masters degrees in psychology

​Written By Aunice Yvonne Reed, M.S., M.A.

This area of the website discusses topics related to masters level psychology/mental health degree programs and subjects. If you are interested in obtaining a masters degree in a mental health or psychology field, this is the right place for you. I encourage you to put any questions or comments below for purposes of encouraging an informative discussion! I will answer these questions as time permits.

There are numerous fields to choose from at the masters degree level in mental health: clinical psychology, counseling psychology, applied behavioral analysis, marriage and family therapy, educational psychology, addiction counseling, social work and there's also general psychology without any kind of clinical component. To be clear, clinical programs lead to a practice credential of some sort that allows an individual to work with clients in their particular jurisdiction.

Before embarking on, or making a decision to enroll in a specific educational program in the mental health field, it is extremely important to take some time to determine what it is that you want to do in this field, and to consider whether or not you would like to work with clients.
A few questions to think about might include:

• Do you want to work with clients, and if so what kind of clients do you want to work with? (those with disabilities, children with autism or learning disorders, clients with addiction problems, clients in the criminal justice system, incarcerated individuals, those with severe mental illness?)
• If you want to work with clients, how do you want to work with them? (diagnose and treat, do therapy, prescribe/manage medications, work with children, families, couples, etc.).
• What kinds of treatment settings do you want to work with clients in? (schools, colleges, church community, your office, nonprofit, prisons and jails, a local agency, etc.).
• Would you like to teach psychology courses at the college level? If so, what kinds of courses would you be interested in teaching?
• Are you interested in contributing to research in mental health and psychology? If so, what are your areas of interest? (assessments, neuropsychology, addiction, Alzheimers Disease, for example).

These are just a few questions to think about, and areas to explore before you choose your graduate program in psychology. Where you decide to attend school isn't so important as deciding what you will do with said degree. It is really essential to brainstorm and write the answers to these questions down for future reference and self-reflection. The reason you'll need to do this first, is that you want to be clear on what it is you want to do in the realm of working with clients. Each credential will allow you to do certain things, while some are more generally applied. For instance, an addiction counselor works with clients with substance use and co-occurring disorders only. Their credential does not permit them to work with mental disorders in general. Educational psychologists are permitted to work within an educational context within school settings only. Many clinicians hold several types of credentials, permitting them to work with clients in a variety of settings and are qualified to work with different types of conditions.