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-> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
amother
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 Fri, Jun 07 2024, 2:56 pm
OP, unless you have money to support your daughter for her whole life, encourage her to reconsider this career path. 20 to 30% of graduates don't get to full licensure because they don't finish their hours, struggle with the exam, and many more don't even use their degrees in the years that follow. And the income is PITIFUL. Yes it can be meaningful, but a lot of things can be meaningful. Unless a therapist wants to work themselves into a very unhealthy place, a 40hr/wk private practice isn't possible.
Also, while I think it's a huge conflict and not ok that social work and therapy schools push their students to get therapy, personally I get why it would be helpful for the student - even if it's just so she knows what therapy looks like (good or bad).
While I don't know the program you referenced personally, this probably isn't uncommon or exclusive to one program. It's best to think of it as a job interviewer trying to identify who isn't a good fit. They want her to graduate because they track the graduation metric.
Signed,
a Masters level clinician in the mental health field
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 3:02 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | OP, unless you have money to support your daughter for her whole life, encourage her to reconsider this career path. 20 to 30% of graduates don't get to full licensure because they don't finish their hours, struggle with the exam, and many more don't even use their degrees in the years that follow. And the income is PITIFUL. Yes it can be meaningful, but a lot of things can be meaningful. Unless a therapist wants to work themselves into a very unhealthy place, a 40hr/wk private practice isn't possible.
Also, while I think it's a huge conflict and not ok that social work and therapy schools push their students to get therapy, personally I get why it would be helpful for the student - even if it's just so she knows what therapy looks like (good or bad).
While I don't know the program you referenced personally, this probably isn't uncommon or exclusive to one program. It's best to think of it as a job interviewer trying to identify who isn't a good fit. They want her to graduate because they track the graduation metric.
Signed,
a Masters level clinician in the mental health field |
Thanks I totally get where you’re coming from but she is so insistent that this is what she wants to do.
And totally open to going for therapy as part of her graduate school training, the issue was they were grilling her about why she didn’t already have therapy. And not in a kind supportive way, in an aggressive talking down way.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 3:07 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | OP, unless you have money to support your daughter for her whole life, encourage her to reconsider this career path. 20 to 30% of graduates don't get to full licensure because they don't finish their hours, struggle with the exam, and many more don't even use their degrees in the years that follow. And the income is PITIFUL. Yes it can be meaningful, but a lot of things can be meaningful. Unless a therapist wants to work themselves into a very unhealthy place, a 40hr/wk private practice isn't possible.
Also, while I think it's a huge conflict and not ok that social work and therapy schools push their students to get therapy, personally I get why it would be helpful for the student - even if it's just so she knows what therapy looks like (good or bad).
While I don't know the program you referenced personally, this probably isn't uncommon or exclusive to one program. It's best to think of it as a job interviewer trying to identify who isn't a good fit. They want her to graduate because they track the graduation metric.
Signed,
a Masters level clinician in the mental health field |
Thanks for your perspective. I’m also interested in going into the field. Are you speaking from personal experience? What are your hours and pay if you don’t mind me asking, and do you not like your job?
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 3:40 pm
| amother Birch wrote: | | Thanks for your perspective. I’m also interested in going into the field. Are you speaking from personal experience? What are your hours and pay if you don’t mind me asking, and do you not like your job? |
I worked as a therapist for for over 10 years. The salary was so low I qualified for Medicaid while working full time in a clinic plus part time group and private practice - and after 10 years in the field I couldn't wait for things to get better any longer. I had a family to support BH. So I am not in the field any longer and BH I don't qualify for Medicaid any longer.
Most of the therapists I know personally are not in therapy because they either didn't get enough hours for licensure or because the salary was too low that it didn't pay for them to go to work.
You will definitely hear MANY Ima's on this site talk about how their therapist is raking it in. And maybe a handfull are. But most are not.
Here's a link to a site showing how much social workers make across the country. BLS GOV Social Worker Salaries
Ask yourself - can you support your family on this income? I would do anything to prevent my kids from entering this field. I talk to them about it every day. The education was a complete waste of money (and I didn't do a "frum" program).
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 3:44 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | I worked as a therapist for for over 10 years. The salary was so low I qualified for Medicaid while working full time in a clinic plus part time group and private practice - and after 10 years in the field I couldn't wait for things to get better any longer. I had a family to support BH. So I am not in the field any longer and BH I don't qualify for Medicaid any longer.
Most of the therapists I know personally are not in therapy because they either didn't get enough hours for licensure or because the salary was too low that it didn't pay for them to go to work.
You will definitely hear MANY Ima's on this site talk about how their therapist is raking it in. And maybe a handfull are. But most are not.
Here's a link to a site showing how much social workers make across the country. BLS GOV Social Worker Salaries
Ask yourself - can you support your family on this income? I would do anything to prevent my kids from entering this field. I talk to them about it every day. The education was a complete waste of money (and I didn't do a "frum" program). |
Thanks for sharing so honestly.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 3:50 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | I worked as a therapist for for over 10 years. The salary was so low I qualified for Medicaid while working full time in a clinic plus part time group and private practice - and after 10 years in the field I couldn't wait for things to get better any longer. I had a family to support BH. So I am not in the field any longer and BH I don't qualify for Medicaid any longer.
Most of the therapists I know personally are not in therapy because they either didn't get enough hours for licensure or because the salary was too low that it didn't pay for them to go to work.
You will definitely hear MANY Ima's on this site talk about how their therapist is raking it in. And maybe a handfull are. But most are not.
Here's a link to a site showing how much social workers make across the country. BLS GOV Social Worker Salaries
Ask yourself - can you support your family on this income? I would do anything to prevent my kids from entering this field. I talk to them about it every day. The education was a complete waste of money (and I didn't do a "frum" program). | Which field are you in now? And how long did it take to build up to be able to support your family?
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 4:00 pm
| amother Watermelon wrote: | | Which field are you in now? And how long did it take to build up to be able to support your family? |
I'm reluctant to be too detailed and potentially out myself, I'm very open about the problems with the mental health field. But I went back to school and got a masters in a business field, did a paid internship that paid better than being a therapist, rotated to other roles advancing my skills every 1-2 years, and after about 10 years reached the point where I was considered an expert in a niched field and landed a position that earns a salary that makes more sense.
The cost of living is very high nowadays. Don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes, be a realist and not an optimist as you search for the right career path.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 4:41 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | I'm reluctant to be too detailed and potentially out myself, I'm very open about the problems with the mental health field. But I went back to school and got a masters in a business field, did a paid internship that paid better than being a therapist, rotated to other roles advancing my skills every 1-2 years, and after about 10 years reached the point where I was considered an expert in a niched field and landed a position that earns a salary that makes more sense.
The cost of living is very high nowadays. Don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes, be a realist and not an optimist as you search for the right career path. | ty for this. Where can I go to educate myself further on a field to enter that is sustainable. Did you take a risk or did you have guidance?
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 5:03 pm
| amother Opal wrote: | I'm reluctant to be too detailed and potentially out myself, I'm very open about the problems with the mental health field. But I went back to school and got a masters in a business field, did a paid internship that paid better than being a therapist, rotated to other roles advancing my skills every 1-2 years, and after about 10 years reached the point where I was considered an expert in a niched field and landed a position that earns a salary that makes more sense.
The cost of living is very high nowadays. Don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes, be a realist and not an optimist as you search for the right career path. |
I’m in the teaching field, started school to go into mental health and paused while raising my family.
How did you think to do your pivot? I get that you don’t want to out yourself- is there any more explanation or guidance you can give?
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 6:14 pm
| amother Watermelon wrote: | | ty for this. Where can I go to educate myself further on a field to enter that is sustainable. Did you take a risk or did you have guidance? |
anything has a risk. staying in a field with limited growth potential was the biggest risk. choose broader more solid degree paths with solid income and job potential is the path I'd recommend. And daven. Because nothing happens without siyata dishmaya.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 6:32 pm
| amother Forestgreen wrote: | I’m in the teaching field, started school to go into mental health and paused while raising my family.
How did you think to do your pivot? I get that you don’t want to out yourself- is there any more explanation or guidance you can give? |
Not sure why you need specifics
I am not this poster but figuring out what she did isn’t a mystery and the specifics are irrelevant.
She got further training in a business field and with a lot of focus and hard work made a career from it.
Maybe she got an MBA or an advanced degree in some form of health field. I know someone who got her advanced degrees in Public Health and is now a high level executive in a major health organization where she deals with policy and economic issues
The point is that a social work degree is not a smart career decision especially if it is one of the programs that very narrowly funnels you into a certificate type of education.
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amother
Junglegreen
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Fri, Jun 07 2024, 6:52 pm
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I became a social worker at 30. Had close to zero experience being a client myself. I wish my university had required therapy. BH since I graduated I’ve been through years of therapy which has helped me help my clients. No way I could have done it without being in therapy. That being said, this experience sounds horrible. Send her to a different college.
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