Southwestern College & New Earth Institute (Art Therapy, Consiousness MAs)

[Jonathan Whatley]

Personally, I'd get the MA in Counseling, get licensed (or not) and go after a Doctorate in Psychology (preferably one eligible for licensing) elsewhere since it will be focused entirely on the science of Psychology.

Alternatively, a doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision would open doors to teach in CACREP counseling programs especially.

[eLearner]

I got some info back from Kairos, and the situation with the DPC is this:

1. You have to have a Master's in a mental health discipline.

2. You have to be licensed.

3. You have to be practicing.

My issue with it is that it's not really heavy on the counseling side like their Master's is and that's strange to me. Personally, I'd get the MA in Counseling, get licensed (or not) and go after a Doctorate in Psychology (preferably one eligible for licensing) elsewhere since it will be focused entirely on the science of Psychology.

So after speaking with another rep from the school, I understand the aim of their DPC better. Because you're required to already be licensed and practicing, the point of it is to focus on a specialization or research and/project work which makes up the majority of the credits. Still, I would say, if you didn't feel like you got enough out of your Master's program(s) in a Mental Health discipline, it just makes sense to seek out a Doctorate in Psychology (or Mental Health Counseling, though I don't think there are many of those in the United States). I also think the DPC will fly more in states where the LPC is a thing, but not as much in others.

[sanantone]

I got some info back from Kairos, and the situation with the DPC is this:

1. You have to have a Master's in a mental health discipline.

2. You have to be licensed.

3. You have to be practicing.

My issue with it is that it's not really heavy on the counseling side like their Master's is and that's strange to me. Personally, I'd get the MA in Counseling, get licensed (or not) and go after a Doctorate in Psychology (preferably one eligible for licensing) elsewhere since it will be focused entirely on the science of Psychology.

So after speaking with another rep from the school, I understand the aim of their DPC better. Because you're required to already be licensed and practicing, the point of it is to focus on a specialization or research and/project work which makes up the majority of the credits. Still, I would say, if you didn't feel like you got enough out of your Master's program(s) in a Mental Health discipline, it just makes sense to seek out a Doctorate in Psychology (or Mental Health Counseling, though I don't think there are many of those in the United States). I also think the DPC will fly more in states where the LPC is a thing, but not as much in others.

ASU's DBH - Clinical is like this. I'm sure I've come across other programs that are like this. The goal is not really to increase your knowledge of psychology or counseling. The goal is to get the doctor title for marketing purposes and for potentially higher pay.

[eLearner]

ASU's DBH - Clinical is like this. I'm sure I've come across other programs that are like this. The goal is not really to increase your knowledge of psychology or counseling. The goal is to get the doctor title for marketing purposes and for potentially higher pay.

I think some increase can happen with a DBH program, but with the two main programs (ASU and CGI) you only get 6 courses that are directly related to Patient care. The rest of the courses are more like something you'd find in a DHA program or an American Doctor of Health Science program.

It's hard to say if the DPC at Kairos is the same thing because the bulk of its courses are tied up in research/project/thesis work. The setup for that appears to be in the self-design territory, in which case the depth of what students get out of it is ultimately (with some guidance) up to them. If the guidance is there and it's proper it could be very useful, but the program has not been around for a long time and not much has been said about it on the web.