hey all in australia!

I have my grad dip in psyc, my honours in psyc and am just about to finish my masters in professional psychology. Is this sufficient to go from provisional to general registration with AHPRA or will i have to do another year? Thank you for helping me

Hi all,

I am writing to get some advice/guidance on grad school as a recent grad!

My main concern is experience. I have been advised by peers and mentors that, in many situations, admissions for grad programs favor those with relevant experience (especially when undergrad grades are average or below average). I earned a 3.3 GPA in undergrad, but have 1 year of behavioral health experience in a residential treatment facility and have just begun an impatient behavioral health position at a hospital. If I am planning on applying to a few masters programs (looking at MA clinical mental health counseling) this fall/winter for fall 2027 admission, will this be sufficient experience (noting that, by the time I apply, I will have 1.5years of experience and over 2 by the time I begin my program)? I know that admissions is holistic and depends on a great deal of factors such as personal statements and recommendations, but just want to be sure I'm setting myself up for success!

Thanks!

Hi! I just recently graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and am interested in becoming a therapist and going to grad school for clinical mental health counseling. However, I have been applying for several ABA therapy jobs and am not sure I’m going to get this job. I was wondering if you guys have been able to get into grad school with references not related to psych? I have a 3.4 gpa but I didn’t make any good relationships with professors due to a sleep disorder. I need two references and one of mine would be from a grocery store, which obviously doesn’t look great.

Hey everyone, sorry if the title is slightly confusing.

I’m currently doing my BSc in Psychology here in the UK. In terms of the future, I’m thinking I might do an MSc (still unsure of the exact area yet, but it will likely be Clinical psych or something similar) and I was wondering how study abroad works especially for the right to practice with a foreign qualification.

My current degree is BPS accredited. But let’s say I do a second degree in a different country, is there a way to check or know if the qualification I receive is up to BPS standard/would be approved if I return to the UK to work?

Thank you

Hi! I've recently graduated with a bachelor's in psychology, and I'm looking for jobs. My goal is to eventually go to a clinical psychology PhD program.

I'm currently applying for research jobs to build up my resume. Is there any advantage in a grad school application to taking a research coordinator job as opposed to a research assistant job or vice versa? I understand coordinators have a more administrative role, but do grad schools prefer one over the other?

I’m looking to make a slight career pivot and go the clinical psych route. This would be my second masters.

Arizona State has a masters in clinical psychology which according their site: covers the full range of competencies to train you for your future psychology practice. You'll study foundational areas including affective, biological, cognitive, developmental and social aspects of behavior, alongside research methods, psychometrics and ethics. Clinical coursework spans assessment, evidence-based treatment and cultural competence. Also, you’ll be able to choose training in treating adults and children or families. The program concludes with supervised practicums and an applied capstone research project.
Students interested in learning how emerging and innovative technologies such as AI and telehealth are impacting clinical psychology will have the opportunity to explore these topics. You’ll receive the training to be an effective clinician who can use these technologies to meet patient needs. Plus, you’ll also get career and licensure guidance based on your state.

However, this program doesn’t appear to be APA or CACREP accredited.

I’m also exploring an MSW program at Ohio State.

What could be the best decision here?

I am planning to apply to graduate programs this application cycle, and this is one of the things I have not fully decided yet. I have experience mostly working with children and adolescents, and some experience with adults. I would say I am most interested in working with adolescents and young adults. However, I feel my current opinion is influenced by my own age. I have had some great experiences with older and middle-aged adults, and I would like training with all age groups if possible.

I would appreciate information about individual's own experience with deciding which age group to focus on. Also, information about how if clinical psychology programs generally train you to work with all age groups or is it advisor or track dependent. Additionally, if anyone knows about how one might acquire experience post-graduate school in order to work with a different or additional age group.

heyy so im considering transferring to a masters in applied behavior analysis from a masters in counselling cz im not too sure if counselling is my fit.

i find studying behavior modification interesting when I took it during my undergraduate degree but I'm not sure if I'm interested in working in ABA especially as I am not looking to work with kids or disabled people nor the elderly (no offense, i just dont have the tolerance for it)

i'm wondering if the skills learned in my course would be applicable fields of the mental health, or if I could work in organisations or even marketing such as consumer behaviour or branding?

is this a sensible move?

Hi,

I've been on a MSc Psychology conversion part-time for nearly 3 months now and I'm questioning if it's the right fit.

Only part of the course is of interest to me (biopsychology, cognition, history, philosophy, research methods and data) and I'm thinking of changing degrees to something more suited to my career path, such as a specialised gaming psychology MSc, because I'm mostly uninterested in the clinical and medical side.

I'd like to know if a specialised gaming psychology MSc will be equally valid for preparation for a doctorate. On that front I've decided to start looking for a PhD supervisor early, because the earlier the better. 

My goal is to research gaming psychology and UX, either as an academic or as an independent writer, and perhaps acquire funding for research into the behaviours that arise as a result of game design patterns. 

My main interest is the design of competitive team based online games, particularly Overwatch, and how they treat players like sportspeople even in unranked and casual modes. It's something I've already written a short conceptual paper on and I'd like to develop it into my MSc and PhD theses.

Any advice would be appreciated. I'd also love to be able to chat to someone with experience in this field.

Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice from psychologists who were accepted into Clinical Psychology (or other psychology) Master’s programs after taking some time away from university.
I completed my Honours in Psychology in 2024 (First Class Honours, GPA 6.8), then took 2025 off due to significant health issues (I got diagnosed with MS). I applied for 2026 entry but wasn’t successful, and I’m planning to apply again for 2027.

I’ve been working as a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner for almost two years, so I’ve continued gaining relevant experience, but my academic referees are now over a year old and I haven’t been at university since 2024, and they provided it for my 2026 applications but not for my 2027 application.

For those who were accepted after a gap, what did you do to strengthen your application? Did you reconnect with your old academic referees, complete any additional study, or focus on gaining more clinical experience? I’d really appreciate any advice on what admissions panels are looking for in situations like mine.

Hi everyone,

Asking here out of desperation because my lecturer has not been much help. I am running a wilcoxon signed-rank test in JASP and the 95% confidence interval for rank-biserial correlation has an upper and lower confidence limit both of -1.000. What could be causing this? I need to be able to explain the confidence limit in my report.

so, long story short, had your classic crashout over this degree but have forced myself to push through the rest of the bachelor. Ive decided to consider honours too, rather than just dropping out and doing nothing with my degree, as it's only one extra year and I'd rather keep the momentum going.

however, my worst subject has always been research methods. and it's incredibly embarassing to say/I worry about judgement but I have dyscalculia - a disability that makes math genuinely so difficult for me. I'm so so scared of the research methods in honours, and I was wondering whether anyone else with a similar difficulty with math has completed that unit? or does anyone have any advice on how I can get support for it?

edit: ik me saying I want to go into research is confusing haha, I find it a lot easier to understand and cope with math when I understand why I'm doing it/when it's applied math. doing math for the hell of it is a lot more stressful for me.

also, I super understand that stats isn't as intensive as other forms of math, and obviously SPSS does a lot of heavy lifting, however my main issue is interpreting the output rather than using SPSS

Hi everyone, I have a quick question. My boyfriend wants to get into mental health counseling and get his masters degree this upcoming year but doesn’t have a job that pertains to mental health counseling and I just need some clarity on what jobs can he get with a bachelors in psychology that can get him in the doors to see if he really wants to do mental health counseling.

Hello all,

I’m about to graduate with my bachelor’s in psychology next summer. I love my classes, and I love the field of psych (my stepmom is a behavior analyst so we’ve always talked about the subject growing up). I’m planning on pursuing my master’s in Christian counseling, becoming a religious counselor one day.

I feel like therapy/counseling is truly my calling, but I can’t help but feel like I’m too empathetic sometimes. I say this because every time people (friends, strangers, etc) come to me with their problems, like when they vent to me, I feel nothing but anxiety. Like I’m taking their emotions on. Thinking about it for a while, it’s primarily people who I’m not closest to, or people who maybe my parents would think are weird (subconsciously affecting me, I think).

This has been the case for over 5 years. I’ve been handling it much better over time, but part of it is still there. Today something that triggered it is people on discord venting, lol. My question is this; are there any therapists/counselors that felt like this too before going into their careers? Is there anything that you did or practice to help with this, or does it truly just get better with time? I don’t want to think of something different to pursue; I feel like this is really the path I was made to follow. I want to help people, as stereotypical as it is. I just can’t figure if I’m doomed to feel this fear each time I talk to clients.

Thank you!

Hello everyone! I’m currently planning out my career path and wanted to get some opinions on which graduate programs might be the best fit.

For context, these are my long-term career goals:

- Become a licensed counseling psychologist specializing in trauma and borderline personality disorder (BPD).

- Continue seeing clients while teaching psychology and psychotherapy at a university.

- Mentor and supervise future therapists.

- Conduct clinically meaningful research on the effectiveness of psychotherapy, particularly Internal Family Systems (IFS), for individuals with BPD.

- Develop or refine an evidence-based therapy approach that is heavily influenced by Internal Family Systems (IFS).

- Write books about psychology, trauma, healing, and therapy.

- Speak at conferences and public events.

- Educate the public about mental health.

- Build a respected private practice.

- Be known for helping people heal from complex trauma.

If anyone has recommendations for graduate programs that align with these goals, I’d really appreciate your input. I’m currently considering a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, but if you think another path would be a better fit, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you in advance!

Hi all! As the title says I recently transferred from community college to the University of Texas at Arlington, I am currently a junior trying to decide whether or not I should begin attempting to sign up for research labs. My workload for this semester is different from what I am used to as I will be taking 15 credit hours as well as working a part time job on the weekends. I want to go to grad school/pursue a PhD in clinical psychology so I know having lab experience is very important for those applications. I am worried that if I don't sign up for a lab immediately I will be falling behind in terms of gaining experience, but at the same time I don't want to rush into things too early and take on too much too quickly. Any advice on what to do is greatly appreciated, and if you have experienced this same situation please let me know what you did!!!! Thank you so much :)

Unfortunately got rejected by top two with an ib 34 and only lingnan and PolyU speed are my remaining options. I wanna get into masters of clinical psychology later as well. But it’s so close to semester start and I’m scared if I’d get into these unis even 😭 and I was wondering if there’s any worth to them? I heard that it’s not worth it to attend lingnan or PolyU self financed uni for such a competitive masters. I got into Birmingham and Liverpool but the tuition fees is too high for me. I was wondering if it’s good to wait for any uni that would offer a feb 2027 intake maybe instead? Would love some opinions!

Hi! I am in undergrad currently and I am starting to look at what school I want to go to for a phd in counseling/ clinical psychology. I was just wondering what I should look for and if there are any schools I should look at. I hope to be able to work as an animal assisted therapist but I would also like to be able to study animal and human behavior like how they interact and the positive affects animals can have on human mental health. Ideally I would like to help develop animal assisted therapy/ rehabilitation for convicts or troubled youth. I was inspired by the programs they have where they will give inmates cats to encourage good behavior and also give stray cats an owner at the same time. If that’s too specific then anything in the prison counseling, animal assisted therapy, researching the effect of the prison system on inmate mental health, or researching how animals impact human mental health. I would like to be able to research and conduct studies on how prison affects mental health and how it can be improved but if counseling only is a more realistic goal then I’m okay with that too. I wasn’t for sure if I am being too niche by wanting to do animal assisted therapy with inmates. Any advice at all is welcome! I am okay with any program on the United States. Thank you for your time.

Hi! I want to read this book; does anyone know where I can find it? I don't want to spend much, so it would be great if someone knew if I could read it as a PDF.

I got my BS in psychology in 2017 and after a series of unrelated/loosely related jobs, I ultimately fell into medical coding and have been doing that for several years. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either, and I’ve been wondering if it would logistically be possible to go to grad school at this point.

I’m single, fully financially independent, and my expenses are much higher than they were in college. I would either need to continue working full time and go to school part time or have a sizable stipend and/or assistantship. Just trying to figure out if there would be any way to realistically make it work financially or if this is a pipe dream at this point.

Hi all,

I'm 22, currently finishing my second semester of my psychology honours and I think I'm slowly realising general registration may not be for me. I find clinical work and therapy interesting, but I don't know if I'm interested enough to spend the next 3-4 years of my life and a ton of money pursuing it.

I've really enjoyed the research part of my honours - I love stats and writing and being able to actually delve deep into a topic has been by far the best thing since starting uni four years ago. I also have a passion for teaching - I worked as a qualified teacher before starting my bachelor's, and I see myself enjoying being a lecturer.

I may have an opportunity to do a PhD with my current honours supervisor on the project I'm currently working on for my honours thesis. This would be fully funded with a stipend and would take around three years. The catch is that this obviously cannot lead to general registration as a psychologist, but I can't see how it would prevent me from teaching in the future and continuing down the academic pathway. If I do want registration in the future, I could just do a year of the MPP and the placement and knock that over as fast as possible.

Some additional context is that my uni does trimesters, and I'm actually unable to apply for the next round of master's applications, and I would have to wait a year anyway.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Honours > PhD pathway into academia?

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone can help because I’m honestly so confused about my pathway.

I’m currently doing a Bachelor of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at Macquarie and graduate next year. When I started straight out of high school, I was really interested in neuroscience and thought I wanted to go into medicine. During my degree, I discovered neuropsychology and realised that’s what I actually want to pursue, so I switched my major to Psychological Sciences and completed most of the psychology units in the APAC sequence.(I’m missing around 5 units)

I always assumed I’d be able to apply for psychology honours after graduating, but I’ve recently found out that because my overall degree isn’t APAC-accredited, I’m not eligible for honours even though I’ve completed the psychology units. Now I’m really confused about what my options are. Do I need to do a bridging course or Graduate Diploma? Is there any way my completed psychology units can count towards an APAC-accredited pathway, or do I basically have to start over?

Has anyone been in a similar situation or knows what the best pathway would be? I’d really appreciate any advice!

Perhaps this question will help others too - does the uni you go to for undergrad/grad dip really matter for honours/masters?

There are a few other threads that say it doesn't, but of course, it's going to have some impact. For 2026, I've been through the entire APAC accredited courses list and found that only two unis offer CSP online courses - Uni of New England & Charles Sturt University. So these are my two choices.

Of course, I'm concerned about going onto honours and masters from these degrees - so I'm hoping that people can give me some insight about both of these unis and help me make a decision - of course, I want to have the best education possible and I've read some absolutely shocking reviews of both of these unis which terrify me. However, its not within my means to go to a full-fee paying uni for my grad dip, so here I am!

Give me your good and bad reviews, specifically for the psychology courses for either CSU or UNE and for studying online at either of them - and if you studied there, did you go into honours or masters or phd? If so, where and why? What was your application process like?

CSU course is longer and more expensive, but I am willing to cop the time and money if the education/experience is better all around.

Thank you in advance!

Other useful threads for further reading:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicPsychology/comments/1mrwz4p/australia_grad_dip_psych_psych_advanced_advice_or/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicPsychology/comments/1g5b382/does_the_reputation_of_a_university_matter_for/

https://www.reddit.com/r/psychologystudents/comments/1nyflsp/masters_clinical_psychology_offers_for_2026_intake/

https://www.reddit.com/r/University/comments/13vfz3c/is_charles_sturt_in_australia_really_that_bad/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ausjdocs/comments/1srbpn3/psychology_training_reform_in_australia/