Mental Health Field

See also: Clinical Psychology, Sport, Exercise, & Performance Psychology, and Forensic Psychology

If you are interested in the practice of psychotherapy, there are many paths toward becoming a clinician. Professional roles that fall under the umbrella of “therapist” include clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists. 

Doctoral degrees within this field include the PhD, which typically would be in clinical or counseling psychology to become a practitioner. Some family studies programs offer clinical degree options (e.g., couple and family therapy).  PhDs also include a research component and original data collection for a doctoral dissertation, and are also the path for those desiring to go into a tenure-track academic or research position within the field. The PsyD degree is a practice-oriented doctoral degree meant for those who do not desire a research or academic career path. There are important differences within these degrees in terms of selectivity, funding, and other characteristics.  PhD programs are much more competitive than PsyD programs, but are more likely to provide funding support.  It is typical for there to be some time between graduating with a bachelor’s and entry into a PhD program.  

Master ‘s-level degrees that can also lead to becoming a psychotherapist include a Master’s in social work, clinical mental health counseling, and marriage and family counseling. These can include different areas of specialization, including the potential for focusing on children, families, couples, or adult individuals.

Other practitioners focus on assessment and evaluation rather than psychotherapy, though some do both. Psychological testing is involved in a broad range of contexts, from learning disorders to ADHD, neurocognitive disorders, and IQ and personality assessments.

For the PhD, research experience is vital before applying. For master ‘ s-level degrees and the PsyD, it is not as crucial, but still very beneficial. A background in activism or social justice can be helpful for entry into many counseling programs. Across all disciplines of practice, volunteer and paid positions that involve one-on-one helping, such as staffing a crisis hotline or text line, behavioral interventions with children, youth mentoring programs, support services in community mental health centers, and peer support roles.

Career Pathways & Graduate School
Becoming a licensed Clinical Psychologist requires a doctoral degree (PhD or PsyD). A PhD program places a heavy emphasis on research production and data analysis, while a PsyD places more emphasis on clinical practice. These programs tend to differ in cost and duration as well as research emphasis, with PsyDs tending to be more expensive and shorter, whereas PhDs tend to provide a stipend and take 6+years to complete.

• With a Doctoral Degree: Careers include private practice, clinical work in hospital settings (VA, academic medical centers), teaching at the university level, mental health tech industry, or conducting clinical trials and research in medical or academic settings.
• With a Master’s Degree: Students interested in therapy but less interested in conducting research often pursue a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) or Mental Health Counseling (LPC/LMHC). These are excellent pathways for those who want to focus strictly on patient care. A Master’s in Social Work provides greater training on community systems and services that can help individuals thrive.

Career Opportunities with a Bachelor’s Degree
While you cannot practice as a psychologist with a BA, there are plenty of industry positions available in consulting or tech, and there are many jobs that provide crucial experience to improve graduate school applications:

• Clinical Research Coordinator/Assistant: Working in a lab managing participant data, recruiting subjects, and running protocols. This is the “gold standard” gap-year job for PhD applicants.
• Psychiatric Technician/Mental Health Associate: Working on inpatient units, monitoring patients.
• Behavioral Technician (RBT): Implementing behavioral plans, often with children with autism.

Preparation: Research and practical steps
Because Clinical Psychology PhD programs are among the most competitive graduate programs in the country, undergraduate preparation is vital if you are planning to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology.

• Research experience: For the PhD, research experience is vital before applying. For master’s-level degrees and the PsyD, it is not as crucial, but still very beneficial. Students should seek to join a faculty lab at Georgetown as early as their sophomore or junior year to gain experience with data entry, literature reviews, and poster presentations.
• Clinical exposure: While undergraduates cannot do therapy, you can gain exposure to vulnerable populations through volunteer and paid positions that involve one-on-one helping like staffing a crisis hotline or text line (such as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or Crisis Text Line), behavioral interventions with children, youth mentoring programs, support services in community mental health centers, and peer support roles (e.g., university clubs such as Active Minds).

Note that licensure requirements are region-specific (state and country), so it is important to research the specifics of licensure if you wish to study or practice in a specific region.

Professional Organizations

• American Psychological Association
• Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the American Psychological Association)
• Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association)
• The Community for Psychologists in Independent Practice (Division 42 of the American Psychological Association)
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
• American Counseling Association
• American Mental Health Counselors Association
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
• Association for Psychological Science (APS)

Relevant Courses in Psychology
To be competitive in this field, students should demonstrate strength in statistics and methodology, as well as core clinical content. Relevant Georgetown courses include:

• PSYC 2000: Research Methods and Statistics
• PSYC 2700: Psychological Disorders
• PSYC 2710 Personality and Clinical Science
• PSYC 3220: Health Psychology
• PSYC 3750 Hoyas Connected (highly recommended before applying for Group Process and Facilitation Course Sequence)
• PSYC 3730 Group Process & Facilitation I
• PSYC 3740/3741 Group Process & Facilitation 2
• PSYC 4420 Culture and Psychopathology
• PSYC 4700 Theories of Therapy
• PSYC 4710 Anxiety and Related Disorders

Cognate courses in the Biology department (Neurobiology) or Statistics department can also be helpful. A background in computer science (coding for data analysis) is also increasingly attractive to research-heavy clinical programs.

Want to find out more?  Chat with Profs. Andrea Bonior, Casey Brown, and Yulia Chentsova-Dutton.

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