Professionals

So, how many in here are some form of psychological 'professional'? How many are studying to be? How many are planning on studying to be? How many are just armchair psychologists? :P

I'm a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, 15 years in practice. I have primarily worked with perpetrators and victims of Domestic Abuse.

I am seriously considering studying to be. But I'm in my early 30's and this would mean giving up a decent salary (I'm an assistant lab manager) to go back to school, so I want to make certain it's the right thing to do before I jump.

I went back to school at age 32. I was making good money in marketing electronics. I had a house payment, 3 kids, 2 cars, 4 cats. Oh, yes, I was also in the US Naval Reserves so had to give them 1 weekend out of each month. I got my Masters and continued to work another 6 years before actually switching professions. It was challenging at times, working all day, then going to school at night 2 nights a week for 3 years plus a Saturday and a half out of each month for classes and another weekend for the reserves, but ultimately worth while. I'm nothing special. If you want it you can do it!

I am currently studying for my BS in Psychology. I want to go into research of dissociative disorders. I am also studying to be an interpreter for the deaf.

pmorris, thanks for the encouragement. I should have mentioned another issue as well. I have a visual impairment that makes me unable to drive, which complicates transit to school as well as job-seeking. I'm not blind, but my alternating strabismus makes depth perception nonexistent and accurately tracking moving objects difficult. At least I'm single, and my boyfriend and I are actually *both* looking to go back to school and switch careers. :) While I'm paying down my debt, I'm trying to decide a specific area of study. Reading certainly helps with that! I'm equally attracted to counseling, teaching, and research; I end up alternating reading psychoanalytic authors like Jung with books more like what I'm currently reading, Zen and the Brain, with its decided slant toward conceptual structures and neurochemical mechanisms. Too many interests! But I'm hoping that with debt paid, the classes I can then afford to attend will help give me direction. :)

I'm looking at going back to school to get my BA in Psychology, my MA in Sociology and my Ph'D eventually in Child Developmental Psyche. At least that is the path I hope to do. We will see what actually happens.

My major is in Computer Science and my minor is in Psychology. Definitely the minor degree does not make me a qualified professional :). Fortunately I am still studying and therefore I can still sit in (almost) any courses I like without going through assignments and examination...

(Well... actually my real interest is in neuroscience)

I have a bachelor's in linguistics and cognitive science, and a master's in speech pathology. I'm working on my Ph.D. in speech pathology. I'm really a neurolinguist/psycholinguist at heart.

Do what you love, the money will follow.

I quit my fairly well-paid IT job to get a masters in counseling. I'm barely into my internship but I love it! Once I get hired to for a real job, I'm pretty sure I'll make 30% less to begin with, but money really isn't everything.

& I am, um, older than you are. Don't let whatever age you are stop you either.

caffron: You may actually want to look into the program I am completing. A lot (but not all) can be completed online. Look up my profile and email me if you want more info. It is also a program which may have some funding for you.

Peace

Hi. I'm new to the group. I'm studying a joint honours degree in Psychology & Counselling in the UK, and have just begun my second year (of three) and I'm 38.

Just in case anybody's still watching...an update. I've now begun the process of changing careers, but only the earliest stage. I'm enrolled in an Abnormal Psych class for Spring 2007. It's time to work on prerequisites for grad school. :)

Hi All. I have a BS in Social Sci, an MS in College Admin, have completed the coursework (but not intern hours) to seek certification as an Alcohol & Drug Counselor, and have just applied for a PsyD program. I am almost 38, have 90K in student loan debt, and am looking to tack on another 125K! Yeah, debt. I figure I'd spend at least that much on kids over 30 years, if I had any, and I don't, so why not follow a path I find rewarding?

I am new to the grop. I am currently completing an MS in counseling w/ a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm also in process of applying to some PhD Counseling Psychology programs...for some reason now that I've gone back to school, I just can't seem to stop!

Also new. Just finishing up a master's in cognitive psychology and one in theoretical linguistics (in my country it's normal to do two unrelated master's-level degrees at the same time). I'm interested in psycholinguistics (well duh) and STUFF. I like measuring things. *scratches head* That's basically it.

Also new. I turned 36 yesterday (oldest I've ever been), just got a job counseling homeless teens and am starting a PhD in clinical psych this year or next.

I was a non-traditional (older) student. Graduated with MA in clinical psych/MFT emphasis from APU July 06, and am working at two internships toward California MFT license. Didn't start undergrad until I was 38.

I am a forensic psychologist. Just joined librarything, so I look forward to this discussion group.

I'm a psychiatric nurse. I teach psychiatric/mental health nursing to undergraduate nursing students in an associate degree program in Syracuse, New York. My previous clinical practice has been primarily in short-term inpatient settings and some work many years ago in a long-term state hospital in Michigan. Currently I supervise nursing students during their clinical rotation at an outpatient day care program, and do a lot of classroom teaching as well. My particular interests include substance abuse, violence, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and eating disorders. I have a Master of Science in Nursing degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.

I have my masters in social worker from San Diego State University and am working to become a licensed clinical social worker. I currently work with dually diagnosed clients.

No postings here for years? (I did notice the scant one or two.) Certainly there must be SOME psychologists to be found at Library Thing today -- even if retired, not credentialed or currently licensed, but still interested . . . or now focused on other related (or unrelated) activities.

I'm currently working on writing material in a few branches of psychology connected with people I've known, studied under, or worked with in the past. These cover a rather wide range running from the early 1970s up to the present (including Behaviorism, Sid Jourard's self-disclosure work, Rogerian Client-Centered Non-Directive methods, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis first of Berne and then followers like Harris, Virginia Satir's group psychotherapeutic work, Jungian, and even some traditional psychoanalytic approaches -- followed by many of the subsequent applications and developments that occurred over the years following in ancillary fields outside of formal "therapy.".)

If anyone can speak to or about this, or refer me to others here at Library Thing, I would be most appreciative of any word or words sent my way.

With sincere thanks in advance. -G.R.

I'm a licensed clinical psychologist, a practicing psychotherapist since 1981.

>24 DocWood: I'm a licensed clinical psychologist, a practicing psychotherapist since 1981.

Greetings, CivilWarWriter, and thanks for the civility of taking time to answer my query tossed out into the dark. Nice to see a human touch -- especially when coming from those in the "helping professions." ;- )

I'll start a list of people here at Library Thing interested in "psychological" things in general, and you are at the top of it.

How refreshing to find one with such a well-developed literary sense accompanying the other interests found in your profile. I'll treat myself to reading your ample supply of reviews there, as a way of acquainting myself with my Library Thing associates.

I am a holistic clinical hypnotherapist and coach. Hypnotherapy is finally being recognized as a form of psychotherapy and it's about time! I have been helping people for 20 years and I have seen the most amazing transformations happen with hypnotherapy. It is a shame it is so misunderstood still and not given the credit it deserves. But I am optimistic that time is on our side...

I am a clinical social work intern. Graduated last May.
I have done a lot of work with those suffering from substance use disorders, personality disorders (B), and trauma survivors. I work quite a bit with our homeless population. Interested in learning more from others.

songbird777 -- I commend you not only for the specific area of activity in which you now find yourself so busily engaged, since graduation is behind you, but because you also find yourself posing the question in a way that results in your wanting to "learn more from others." That means you're still 'malleable' -- open to being formed by what you're coming across each and every day! You name these as "substance use disorders," "personality disorders," and "trauma survivors," saying you generally find this working within and among the homeless population. Now you'll start finding how these categories you're citing actually make their way dynamically into the thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviors of anyone as the unique individual they truly are . . . morning, noon, and night all the time. Good for you! Because that 'self' or personal center at the core of someone is all we have to use and work through, right? And if you don't connect with that in dealing with anyone, then nothing will change or make any difference. Wishing you well in this worthy endeavor. The longer I work and the older I become, the more I discover I've so much still to truly grasp and learn. It takes good writers -- and there are many -- to put these deeper and fuller dimensions into words that enable us to "get a handle" on those subtle physical and mental actions that form and shape us all. (e.g., books like The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, or Strategic Interaction by Erving Goffman, old as they are, can STILL open the rest of us to these inescapable dimensions in which we all live out our lives.)