Kim Metz - Careers in Mental Health: Opportunities in Psychology, Counseling, and Social Work

Kim Metz, Ph.D.

This edition first published 2016
2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Metz, Kim, author.
Title: Careers in mental health : opportunities in psychology, counseling, and social work / Kim Metz, Ph.D.
Description: Chichester, West Sussex ; Malden, MA : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015040818 (print) | LCCN 2015043939 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118767924 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781119221111 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118768440 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Mental health servicesVocational guidance.
Classification: LCC RA790.75 .M48 2016 (print) | LCC RA790.75 (ebook) | DDC 362.2023dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015040818

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Getty/Martin Spurny

I first and foremost want to acknowledge all of the students whom I have taught and advised over the years. They were the true inspiration for writing this text. I sincerely care that they make good life choices and I was distressed that they didnt have a place to review all of the options in mental health careers easily. Additionally, I have had other professors tell me that they have the same struggle with their own students, and they urged me to put pen to paper so that they could use the information with their own students/advisees. So, thank you also to my colleagues, the ones in my department at Walsh University and the ones with whom I have met and conversed at conferences, for their encouragement.

Second, I'd like to thank Walsh University for granting me a sabbatical in order to get started with this textbook. Time away in an endeavor different from your usual duties is stimulating, and this work would have been impossible without the uninterrupted time; it also invigorated me when I returned to my students the following semester.

Finally, I have to thank my family for giving me many, many short sabbaticals while I strived to finish this text after returning to work full time. The patience and support and encouragement of my husband, Kenny, and my two children, Melissa and Jared, was invaluable and so appreciated. I finished, guys!

Advisor: Hello, Jane Student. I see that you have your next semesters classes all chosen and you seem to be on track with all of your requirements. Lets talk about what I think is the more important part of advising. What exactly do you want to do with your degree in psychology (or counseling or social work)?

Jane Student: (smiling dreamily) I really want to help people.

After, Ive been closed out of a class (and I cant write a book to fix THAT problem), the preceding is probably the most common dialogue I have with my advisees. Now, please dont think Im mocking the exchange. I had the same one with my advisor when I was Jane Student. I begin with this conversation because it was the inspiration for writing this book. You see, I would typically struggle with what my next line in the conversation should be, as there are myriad ways to proceed in order to develop a career helping people with mental health issues.

First, full disclosure I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Over the last 20 years I have worked in various positions as a psychologist. During my internship I worked in a forensic unit in a prison, in a VA hospital, in an outpatient clinic, and on an adolescent ward of an inpatient hospital. After internship I was the staff psychologist at a juvenile justice facility and later at an adolescent group home. When I began having children of my own, I cut back my work hours and did clinical work part time at a community mental health agency and started teaching part time at a local college. I also achieved the Holy Grail of helping people and was an independent contractor at a private practice. I teach full time in a psychology department at a small liberal arts college and continue carrying a small client caseload at a private practice. I can say that I truly enjoyed all of these job opportunities and that Im confident that I have been able to achieve my goal helping people many times over.

OK back to what to say to Jane Student. Given my background, my first inclination when I began teaching (and advising) full time was to say great, lets get going on those applications for a Ph.D. clinical psychology graduate program. I would also hand them a copy of one of the many So You Want to be a Psychology Major books I always have on my shelf. Im also not mocking those books. They are very useful, and I referred to one when I was Jane Student as well. However, I quickly found that the books, as well as the Ph.D. in clinical psychology programs, were not appropriate for many of my students.

For example, some students, for family or financial reasons, did not envision at least four more years of school (plus a year-long internship) following college. Others had desire and time, but lacked the grades or the research experience it would take to get into what are very competitive clinical psychology graduate schools. Still others were dead set on not moving more than a few miles away from home, so their pickings of graduate programs in clinical psychology would be slim, to say the least.