As Mike notes, licensing laws vary from state to state and Master's level psychologists get licensed under a variety of labels. In Florida, Master's-level psychologists with appropriate training can sit for licensure as either a Licensed Mental Health Counselor or as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (or both). There is separate licensure for the Masters in Clinical Social Work. Psychiatric nurses have a separte route for licensure (with similar powers for activities like involuntary commitment - although that power is denied to those with the LMHC and LMFT). There is quite a turf war among these professional groups over the writiing and rewriting of licensure laws in individual states. It is an interesting political process, which our counseling faculty track closely (we offer only the master's degree in psychology at UWF).
You can inquire with the professional licensing body in states about the number of individuals licensed under theses categories. They will also have the numbers on clinical psychologists and psychiatrists (as well as dentists, physicians, licensed professional engineers, and who knows what else!) Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor, Psychology University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 or (850) 473-7435 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Mike Palij [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Fri 9/12/2008 8:22 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Cc: Mike Palij Subject: [tips] Numbers of masters' versus phd psychotherapists On Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:47:25 -0700, Annette Taylor wrote: >Is there any way to find the relative numbers of people who >are licensed at the master's versus the phd level. I have tried >a simple websearch but have wasted lots of time today on this. I will defer to clinicians who know about such things but my first reaction is that your question is "poorly formed", that is, you are combining several categories, some of which are not licensed, together. More below. >It is my gut sense that the number of Master's level psychotherapists >vastly outnumbers the doctoral level, but I don't know where >to to find support for my gut level belief--not the best evidence, LOL. It is my understanding that for Ph.D.s and Psy.D.s, in order to call oneself "licensed", one has to (a) undergo a specific training program (I am tempted to say that it has to be an APA-approved clinical/counseling/school/etc program but I'm not 100% sure) and (b) take and pass a state licensing exam. In NY state, the term "Psychologist" can only be used by a licensed psychologist; see: http://www.op.nysed.gov/article153.htm This means that non-clinician Ph.D.s cannot legally call themselves psychologists (I am, however, partial to being a non-psychologist). I believe that similar criteria exist for social workers at the master's level but a master's in psychology cannot be licensed because NY State requires a doctorate for licensing. I know that in the past in NY State, anyone, regardless of education level could call/advertise themselves as a "psychotherapist" because this was not an official or legal designation (i.e., there is no licensing for it). It is possible that this has changed but the point is that no one kept track of the number of "psychotherapists" because it was essentially a meaningless term (though not to the general public that may have thought they were going to a mental health professional). Because licensing is done on the state level (in contrast to following national or federal guidelines), one has to know what the specific requirements for a given state. As with the case of psychotherapist in NYS, it may be possible to call oneself a "psychotherapist" or some other type of therapist (e.g., "Flying Spaghetti Monster" or FSM Therapist). Kenneth Pope maintains a list of contact info for the U.S. and Canada which can be accessed at: http://kspope.com/licensing/index.php You might find additional info on his website. -Mike Palij New York University [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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