What types of people are best suited to become clinical psychologists?

Hi Gabrielle!

Your questions are good. But I need to say that I need to address FIRST the clause that follows your "and" in your three-part question. That is, "...and will enjoy for my entire career."

People are not static creatures. We grow and develop over the years which means that as we experience life, our needs sometimes change. What was fulfilling work in our 30's may not continue to be so in our 50's or later. I am a case in point. While not a clinical psychologist, but an I-O psychologist, I was called to teaching in my late 40's. I never had an academic job - and frankly as a newly minted Ph.D. at the age of 27, I had absolutely no desire to teach. I was a teaching assistant as a graduate student; though I enjoyed working with students 1-on-1 when they were struggling with the content of a course or tutoring them, I absolutely hated standing in the front of a group of students to deliver course content! But as my job requirements evolved and I started training adults, I found that I absolutely loved it! I knew that is what I needed to do for the balance of my working life. I was blessed to find a full-time teaching job at the age of 53 at a small, private university. Those years teaching were the most fulfilling in my entire span of working 40 years (I am now retired).

If you don't understand what I mean by a calling at this juncture in your life, let me see if I can explain. A calling is something that comes from the heart, or from spirit - something deep inside of you. When you have been called to do something, you just know in your "heart of hearts" that no other activity will be life affirming. Sometimes you need to actually have experiences 'under your belt' to know, unequivocally, what will be life affirming for you.

Now, back to the first part of your question that asked "... I want to make sure that a professional psychology job is something that I am suited for." In the opening to your three-part question you said " I am passionate about serving people..." Well, I interpret this statement to mean that you have found your calling! I might be wrong, because we aren't having a conversation face-to-face. So, I cannot hear and see the passion in your bearing! But there are two key words/phrases in this sentence: PASSION and SERVING OTHERS that make me conclude that you have indeed found your calling.

When you are actually taking college coursework, I suggest that you have several conversations with your academic advisor about finding part-time volunteer work during the semester or during the summer so that you can experience working with different potential client populations. By client populations I mean children, the developmentally disabled, perhaps brain injured clients, the elderly, hospice care. IF you don't want to wait until college, I am certain that you can find, on your own efforts, several non-profits or churches in your geographic area who are in need of assistance serving others.

Psychological 'Types' and professional psychology as a career

Now, to your third question that asked "...are there any specific personality types that are better suited for clinical psychology work than others."

Personality Psychologists really haven't used the word "types" too much in the last couple of decades. We prefer to use the term traits, and a constellation of traits that make for success in an occupation. Here are a partial list of such traits:

1. Empathy;
2. Passion for serving others;
3. Listening skills;
4. Non-judgmental attitude toward others;
5. Patience;
6. Grit (perseverance and stick-to-it attitude);
7. High frustration tolerance (some patients, as I have read about, are very difficult to treat and make little progress in a therapeutic environment).
8. A strong moral center. I recommend that you read the Code of Ethics for psychologists from the American Psychological Association (www.apa.org) which you can download as a PDF file.
9. Curiosity. As a clinician, you will be required to continuous learn. Once you achieve your doctorate and then licensing to practice, you will be required to engage in "continuing education." That mean, coursework to maintain your license to practice. As research unfolds, you need to keep up with the changing landscape of knowledge. By "keep up with the psychological literature" you will be in a better position to help your clients!
10. Analytical skills. Sometimes you need to be like Sherlock Holmes when dealing with your patients. You have to "dig and delve" into what they are telling you about their problems AND what they are not telling you. You have to connect the proverbial dots to come up with the right treatment plan to serve the client needs.
11. Flexibility. Each patient is unique, while there are commonalities across patients. You need to tailor your approach to the person who is in front of you.