hires psychologists. Other field is data analytics for psychological data.

 

@Garp

I did, I have a PhD in Family Therapy from a well-known state university, taught for many years at a State University and Argosy, and ran a private practice. When I wanted to expand my knowledge and scope of practice, I decided to pursue a doctorate in psychology, to become a clinical psychologist. However with a family and work, there where very limited flexible options. I didn't need APA because I already teach, work for myself and contract, so Calsouthern was perfect. Mind you I've taken doctoral courses at several different schools just for my own edification and learning over the years, but I have had colleagues that have worked at the school for years.

I would say the quality of the program has absolutely increased in the last 8 years, with all faculty being fully licensed and currently in the field practicing, which is not always what you will find at a brick and mortar school, faculty who are actually still practicing. I think most individuals that complete even an APA program will argue that the program does not teach towards the test unfortunately, you get assessed on different things, at least with the EPPP 1, simply because it assess so many different areas of psychology, all of them, even concepts that you would not typically take as a clinical psychologist, e.g., I/O psychology, with lots of nuanced questions. The EPPP2 it's more applied, and definitely much more applicable since assessment courses specifically go over these types of psychological tests and while we get to practice them in class, it really comes together in practicum and internship.

I very much enjoyed the program, and already having a doctoral degree and going through this process, I think I can safely argue that the assignments are well structured to provide appropriate knowledge in psychology. In fact I took a course at a APA a few years back, and because it was in person, we had a few assignments, no discussion questions, no quizzes, no test. But I guess because I was in person no one bats and eye, but doing an online program, the argument is that a lot more work needs to be required. For most classes you have a discussion or two each week, and multiple papers that you are writing about a specific psychological concept or topic.

Rigorous? I guess it depends on one's definition, definitely challenging, I can't imagine anyone claiming that they found it absolutely easy, but it's definitely doable. All assignments are ran through turnitin and AI software. In my opinion I think faculty there can be a little bit harsher in grading then I have been for my students, and what I received in both my graduate programs prior. But the feedback is helpful. The comprehensive exam used to be a multiple-choice exam similar to EPPP, but updated to a series of very specific papers that have to address clinical concepts and their application. It appears that many students struggle with this simply because of there are certain things that they are looking for that must be included in each response or it is returned and the student has to retake the course....which is a good thing, to force students to relook at concepts and apply them appropriately.

Practicum in clinical internship requires regular contact with the clinical director and presenting clinical cases, this is an addition to what you would receive as part of supervision at clinical sites. They have multiple contracts already with clinical sites to do internship and practicum, however they are willing to sign an agreement with any site for any student, in any state. The doctoral project is very structured, very structured! Not like the dissertation that I wrote, they have very specific requirements on how it should be written, what must be included, how many pages it must be, and it is reviewed and approved by three faculty, the Dean, the associate Dean, and of course IRB is necessary. The biggest complaint that I heard prior and heae currently, is that the doctoral project is a place where some students get stuck, as faculty require multiple revisions and changes. But ultimately perseverance gets you through. So I enjoyed my time, I enjoyed that I could complete the assignments when I need it to and when I could, that it provided me flexibility, that I learned a lot, and that I was able to finish my hours and get licensed. I now not only offer psychotherapy but psychological assessments and contract with a variety of agencies, as well as with the superior court. I have had no issues but I do recommend this type of program for folks who are already licensed, not necessarily for someone who is just entering the psychology field, simply because I do believe in person or even hybrid is much more advantageous learning experience.

There are a few schools that offer online programs like this, I specifically chose this school over the others, like Meridian University which I very much liked, because of the price point, low cost at the time, and because I had colleagues that were teaching there part-time, that were also teaching at other well-known private and state schools, their feedback was invaluable. Graduated with no debt which was very different from my state university MA/PhD experience!

 

Thank you for taking the time for such a thorough response.

 

Sorry, I missed this analysis. I think all these are potential obstacles but if you want to do it, you can get it but it is all about how much work you want to put into it. If I were in this position, I would do a post doctorate in Clinical Psychology with the internship included. The program below might, work. It might be expensive but I think it is more costly to keep waiting when you can do something right away and just get it over with:

https://catalog.fielding.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=363