Hi mandi, and welcome to PC. I can understand how you feel, and it would be wrong for any therapist to try to keep someone in therapy for any reason other than the client's benefit. Has that happened to you? Interns can be reported for unethical behavior too. Our supervisors are responsible for the work that we do as interns, and are supposed to make sure that we are treating our clients properly and doing no harm.

I'm an intern, btw. And when I finish I'll be a master's level therapist. And I have thought the same way that you do. Experience is important for therapists to have. And I have gone to an intern once for therapy, and to an LCSW, and wasn't helped. I also went to several psychologists who didn't help me. I'm still in therapy, and finally getting somewhere. My master's program has been an eye-opener. Out of my instructors, there are some who are master's level that I would go to, and some with phds that I wouldn't. Some of my classmates I would trust, and some I wouldn't. I think that it depends more on the person and how much they dedicate themselves to learning and caring and doing the best that they can at this work.

I would much rather get a phd than a master's degree, and I have applied to phd programs and probably will try again. But that might never be an option for me, because life has limited my options. I hope that I can still be a good therapist. I have a lot of life experience that brand new psychologists probably don't have. I have struggled with my own mental illness for 30 years or more.

When you really compare, master's level therapists by the time they are done do get as much experience as phd therapists. It's less academic experience and more practical. Psychologists have at least 8 years of college, plus one year of internship. Master's level therapists have at least 6 years of college and three years of internship (for some, the first year of internship overlaps with the academic part of their degree program, but in my case, I have already finished all the academics. We all have continuing education requirements after we graduate too.

So, I understand your point and your feelings because I was there too, but I just wanted to point out that no matter which degree or licensure someone holds, their ability as a therapist to help you depends more on dedication and personal characteristics, and especially on them being a good fit for you.

Mandi, if you have been hurt, I hope you will keep looking for someone who is a better fit for you and can help you. It took me something like 8 tries to find the right therapist for me. For some people it takes more, or less.