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Originally posted by nikki1920
I've got a LOT of questions, but Friday's discussion led me to do more job searching, and I am applying to two state positions at separate inpatient locations. What can I expect for starting salary? I have some experience (5 years) working with DD children in a very informal setting.
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I really can't tell you what to expect for a salary in your location. But if you want experience, an inpatient setting will show you the more severely ill of the spectrum, which is good experience to have. As soon as I graduated with my master's degree in psychology, I went to work as "staff" (they called us Residential Treatment Counselors, but we weren't officially Counselors....title looked good on the resume though!) at a long term, locked, psychiatric treatment facility for adolescents. I worked there full time while getting my Master's in Counseling Psych. Let me tell you, I LEARNED SO MUCH MORE there than I did in the classroom (as far as interacting with clients goes).
If you are interested in the psychiatric field, consider looking for a position in a psychiatric hospital that serves all populations (substance abuse, psychiatric, adult, children, adolescent, etc.). That way you can move around to different units and figure out what populations you like to work with and ones you dont. You should also be able to see what the social workers do vs. what the psychologists do in their daily work (depends on how they staff their units).
By the way, this info was based from my experience in Arkansas.....which I know is WAAAAAY different than New York. But, it might spark some ideas for you.....
Good Luck and let us know what happens!
PsychTau