CSUS DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY ADVISING INFORMATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONS OVERVIEW Mental health and human services careers may be pursued through the fields of psychology, psychiatry, counseling, social work, and other related disciplines. These careers are accessible at the Bachelor s, Master s and Doctoral degree levels. Often, certification or licensing requirements must also be met in addition to attaining the appropriate degree. Although each profession has one or more specialty areas or areas of emphasis, there is a high degree of overlap among mental health and human services careers. Students interested in mental health and human services careers share the desire to help people but often have difficulty choosing among the many different options. In addition to gathering information on specific mental health careers, it may also be useful to approach your decision by weeding out career aspects that do not particularly interest you. For example, if you want to provide direct psychotherapy services to individuals, couples and families, but are not particularly interested in psychological testing, research and university level teaching (clinical psychologist) or prescribing medication (psychiatrist), you should consider additional career options in counseling psychology (doctoral level), marriage family therapy (master s level), or clinical social work (master s level). For career paths that require graduate degrees, students should prioritize information found in the Doctoral or Professional Study advising sheet. For additional career paths in human services, see also the advising information on Applied Behavior Analysis. The following are descriptions of some of the more common mental health and human service professions. CAREER PATHS Clinical Psychologists diagnose and treat mental and emotional disturbances and conduct psychological assessments. Counseling Psychologists assist people to cope with problems of everyday living and make lifestyle changes. Clinical and counseling psychologists work in settings that include university academic departments, university counseling centers, hospitals and medical centers, HMOs, mental health clinics, employee assistance programs and private practice. In academic settings, they teach, supervise and conduct research in university level psychology or education departments or medical schools. o Educational Requirement: These careers require a Doctoral degree, a 1-year predoctoral internship and a psychology license. Areas of specialization in clinical psychology include child clinical psychology, geropsychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology. Clinical and counseling psychology careers have a high degree overlap. The differences lie, for example, in the academic departments and internship settings in which the training programs are located and the hiring preferences of
employers. Admission to clinical psychology doctoral programs is usually more competitive than admission to counseling psychology programs. o Salary Information: 10-month salaries for academic positions at 4-year universities range from $44,000 to $78,000 (depending on rank/experience) and at 2-year colleges, $39,000 to $59,000. Clinical psychologists in practice careers earn about $72,000 annually; counseling psychologists earn about $66,500. Psychiatrists are physicians who diagnose, treat and prescribe medication for mental disorders. They work in settings that include hospitals, medical centers, HMOs, and private practice. Academic psychiatrists treat patients, supervise psychiatry residents and conduct research in medical schools. o Educational Requirements: These careers require completion of medical school (4 yrs), internship and residency (4yrs), and board certification (license). Subspecialties include child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, and research. o Salary Information: Psychiatry annual salaries are estimated at about $150,000. Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) evaluate and treat family-centered problems, emphasizing relationship issues. They may also supervise MFT trainees and interns. Settings include social service agencies, employee assistance programs, inpatient and residential facilities, HMOs, schools, and private practice. o Educational Requirements: These careers require completion of a Master s degree program in psychology, counseling or related fields that meet stateregulated training requirements, a post-master s internship and an MFT license. o Salary Information: The annual median income for MFT professionals is about $60,000. Social Workers and Clinical Social Workers help people function at their best in their environment and solve personal and family problems. Traditional social work involves assisting with problems in housing, unemployment, childcare, etc. and acting as case managers. Clinical social work is a specialty in providing psychotherapy or counseling. Settings include social service agencies, hospitals, community nonprofit organizations, inpatient and residential facilities and private practice (licensed clinical social workers only). Specialty areas other than clinical social work include child welfare or family service social work, child or adult protective services social work, mental health social work, healthcare social work, school social work, substance abuse social work, criminal justice social work, occupational social work, gerontology social work, social work administration, social work planners and policy makers. o Educational Requirements: Although social work careers are available at the Bachelor s degree level (see below), counseling careers require a Master s degree in Social Work (MSW), a post-master s internship, and a Licensed Clinical Social Work (LCSW) license. o Salary Information: The annual median income for LCSW professionals is about $60,000.
Social/Human Service Assistants and Mental Health Workers provide direct and indirect client services, usually under the direction of licensed mental health professionals. Mental health, social or human service workers tend to work in group settings such as residential facilities, outpatient programs or group counseling settings. o Educational Requirements: Bachelor s degrees are preferred but not always required. Settings include outpatient clinics, social service agencies, shelters, psychiatric hospitals, and rehabilitation programs. Certification programs, e.g., certified drug and alcohol counselor, may also be available at the Bachelor s degree level. o Salary Information: Bachelor s level annual salaries are about $25,000 to $30,000. Additional Mental Health/Human Service Occupations: activity director addiction/alcohol counselor admissions counselor adolescent care technician adolescent chemical dependency counselor alcoholism unit manager area administrator assistant residence manager assistant youth coordinator association manager behavior analyst camp staff director caretaker case tracking specialist case worker center supervisor chemical dependency advocate chemical dependency coordinator chemical dependency counselor chemical dependency secretary chemical dependency technician child care counselor child care worker child development worker child protection worker college admissions representative community activist community correctional service worker community outreach coordinator community organizer community service coordinator community worker compliance officer consultant cottage treatment team counselor counselor aid counselor/therapist county personnel officer crime prevention coordinator daily living aid day-care aid deputy juvenile probation officer development officer director of activity and recreation director of day-care center director of human services director of education director of planned parenthood director of youth service bureau drug counselor early childhood specialist education prevention specialist education daytime coordinator educational coordinator educational representative employee assistance program specialist employment counselor executive director field representative foster home parent grants coordinator group home coordinator group home counselor group home parents group leader group worker head of fund raising houseparent human relations director human services technician infant stimulation teacher information specialist information referral specialist inservice director instructor instructor-handicapped adult program interviewer investigator juvenile justice planner juvenile prevention program coordinator juvenile specialist living unit assistant mental health worker mental retardation professional mental retardation unit manager neighborhood outreach worker occupational information developer patient service representative plannerevaluator program consultant program coordinator program director public information officer psychiatric technician rehabilitation aid relief houseparent research analyst/planner research assistant research trainee research scientist residence counselor resident aid resident caretaker residential assistant residential director residential service coordinator residential supervisor resource developer service advisor social service director social services supervisor social worker
social worker coordinator statistical assistant student activities adviser supervisor support service manager task force coordinator trainer trainer-coordinator veteran's adviser volunteer coordinator work activity program director youth worker UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE ADVISING As mentioned previously, students interested in graduate level careers in mental health and human services should follow the advising information on graduate study in psychology. In other words, take courses in the traditional areas of psychology to fulfill degree requirements. In addition, our department recommends the courses listed below that may be taken as electives or as part of the degree program. It is also recommended that students obtain experience in the counseling/human service field through university-sponsored fieldwork, volunteering or employment. Internship opportunities are posted outside of the Psychology Department office. Faculty advisors, such as those listed below, may also have internship suggestions. The Sacramento area Community Council publishes the Community Services Directory (http://www.communitycouncil.org/level-3/directories.html) that helps students familiarize themselves with local organizations for internship and employment purposes. Finally, Ph.D. programs in the mental health field always look favorably on undergraduate research experience. In addition, most of these programs emphasize a scientist-practitioner model, requiring graduate students to engage in research along with their clinical coursework. Because of this, students interested in this route are strongly encouraged to obtain research experience by working with a faculty member in the department. Recommended Courses: PSYC 111 Introduction to Biological Psychology (for doctoral level programs) PSYC 117 Psychopharmacology (for master s level programs) PSYC 137 Stress Management PSYC 148 Child Psychology PSYC 149 Psychology of Adolescence PSYC 151 Psychological Aspects of Death and Dying PSYC 166 Humanistic Psychology PSYC 168 Abnormal Psychology PSYC 194 Cooperative Research (for doctoral level programs) PSYC 195A Fieldwork in Teaching of Psychology (for doctoral level programs) PSYC 195F Fieldwork in Community Psychology CSUS Psychology Department Full-Time Faculty with Clinical Psychology Backgrounds Lee Berrigan, Ph.D. Rebecca Cameron, Ph.D. Marya Endriga, Ph.D. Robert Jensen, Ph.D. Joanne Marrow, Ph.D. Martin Rogers, Ph.D.
Professional Organizations and Resources American Psychological Association (www.apa.org) o http://www.psyccareers.com/ o http://www.apa.org/students/student1.html o http://research.apa.org/employmentdata.htmlhttp://research.apa.org/salsurv.html o http://research.apa.org/01salary/salaries.pdf o http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/careers/ o http://research.apa.org/bacc.html o http://research.apa.org/masters.html o http://research.apa.org/doctoral.html American Psychiatric Association (www.psych.org) o http://www.psych.org/career_corner/jobbank/ o http://www.psych.org/career_corner/careers_psych/careersinpsych.cfm American Association of Marriage Family Therapy (http://www.aamft.org) o http://www.aamft.org/resources/career_practiceinformation/career.htm o http://www.aamft.org/resources/career_practiceinformation/salaries.htm o California Association of Marriage Family Therapy (CAMFT; http://www.camft.org) National Association of Social Work (http://www.socialworkers.org) o NASW California Chapter (http://naswca.org/) o http://www.socialworkers.org/students/default.asp o http://www.socialworkers.org/profession/overview.asp#social2