It's a good field, if it's for you. I find it interesting, but not what I wanted to do (went back to school and now teach middle school science).

My wife has a PhD in Counseling Psychology (she's worked in a university counseling center, was a professor, had a private practice, and now works for the VA).

With a Master's, the pay still isn't stellar (in general, I'm sure there's exceptions), but it's a step up from where you are right now. Most Master's level clinicians we know work in a community mental health setting.

Explore your state's licensing requirements. Most (if not all) use the EPPP exam. Different states require a different score to pass. It is a tough test (my wife was at the top of her cohort, and it took her two tries to get a passing score for the PhD level).


Another thing to consider is your own mental health. Hearing other people's problems can take a toll on a therapist. I would imagine that dropping the top and revving to 9k rpm's would help with that, though.

 

Gold is refined by fire!

I think I can safely echo what others have told you. Count your blessings. 02 Acura TL. It's no sports car but in most countries more car then people will reasonably own. Keep your nose down. Women are really a waste of time until you want something serious. Buying dinner, yeah money sink. Get that car paid off, start saving and get 6 months living expenses aside before you buy something. My suggestion would be to get a down payment ready via pretending you have a car payment. I live by the notion rent/mortage shouldn't be more then 1 weeks wage and your car payment no more then 3 days work. If you follow some simple money rules and keep up this hard work, money will never be a stress for you.

Really vale your service, the humbleness of asking this publicly, and the sacrifice you've made for your family. Shows your real character.

There will be plenty of S2000's for you to pick from when you're ready and able

 

A masters in psychology is utterly useless unless you need it because your job requires you to have any masters. To do anything with decent pay in psychology you need a PhD. You can jump into any field for masters, but will need to take the pre-reqs to catch up. I recommend you take as many math courses as possible (not just elementary calculus), since it will most likely be the limiting factor in choosing a field for your masters.

My undergraduate degree was in pure mathematics and economics. I have a masters in statistics and I am getting a masters in electrical engineering. If you take rigorous math courses in your undergraduate education, it will make graduate courses in other fields like engineering and statistics a breeze. I plan on getting a PhD in computer science next.

 

Umm, no. With a Master' you can be a clinician. Most community mental health, MHMR, school psychologist, marriage and family therapist, and dependence counselors have a Master's (I'm sure there's more I missed).

In some states you can operate a private practice as an LPC (licensed psychological counselor). Private practice, even at a Master's level, can be lucrative (somewhat dependent on location). My wife has shared private practice office space with LPC's, and while they couldn't charge as much as her, they still did very well (they had a established a good client base).

Yes, mental healthcare can be a low paying field, but if it's your passion.........

 

I admire your openness to come here and ask for help and advice, and echo pretty much everything everybody else here has said.

Cars and money and women aside- do you have anyone in your life who is a trusted mentor that you can consult with on things like this, and just life in general? I'm a big fan of surrounding yourself with wise counsel to bounce things off of. It sounds like you could benefit from either a life coach or a wise friend who's looking out for your best interest. Heck, if I lived in GA, I'd be glad to meet for a cup of coffee and chat.

Most people y(our) age are loathe to seek help from an older generation, and the humility you've shown here will go a long way in making inroads with anyone you admire and are seeking advice from. I'm sure if you made the first (most difficult) step to put yourself out there, you could meet great people with your attitude. Try visiting a local place of worship, utilizing a network for veterans, or heck, even meetup.com. Expand your social network with wise people and you'll reap the rewards.

HTH.

 

Well I like working on cars, but I'm not very good at it. Lol. I like doing security. I like being in the security field, but the job market for that doesn't pay well at all. People have said I should be a corrections officer at my local jail, but I have a past buddy that said he hated it and I don't want to quit my job and find out that I hate it. Also, I live about an hour away from Atlanta and there's a ton of security jobs out there but they only pay like $10 an hour. I don't want to drive all the way out there, fight traffic, and in the end, just be paying for gas because I make $8.50 now and it will pretty much equal out in the end. That's why I moved out to AZ awhile back because I had money in the bank from a previous accident(my 04 GPW S2K). I Loved AZ and I didn't know a single soul when I moved out there, but I made friends rather quickly. I don't have that kind of money in the bank anymore to get up and move, but I'm also not tied down to anything either (guess that would be a good thing at least in my situation).

 

Thank you! Trust me, I'll definitely post when I do.

 

Thank you very much. I like your post. I tend to talk to my brother a lot, but other then that I don't have anybody else. Actually, I do talk to my father quite a bit and he does help me out. I was thinking about going back to church. I met a lot of good people there in the past when I used to go all the time. Just don't know which church to attend. There are so many to pick from around where I live. Like at least two on every street seems like. lol. I was also thinking that I will trying to hangout with people I meet in the gym since I'm there six or seven days a week. lol. That's how I met my friend's in AZ.

 

It's a good field, if it's for you. I find it interesting, but not what I wanted to do (went back to school and now teach middle school science).

My wife has a PhD in Counseling Psychology (she's worked in a university counseling center, was a professor, had a private practice, and now works for the VA).

With a Master's, the pay still isn't stellar (in general, I'm sure there's exceptions), but it's a step up from where you are right now. Most Master's level clinicians we know work in a community mental health setting.

Explore your state's licensing requirements. Most (if not all) use the EPPP exam. Different states require a different score to pass. It is a tough test (my wife was at the top of her cohort, and it took her two tries to get a passing score for the PhD level).


Another thing to consider is your own mental health. Hearing other people's problems can take a toll on a therapist. I would imagine that dropping the top and revving to 9k rpm's would help with that, though.
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I was actually talking to my advisor and she sent me a list of master's programs that I'm looking at right now. I just think having a master's in general will be better then anything in the long run. Just have to find what I want to ACTUALLY do.

 

"Women are really a waste of time until you want something serious. Buying dinner, yeah money sink."

This is very true my friend. It would be nice to have someone to talk to every now and again though. Thank you very much for your kind words. I really appreciate it and it makes me feel better about myself.