Is this enough?

[Pribor]

I’m currently considering a career in clinical psychology. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in ’07 near the top of my class. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any psych courses during undergrad, and I would have to start out pursuing a master’s degree first to shore up my vast inadequacies (in terms of course work, research, etc.).

Reasons why I’m interested in psych:

-. .I’ve been working with an LCSW for the past three years and she has significantly improved my quality of life. I really value the time I spend in session with her.
-. .I took Intro and Developmental psych in the summer following my graduation, and I really enjoyed both of them.
-. .I was introduced to cognitive psychology during an Intro to Cognitive Science course and I found the subject fascinating.
-. .My interest in philosophy tended to revolve around metaphysics and epistemology—specifically about questions of the self and identity.

My question is this: Is this experience and information an accurate predictor of what can be expected in a clinical psych degree? Is it enough to decide a career path? Given my career and financial goals, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be satisfied stopping with the master’s degree, so by starting this path my ultimate goal is the PhD. I’ve always been a really strong student, so more years of school don’t scare me. But I am hesitant to start down this long path on limited experience and information. There is, after all, always law school.

What do you think?

(Related question: Do I even have a shot of getting into a master’s program with this background?)

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[KillerDiller]

The good news is that you don't have to decide quite yet on whether graduate school in clinical psychology is the best option for you. The bad news is that this is because you will likely need to take several more courses in psychology at the undergraduate level to be competitive for Masters programs (at least the types of Masters programs that will prepare you well for going on to a Ph.D). You will probably need to take psychopathology, research methods, and statistics at least.

Some things to consider:
1. Clinical psychology is pretty different from social work. Although you may find yourself working with the same populations, the approach is different (a greater emphasis on pathology and diagnosis I believe).

2. Although psychology and philosophy are definitely related, you likely won't have many classes that get into the abstractions of metaphysics and epistemology in a clinical program. We did a bit of this in my social psych and history and systems classes, I'll admit, but most of the abstract discussions in clinical psych tend to revolve around the nature of pathology, how to define and classify mental disorders, and how to consider culture in an appropriate context (ymmv). Of course, you are free to theorize to your heart's content when it comes to research, as long as you can ground it in some sort of empirical reality.

3. If salary is a huge concern for you, you should know up front that even doctoral level clinicians don't tend to make all that much. The median salaries I've heard quoted over the last several range from 70-90K a year (and that is after working for several years in the field).

That's all I've got. Good luck.