1. Becoming a therapist process
Spoiler
I got my bachelors in psychology. It honestly doesn't matter that much what you get your bachelors in. I think most do psychology/sociology, but I know people that did biology and even english. I did a masters in mental health counseling.
Where I live, there are four main licenses for masters-level therapists - licensed mental health counselor (LMHC), licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), licensed marriage/family therapist (LMFT), and licensed clinical addictions counselor (LCAC). They're all basically interchangeable unless you really want to work with addictions, then you probably want the LCAC. Which license you get depends on what type of masters program you do. My masters was mental health counseling, so I'm now a LMHC. If you do a masters in social work, you'll become a LCSW (or whatever the equivalent is in your state).
Two big things you want to look for in a masters program are connections to internships and that you'll be set up for success when you go to take your state licensing exam and apply for your license. Most masters programs are ~2 years, and about a year of that will be spent in a clinical internship (and you also take classes during that time, it's really fun lol). It can be hard to find internships, so you'll want a program that has relationships with places in your area that take interns to help with that process. My program was also set up in a way that ensured that there were classes that cover all of the theoretical stuff that ends up on the state licensing exam. In my state, when you go to apply for your license, you have to show that you took classes in a variety of required topics. My program was very aware of all the state licensing requirements and named classes in a way that made everything super clear and easy when applying for your license.
After you finish your masters, you take one (of two) state licensing exams. The first one should be pretty easy and covers the theoretical stuff you learned in your program. Then you actually apply for your license and start working. This license is a "provisional license" (LMHCA, LSW, LMFTA, or LCACA in my area). You then work under supervision for ~2 years. You still work and make money, all this means is you have to have a clinical supervisor and do regular clinical supervision. Once you have enough clinical hours from working and enough supervision hours (takes ~2 years), you take the second state licensing exam. Once you pass that, you can apply for the standard license. With the standard license, you can make more money and have some more job options because you no longer have to have a clinical supervisor and you can now be a supervisor. There is variability state to state, but that's generally the process. Licenses are not transferable state to state, you have to apply and have a license for every state you want to work in.
Where I live, there are four main licenses for masters-level therapists - licensed mental health counselor (LMHC), licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), licensed marriage/family therapist (LMFT), and licensed clinical addictions counselor (LCAC). They're all basically interchangeable unless you really want to work with addictions, then you probably want the LCAC. Which license you get depends on what type of masters program you do. My masters was mental health counseling, so I'm now a LMHC. If you do a masters in social work, you'll become a LCSW (or whatever the equivalent is in your state).
Two big things you want to look for in a masters program are connections to internships and that you'll be set up for success when you go to take your state licensing exam and apply for your license. Most masters programs are ~2 years, and about a year of that will be spent in a clinical internship (and you also take classes during that time, it's really fun lol). It can be hard to find internships, so you'll want a program that has relationships with places in your area that take interns to help with that process. My program was also set up in a way that ensured that there were classes that cover all of the theoretical stuff that ends up on the state licensing exam. In my state, when you go to apply for your license, you have to show that you took classes in a variety of required topics. My program was very aware of all the state licensing requirements and named classes in a way that made everything super clear and easy when applying for your license.
After you finish your masters, you take one (of two) state licensing exams. The first one should be pretty easy and covers the theoretical stuff you learned in your program. Then you actually apply for your license and start working. This license is a "provisional license" (LMHCA, LSW, LMFTA, or LCACA in my area). You then work under supervision for ~2 years. You still work and make money, all this means is you have to have a clinical supervisor and do regular clinical supervision. Once you have enough clinical hours from working and enough supervision hours (takes ~2 years), you take the second state licensing exam. Once you pass that, you can apply for the standard license. With the standard license, you can make more money and have some more job options because you no longer have to have a clinical supervisor and you can now be a supervisor. There is variability state to state, but that's generally the process. Licenses are not transferable state to state, you have to apply and have a license for every state you want to work in.
2. Working in a hospital or with child protective services
Spoiler
Someone at my last job also worked as a social worker in a hospital! I also believe she was an LCSW, but you could do that work with any of the licenses/degrees I mentioned above.
As for CPS, depends on what you want to do for CPS! If you want to be a case worker, you probably only need a bachelors for that. Some CPS case workers investigate the calls that are made to CPS and assess what (if anything) needs to be done. They would remove children from the home, if needed and often go to court. Other CPS case workers are assigned to open cases and manage the case -- organizing referrals to mental health and social services for the child and family, coordinating placements for a child removed from the home, conducting regular team meetings with the child/family and all providers working with the family to check progress, and often go to court.
I used to work for a mental health agency that contracted with the department of child services in my state. What that means is we received referrals from DCS and I would do therapy with youth and families currently involved with DCS. So I wasn't responsible for deciding if a kid needed to be removed or stuff like that, I'd help deliver mental health services to (hopefully) reunify a family and heal whatever led to DCS involvement in the first place.
You 1000% have to be called for any work involving CPS because it's HARDDD work. I did that DCS contractor job for five years and I truly LOVED the youth and families I got to work with. But it takes a LOT out of you. Anything you do with CPS will probably not be a job you can do forever.
My DCS contractor job was my dream therapist job. And again, LOVED so many parts of it. But it also caused several existential crises because I quickly realized it would not be sustainable as a forever job and I had no idea what was next because I'm young and this was my dream job. Once I hit my done point ~5 years, I left and joined a private practice. I never thought I'd want to do private practice but so far it's truly 10/10 perfect amazing!
As for CPS, depends on what you want to do for CPS! If you want to be a case worker, you probably only need a bachelors for that. Some CPS case workers investigate the calls that are made to CPS and assess what (if anything) needs to be done. They would remove children from the home, if needed and often go to court. Other CPS case workers are assigned to open cases and manage the case -- organizing referrals to mental health and social services for the child and family, coordinating placements for a child removed from the home, conducting regular team meetings with the child/family and all providers working with the family to check progress, and often go to court.
I used to work for a mental health agency that contracted with the department of child services in my state. What that means is we received referrals from DCS and I would do therapy with youth and families currently involved with DCS. So I wasn't responsible for deciding if a kid needed to be removed or stuff like that, I'd help deliver mental health services to (hopefully) reunify a family and heal whatever led to DCS involvement in the first place.
You 1000% have to be called for any work involving CPS because it's HARDDD work. I did that DCS contractor job for five years and I truly LOVED the youth and families I got to work with. But it takes a LOT out of you. Anything you do with CPS will probably not be a job you can do forever.
My DCS contractor job was my dream therapist job. And again, LOVED so many parts of it. But it also caused several existential crises because I quickly realized it would not be sustainable as a forever job and I had no idea what was next because I'm young and this was my dream job. Once I hit my done point ~5 years, I left and joined a private practice. I never thought I'd want to do private practice but so far it's truly 10/10 perfect amazing!
3. Therapist doing research between sessions
Spoiler
I think this is fairly common! As a therapist, there's SO MUCH information to know. It's impossible to know all the things about all the things. Once a therapist starts working and seeing clients, they start to get a feel for what they like/don't like. For example, my favorite stuff to work on with people is any and all trauma work, attachment work, healthy relationships, and anxiety disorders. I've seen so many clients with those things as presenting problems, 9/10 I know how to navigate with those clients with very little research or anything between sessions.
Now that I'm not a DCS contractor anymore, I see a more diverse array of clients. I've had clients with presenting problems that I'm not used to working with -- so during my time between sessions, I'm doing research to make sure I'm using the best techniques and interventions for them and learning new techniques and interventions if I don't yet have that particular skill set. That might looking like finding a continuing education course I can take, reading articles/research, reading books/therapeutic manuals, or consulting with other therapists. I've also had clients ask questions in session that I'm not sure how to answer in the moment. I tell them I'm going to research it and let them know, and then I research it and follow up.
In my opinion, it's a sign that you have a good therapist! Again, no therapist knows everything about everything, and it's important for a therapist to know their strengths and weaknesses with their skillset. Therapists are required to do continuing education to maintain their license and therapists are expected to fill in gaps of their knowledge to best meet the needs of their clients. The fact that your therapist admits when he doesn't know something (instead of trying to bs his way through), actually takes the time to research something, and then comes back to session with fresh things to try, is a good thing! My guess would be your therapist is consulting books, research articles, etc. between sessions to get fresh knowledge and ideas. Or your therapist has a supervisor or colleagues he can consult with to get ideas. (And don't worry about the later -- when a therapist consults on a case, they aren't using your name or details that could identify you. It's like "my client is an 18 year old female. this is the relevant history. this is the current problem. this is what we've been working on and what i've tried. this is where i'm currently stuck." and then the supervisor or other therapists give feedback on what else the therapist can try).
Now that I'm not a DCS contractor anymore, I see a more diverse array of clients. I've had clients with presenting problems that I'm not used to working with -- so during my time between sessions, I'm doing research to make sure I'm using the best techniques and interventions for them and learning new techniques and interventions if I don't yet have that particular skill set. That might looking like finding a continuing education course I can take, reading articles/research, reading books/therapeutic manuals, or consulting with other therapists. I've also had clients ask questions in session that I'm not sure how to answer in the moment. I tell them I'm going to research it and let them know, and then I research it and follow up.
In my opinion, it's a sign that you have a good therapist! Again, no therapist knows everything about everything, and it's important for a therapist to know their strengths and weaknesses with their skillset. Therapists are required to do continuing education to maintain their license and therapists are expected to fill in gaps of their knowledge to best meet the needs of their clients. The fact that your therapist admits when he doesn't know something (instead of trying to bs his way through), actually takes the time to research something, and then comes back to session with fresh things to try, is a good thing! My guess would be your therapist is consulting books, research articles, etc. between sessions to get fresh knowledge and ideas. Or your therapist has a supervisor or colleagues he can consult with to get ideas. (And don't worry about the later -- when a therapist consults on a case, they aren't using your name or details that could identify you. It's like "my client is an 18 year old female. this is the relevant history. this is the current problem. this is what we've been working on and what i've tried. this is where i'm currently stuck." and then the supervisor or other therapists give feedback on what else the therapist can try).
Let me know if you have any clarifying questions or want to know anything else!!
