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What requirements are needed to study psychology, and how can I know if I’m ready for it?
I want to study psychology, but I'm not sure if it's the best choice for me.
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David’s Answer
The only requirement to study psychology is for you to be passionate about helping people. The rest are details.
David Padilla
David Padilla
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Heather’s Answer
Great question. I'm glad you had the opportunity to post your question here.
You may find that once you get started on your educational pathway to becoming a Psychologist you discover adjacent pathways that intrigue you. IE Career Services, student services, mental health nurse, community service, child & youth worker, organizational behaviour, human resources, spiritual leadership, and even marketing are all related to human psychology.
Ask yourself the following now & again when you are considering applying for programs. These might help you decide if it's the right choice for you to get started in.
What interests me about psychology
What interests me about working as a psychologist?
What would an ideal workday include?
What kind of challenges do I want to work towards solving in the world?
What kind of environments do I want to work in? (1:1, groups, education, employee support, hospital settings, outdoors, inside, rural, urban, tropical, frozen, traveling, never needing to travel, family doctor's office)
Do I like the idea of freedom, extra hours & responsibility of entrepreneurship or would I prefer the structure and perception of stability as an employee?
What people groups do I want to work with? (Children, families, teens, seniors, people in crisis, spiritual influenced work, businesses, people with mental or developmental and learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities)
What are the other goals I have for my life? (to travel, to have a big family, to avoid having children, to make a difference in the world, to make a lot of money, to move to farm, to move to a big city)
Once you have a better idea of how income earning fits into who you are and what you want, then start finding people who do the work in the places you want to live, or who work with the people groups in any capacity, who work in the environments you want to work in. Ask them questions about their workday, the requirements to maintain status in the field, what the hours and income are like, what the challenges and joys are of their job. And ask them who else they suggest that you talk to. Here's a free resource for what is called an "informational interview": https://www.cowancareercoaching.ca/resources-to-get-you-started#h.vwqsq0lsq1sq
Understanding more of what you're looking for will help you to know what path to go in, and then you can start matching post-secondary programs to your goal. Most schools in Canada will meet with prospective students to help you know what courses and grades you need in high school to get into their programs. Typically math/stats is involved so you can learn about psychometric assessments and anything related to human interactions. If you are interested in organizational psychology then business classes are helpful foundation to understand your audience, if you're interested in the physiology of humans then biology and chemistry.
Finally, keep your options as open as possible. If there's an option where you are for a broader discovery version of education, I'd highly recommend that. You don't know what you do not know yet, so any program that is likely to introduce you to as many options as possible before forcing you to choose a specialty is likely to improve your career satisfaction.
You may find that once you get started on your educational pathway to becoming a Psychologist you discover adjacent pathways that intrigue you. IE Career Services, student services, mental health nurse, community service, child & youth worker, organizational behaviour, human resources, spiritual leadership, and even marketing are all related to human psychology.
Ask yourself the following now & again when you are considering applying for programs. These might help you decide if it's the right choice for you to get started in.
What interests me about psychology
What interests me about working as a psychologist?
What would an ideal workday include?
What kind of challenges do I want to work towards solving in the world?
What kind of environments do I want to work in? (1:1, groups, education, employee support, hospital settings, outdoors, inside, rural, urban, tropical, frozen, traveling, never needing to travel, family doctor's office)
Do I like the idea of freedom, extra hours & responsibility of entrepreneurship or would I prefer the structure and perception of stability as an employee?
What people groups do I want to work with? (Children, families, teens, seniors, people in crisis, spiritual influenced work, businesses, people with mental or developmental and learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities)
What are the other goals I have for my life? (to travel, to have a big family, to avoid having children, to make a difference in the world, to make a lot of money, to move to farm, to move to a big city)
Once you have a better idea of how income earning fits into who you are and what you want, then start finding people who do the work in the places you want to live, or who work with the people groups in any capacity, who work in the environments you want to work in. Ask them questions about their workday, the requirements to maintain status in the field, what the hours and income are like, what the challenges and joys are of their job. And ask them who else they suggest that you talk to. Here's a free resource for what is called an "informational interview": https://www.cowancareercoaching.ca/resources-to-get-you-started#h.vwqsq0lsq1sq
Understanding more of what you're looking for will help you to know what path to go in, and then you can start matching post-secondary programs to your goal. Most schools in Canada will meet with prospective students to help you know what courses and grades you need in high school to get into their programs. Typically math/stats is involved so you can learn about psychometric assessments and anything related to human interactions. If you are interested in organizational psychology then business classes are helpful foundation to understand your audience, if you're interested in the physiology of humans then biology and chemistry.
Finally, keep your options as open as possible. If there's an option where you are for a broader discovery version of education, I'd highly recommend that. You don't know what you do not know yet, so any program that is likely to introduce you to as many options as possible before forcing you to choose a specialty is likely to improve your career satisfaction.