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MAC alumni handbook (Table of Contents) |
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology ("MAC") The
MAC Alumni Handbook: The Cadillac of mental health credentials, at least from a third–party payment (or insurance reimbursement) point of view, is the MD degree with a specialty in psychiatry. Most insurance companies are required by law to cover these services, which may run from $200 to $350 per hour. Traditionally providing in–depth psychoanalysis, psychiatrists are turning more and more to brief 15-minute appointments to prescribe and monitor psychotrophic medications. The MD credential requires completion of medical school with an in–depth residency specializing in psychiatric illness and medical treatment. The MAC Program provides nothing relevant to this credential beyond psychological and clinical knowledge. The "Licensed Psychologist" credential is awarded to individuals who have earned a doctorate degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in psychology and have passed state-approved (nationally-prepared) examinations. Licensed psychologists often go into private practice (charging $90 to $140 per hour, which is reimbursed by most, but not all, insurance companies) or work in mental health facilities, usually as consultants or administrators. The MAC Program awards a master's degree and not a doctoral degree. Therefore, it does not directly prepare students for this credential. However, the MAC Program provides an excellent academic/clinical basis for advanced doctoral studies leading to licensure as a psychologist. A number of MAC alumni aspire to continue on and earn a doctoral program in psychology. The MAC faculty enthusiastically endorse that goal but encourage you to do some careful planning. There are a few institutions in the state that grant Ph.D. degrees in psychology. Such programs typically are extremely selective and have strict entrance requirements. For example, the University of Washington recently accepted only 36 of 572 applicants (six percent). There are typically two models for Ph.D. training. The first takes BA graduates and offers masters and Ph.D. training in one unified package (e.g. University of Washington). The second is a stand-alone program which builds on an existing MA or MS degree, no matter where it was obtained (e.g. Washington State University). A MAC graduate will obviously be more attractive to the second model of Ph.D.-granting institutions. Licensure as a Social Worker is another credential available in Washington. A master's degree in clinical social work shares a number of elements in common with the master's in Counseling Psychology. In fact, they may appear, at first glance, to be essentially the same program. However, there are several important differences, most important of which is that the parent discipline for clinical social workers is general social work while the parent discipline for mental health counselors is psychology. Because the MAC Program is more focused than a clinical emphasis of a more general masters in social work, it offers more relevant coursework than most MSW programs. Because the MAC Program is not an accredited social work training program, it offers students little that is relevant for this credential beyond some comparable training in specific clinical areas. A somewhat different credential is that
of Qualified Chemical
Dependency Counselor (QCDC). This is the
first step in a series of credentials in the drug and
alcohol field. The next steps are certified chemical
dependency counselor - level I (CCDC-I) followed by CCDC-II and CCDC-III. Qualification, which is considered
the minimal level of competence necessary for working
with chemically dependent clients, is defined and
monitored by DSHS, Division of Alcohol and Substance
Abuse (DASA). The MAC Program offers very little toward
either QCDC or CCDC. There is one class, MAC 651:
"Treatment of Substance Abuse," which is
relevant for QCDC (and CCDC). Although the course is
designed to provide an in-depth, overview of chemical
dependency and CD counseling techniques, it would
certainly apply toward these credentials. In addition, if
you're interested in these credentials, you could do your
internship in an approved CD facility and count your
hours toward both the master's degree and CD
certification. One of the recent credentials in Washington is certification as a "Sex Offender Treatment Provider." This certification allows therapists to evaluate and treat adolescents and/or adults who are convicted of sex offenses and are court-ordered into treatment. The certification requires a master's degree (such as the one granted through the MAC Program) with additional in-depth experience and training in this high intensity area. You can find more information by looking at the DOH website: https://wws2.wa.gov/doh/hpqa-licensing/hps7/Sex_Offender_Treatment_Provider/default.htm Other recent counseling credential are "Domestic Violence Therapist" and "Sex Abuse Survivor Therapist." Current controversies surrounding these additional certifications center on the problems of requiring a complicated credential process for therapists who will see relatively few of one type of client (rather than specializing in therapy with one clientele), the issue of possible redundancy with other certifications (such as LMHC and LMFT), and the problem of costs (these credentials are expensive — credentials as a sex offender treatment provider recently cost $800 per year). Some people might expect to find County Designated Mental Health Professional (CDMHP) listed here. CDMHPs are charged, among other things, with assessing whether disturbed clients are a danger to themselves or others and may need to be committed for a psychiatric evaluation. However, CDMHP is an involuntary job title and not a credential per se. It does not imply a competence level. It is merely a job to perform. CDMHPs usually range in training and experience from MD psychiatrists to LMHCs, but may not even have any certification credentials at all. |
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Email contact: (MAC@stmartin.edu) |
