Should I major in sociology or psychology if I want to be some kind of counselor (drug and alcohol et al)?

Question

I plan to go to graduate school to pursue possibly family and marriage therapy but I am going to need some kind of employment when I get done to afford it.

Answer 1

I think I would take my chances with Psychologist. You would at least need a Masters and in some cases you might need a PhD.
Do one thing, go on goggle and type, "jobs with sociologist degree" and Jobs with psychology degrees." Do these separately.

Answer 2

Major in psych, minor in sociology - if you want to do only MFT (marriage family therapy), you can get a community counseling degree, which an undergrad in psych would be most beneficial. Most counseling programs want their grad students to be armed with psych info.

If you are interested in practicing in your own business, you can do a psych undergrad, MFT grad, and then Counseling Psych for a doctoral degree.

Also, there might be some tech colleges that offer AODA certification at a cheaper price than a regular university - that is something you could consider doing after getting your masters degree - you will need courses to keep your licensure current, and getting AODA certification is one way to do it.

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

Well you can do counselling as an RN (Nurse) if you work in a psychiatric unit or hospital (you know detox centers). That's a two to four year program. My uncle did that. You can work as a counsellor if you complete a MSW program, which includes psychology and social work. That's a 5-6 year clinical program. Finally there is full psychologist that's and 8 year program.

Answer 4

Psychology

Answer 5

I'd go with psych only because psych is more focused on people while sociology is focused on society. To be honest, but are good for counseling as you'll need to be trained with specifics anyways.

Answer 6

Either will get you there if you plan to get a MS in counseling. I think the preferred rout by many is a degree in social work.