Therapist here... questions about further education

[sanantone]

Thank you everyone for the responses. I think I have some homework to do in researching some of these schools and programs. I've never even heard of the DBH or the DHSc degrees to be completely honest. I tried looking them up on indeed and I didn't see any companies hiring people with these degrees. I'll do some more research on them... but what kind of jobs could I obtain with these types of degrees?

I think the other thing is, aside from the OSU degree, these other options seem to be out of my price range. Faulker is going to cost about 35k for example, EVMS is going to cost about 42k, etc. I'm also completely agreeable to the DMFT degree/ PsyD Degrees in Marriage and Family therapy but these also add up to quite a bit. I was looking at Fuller Seminary for example as it is near me here in LA and the DMFT was going to cost like $77k! Eastern is at 30k which isn't bad at all but the 4-6 year timeline is turning me off from that as well (whereas Fuller was only 2 years).

The DPC option(s) still seem to be the best bang for the buck to be honest. Can anyone else think of anything before I settle on the DPC? Teaching in the future isn't mandatory I would just LIKE that option to be on the table. Teaching a class or two a semester wouldn't be too bad as it would offer me the opportunity to be out of the therapy room one or two days a week. I just don't know if a DPC program is going to open that door.

I could be wrong, but I'm not aware of too many employers seeking counselors with doctorates since only a master's degree is required. Counseling doctorates are usually earned for the doctor title, which helps with marketing, but you might not be able to use the doctor title if you're working around professions that are licensed at the doctoral level. For example, nurse practitioners with a doctor of nursing practice degree can't use the doctor title when working with physicians and psychologists because that confuses patients. 

Healthcare administration and healthcare management degrees are earned by healthcare professionals who want to move into management. Out of the degrees discussed so far, healthcare administration/management doctorates are probably the only ones that have ROI outside of academia. Within academia, healthcare administration instructors are paid more than mental health and social science instructors. A masters-level clinician with a doctorate is still reimbursed by insurance as a masters-level clinician. Licensed psychologists are reimbursed at a higher rate.

As for job search with a DBH or DHSc, one would focus more on management-level positions. You wouldn't search for DBH or DHSc. You would search for behavioral health and health science. Employers aren't specifically looking for a DPC either. There are so many degree acronyms out there, and new ones pop up all the time. If it's not something common like an MBA, then you have to search by degree content.

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Here's an example of a professor with a DHSc. She likely didn't search for "DHSc". She likely searched for assistant professor openings in health-related departments or degree programs. The job ad called for a doctorate in a related field, which she had, so she applied.

https://sph.tulane.edu/sbps/megan-weemer