Child Therapy Careers in Oklahoma

Oklahoma residents who think that they might possibly enjoy a career in child therapy but who aren't sure exactly what it is they want to do in this vast and important field will be happy to know that they actually have a lot of choice. There are tons of different jobs in a wide array of different capacities for qualified individuals—qualified meaning that they possess a strong combination of both actual experience in the field and a formal educational background. While the experience portion can easily be taken care of by completing an internship opportunity, earning an education is something that takes quite a few years. Unfortunately, this is where many people give up and end up wasting time, money, and effort. If you're sure you won't be one of those people, however, and if you truly have what it takes to commit yourself to achieving your career goals, then you can enjoy a successful and lucrative career as a child therapist in any capacity you desire. In order to try and give you an idea of just how many jobs there are in the field and to help you try and find the one that's right for you, we've discussed a few of the more common ones here.

1. Clinical Children's Therapists: In the state of Oklahoma and throughout most of the rest of the world, clinical children's therapists are the most common type of children's therapists. Indeed, they are what most people think of when they think of therapy—clients and practitioners meeting one on one to talk about various problems and issues affecting the client and his or her daily life. The only difference here is that the clients are not adults stretched out on couches and baring their souls, but rather young children and adolescents, often playing games or drawing pictures to try and express their feelings as best they can. Clinical children's therapists might work in their own practices or in the practices of other professionals in the field. The therapist's job in this situation is to diagnose any problems or difficulties a child may be having, to determine where that stems from if possible, and to develop and then work through a treatment plan or "plan of action" to help the child overcome or learn to deal with the problems and thus to eventually live a happier, more successful life. Clinical children's therapists will also provide referrals to other professionals as needed and report any suspected child abuse and/or neglect to the proper authorities. To work in this regard requires at least a master's degree and licensure from the state.
2. School System Therapists: Almost everyone remembers the school therapists, most commonly dubbed as the "guidance counselor." Today, however, guidance counselors and school system therapists are quite different. Guidance counselors today typically work to make the transition to college or to high school or middle schools mother for students of a certain age. School system therapists, however, work one on one with troubled students whose problems at home or personally are leaking into their performance in the classroom. In some cases, school system therapists might also work with groups of students or even whole classrooms that are having problems getting along or learning together cohesively. Just as is the case with clinical children's therapists, school system therapists may also investigate and report suspected cases of abuse and neglect of children as part of their ethical duties. It is also their job to ensure that no harm is brought upon the school or the student body as a whole due to the problems or possible actions of one or more students.
3. Research Children's Therapist: One job that many therapists dream of one day doing is being a research children's therapist. These are often therapists who have long careers of working with children as patients behind them and who now choose to focus on the research aspect of the field. They might create and/or conduct studies and publish the findings in academic journals on the subject or they might write and publish articles or case studies in the same sort of journals. Some even go on to publish their own books.