Choosing a specialty can be challenging decision

By Catherine Robertson Souter
October 3rd, 2021
Joseph Toomey, Ph.D., associate chair of the clinical psychology department at William James College in Newton, Mass.
Joseph Toomey, Ph.D., associate chair of the clinical psychology department at William James College in Newton, Mass.

If you ask 100 psychologists how they chose what they do, the specialty or the setting, you will get 100 different answers. Many will say they chose to follow an interest from early educational experiences. Some may say they followed a mentor’s footsteps. Still others will say it was a bit more serendipitous with fate choosing their path.

For those just setting out on a career in mental health, the path ahead can be a bit intimidating. Every decision can seem momentous.

No one path will fit every student. So much of it depends on so many factors, from the more practical like cost and location to the more esoteric like a school’s mission and reputation.

Plus, while some specialties are determined during post-doctoral phases, others should be decided before applying to graduate school.

“It is definitely a complicated question,” said Joseph Toomey, Ph.D., associate chair of the clinical psychology department at William James College in Newton, Mass. “There are some schools that really do require you to have a mindset beforehand that this is the direction I want to go in.”

“There are some schools that really do require you to have a mindset beforehand that this is the direction I want to go in." -- Joseph Toomey, Ph.D., associate chair, clinical psychology department, William James College, Newton, Mass

To be a forensic psychologist, for example, it may be useful to take certain foundational courses during a graduate program but most of the specialization comes during the post-doctoral level.

“Whereas to be school psychologist,” he added, “you want to know beforehand. It’s not that you can’t adjust to it part way through training, but most school psychology programs have a certain set of accrediting standards they follow that are unique from the more generalist programs and some schools may not have a school psychology program at all.”

While there may not be one path, the advice that experts give for choosing a specialty is pretty clear: do your homework. Research the programs that are out there, talk to professors, and do some soul searching.

“For a student who does have a clear sense of what they want,” said Mark Hallahan, Ph.D., chair of the psychology department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., “research the programs and make sure they will let them get a license to do the work they want to do. ”

Not all programs are accredited by the APA, Toomey explained, and many states now require a degree from an accredited program for licensure.

“Any time a program is not accredited by the APA it is a risky decision to make,” said Toomey.

Graduate degree programs are now required, he added, to post on their website in which states their program will work for licensure.

For those with no idea where they might want to specialize, start with the list of specialties on the APA website. Look at what programs are available but also what is required for licensure and what exactly that specialty does.

“When you go to the definitions and explanations, it gives you a better sense for what it actually is,” said Toomey. “I am a forensic psychologist and there are huge misconceptions about what that is; people think “Silence of the Lambs” or “CSI” and get there and realize, ‘whoa, this is different from what I thought it was.'”

Talking to experts can provide many of these answers. In counseling undergraduates at Holy Cross, Hallahan recommends working in the field, whether volunteering at a hospital or getting an entry level job at a community mental health center, to get feel for the atmosphere.

“They can’t do actual therapy or counseling,” said Hallahan, “but they would have a chance to see the work and talk to psychiatrists or social workers or people who did a Ph.D program and ask them, ‘Why did you pick your path? If you had to do it over again, what would you change?'”

And the big question: Should you focus on eventual pay? Not really, said Toomey. It turns out that job satisfaction is not necessarily linked to pay scale.

“It is interesting because when we do surveys of alumni and ask if they are satisfied with their choice of career,” said Toomey, “across the board, they all say that they are very satisfied even where the pay is varied. Some are working as clinicians in hospitals or with kids or with community mental health or more serious diagnoses.”

It is more important to do work you find fulfilling, he added.

“When looking into one of helping professions,” Toomey said, “it is important do it for the right reason. There are some folks that make very good money and most make a fair living but it is not about that. It is about living the values and living the mission of helping other people.”

Some specialties make more money but that is not a good reason to pursue them, he said. “If you pursue it for the wrong reason, you probably won’t last long.”

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