Broke, disabled and interested in becoming a So Cal therapist

February 20, 2020 6:36 PM

I came close to completing an English degree many years ago, I was probably short a semester or two but I haven't looked up my transcripts. Now I want to become a therapist in the LA area, and my own therapist says I could possibly combine my time finishing my BA degree with my studies for an MFT degree, at the same school, and get the whole thing done in maybe a year and a half. I'm very broke and it's currently difficult for me to work due to disability, but I'm hoping there might be some scholarships or grants available for a disabled, 50+ therapy student. (Would it help that I'm a cancer survivor?) Due to my health I'd prefer to study online but I'll do what it takes to get this done. Unfortunately speed and cost are MAJOR considerations. Once I'm earning a living I may well go back for further schooling, but I need the simplest route to get myself started. I'm at the beginning of this process and I'd be very interested in any advice about affordable schooling, grants, scholarships, and other tips for the best route from here to where I want to be. I'd also appreciate suggestions for relevant forums or other places where I can ask questions.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Do look at the required hours of supervision after you finish schooling to recieve your licensure for private practice.

From a website related to California (i do not live in California so please double check the accruacy).


The MFT in training must work under supervision for at least two years (104 weeks). He will need to document 3,000 hours in order to be eligible for licensure. Most of this is to be done as an MFT intern. The candidate can also count some hours earned working at school approved sites while enrolled in a qualifying program – provided the experience met supervision ratios set by the Board. Up to 1,300 hours that were accrued before degree conferral can be counted toward this requirement.

A new graduate can begin work – and begin accruing hours – before he is registered. However, the candidate must apply within 90 days of graduation in order to be eligible to count the hours.

At least 500 hours must be psychotherapy with families, couples, or children. No more than 500 hours of group counseling or therapy can be counted toward the requirement. No more than 375 hours of telecounseling can be counted. No more than 500 hours of activities like administering evaluations, processing notes, writing reports, and doing advocacy will be accepted. A total of 1,000 hours of non-counseling hours is allowable. These include things like attending workshops, meeting with one’s supervisor, and receiving psychotherapy.

The intern may count both individual and group supervision. However, the intern must have at least 52 weeks of individual supervision (not necessarily consecutive). Each week of accrued experience requires an hour of individual supervision or two hours of group supervision.

It should be noted that these requirements apply to hours earned in 2012 or later.

Depending on your ability to work, this supervision period could take you a significantly long time.

Mine as a social worker in a different state requires 3000 work hours of supervised experience ( 1 hour of supervision for every 40 hours worked) and takes between two and three years when done perfectly.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:37 PM on February 20, 2020 [2 favorites]

Look into CLEP, which will allow you to test out of classes. Shop around beforehand to find a school that will accept as many of the CLEP and your existing credits as possible. I believe there are a few fully-online degree programs that take a good chunk of CLEP credits but I don't know their names.
posted by stefanie at 10:44 PM on February 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I can only speak to the bachelor's degree part of your question, but I was also an older, disabled student in California and there are resources. You can get a Pell Grant and a Cal Grant, for starters, and your school may offer scholarships. My education was fully paid for by grants. Good luck! I'm rooting for you.
posted by all the light we cannot see at 11:17 PM on February 20, 2020 [3 favorites]

Echoing what AlexiaSky said above - my friend who got an MFT in California a few years ago had a rough time with the internship requirement because it seems the standard is that internships are unpaid or poorly-paid, and it's quite a lot of hours before you can get licensed. As an intern she can see clients but has to be supervised by a licensed therapist, and has to pay the person supervising her, so there is not much if any net income.

I would ask your therapist for more details about what they are suggesting, because maybe they know something we don't. But if they are just estimating and don't have details, I think they might be mistaken about the amount of time.
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:27 AM on February 21, 2020

As for the licensing requirements, i believe it can be more of an apprenticeship than an internship. I mean, you could be working under supervision for an organization that performs therapy, so you would be earning entry-level wages and at least not paying anyone to supervise.
posted by Horselover Fat at 8:10 AM on February 21, 2020

Getting the supervised hours can be very challenging. One of my relatives did well in their program but was not able to find a paying apprenticeship. The one they were able to find required Spanish proficiency.
posted by wnissen at 9:31 AM on February 21, 2020

Fill out FAFSA. You likely qualify for Pell Grants and state grants. If you choose a public university, you may even have money leftover after paying tuition and fees.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:38 AM on February 22, 2020