2 answers
Hanah
Student
Tagbilaran City, Central Visayas, Philippines
1
Question
Updated
521 views
What psychology career should I take?
I want to take psychology, but I just realized there were a lot of options inside that category and I'm confused what to take. I am absolutely clueless.
To narrow it down, I like helping people, like, giving them advises, helping them through their problems. I'm also interested in observing people's behaviors at times and figuring out what's wrong and such. Can anyone please tell me what career should I consider taking? It'd be a big help to me.
#psychology #career
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2 answers
Dr. Carolyn Cowl-Witherspoon
Social Psychologist, Executive Director, Psychological Coach, Consultant
16
Answers
Richmond, Texas
Updated
Dr. Carolyn’s Answer
Hanah,
I’m glad that you’re starting to think about these important decisions before you must make them. It means that you are a person who is intelligent and thoughtful, and these are great qualities for anyone who might be considering a career in psychology. And you are correct – there are many different ways to study psychology, and they lead to many different career paths. So, let’s break it down to help you make an informed decision.
First, what kind (type) of people would you like to help (work with)? Adults, couples, or children? Once you decide that, then you want to consider what environment (place) you want to help them in. For example, in clinical, businesses, schools, hospitals, rehab centers, court rooms, nursing homes, research labs, etc. Once you decide that, then you want to consider how (method) you want to help them. For example, you said you like giving advice and helping people with their problems, right? But you also said you might like observing how people act as a way of determining what might be wrong with them. That leaves you with a lot of options (explained below)!
The next consideration is being really honest about how well you like school! To become any kind of psychologist requires achieving a Ph.D. It takes a lot of years of school, and a lot of hard work to earn a Ph.D. You need to be a good student, who enjoys reading and writing, because you will read and write a lot. You need to learn to become a good researcher, since all Ph.D.’s in psychology must complete a rigorous research project called a dissertation. And you must be good at statistics (a type of math), since all Ph.D. students must complete both graduate level statistics, and advanced level statistics before they can even start their dissertation research.
If you feel confident about all of that, remember that it is very expensive to go to school for that long! You need to consider costs and whether you can manage them as you go through school.
After you have thought through all of that, and you still feel like you want to become a psychologist, great! Now you get to decide what kind of psychologist you want to be! Some examples are clinical psychologists (therapeutic work), social psychologists (very broad range of opportunities), industrial/organizational psychologists (businesses and organizations), forensic psychologists (legal systems), educational psychologists (schools), research psychologists (research), and health psychologists (medical fields). Each specialization has different requirements and often works with different populations in different environments. I have loosely defined them in a very general way, just to give you a brief idea of what they each do. You can do a little research on your own to see what each specialization focuses on, and that may help you decide which one would be the best fit for you.
But you don’t have to become a psychologist to help people with their problems. You can become a therapist (but not a psychologist) with only a master’s degree. They do therapy work with clients, and they don’t need to go to school for nearly as long! There are several options for becoming a therapist, including social workers, marriage and family therapists, and licensed professional counselors. Importantly, with any clinical career path (therapists and psychologists) you’re not done when you finish school! After you finish school, you still have to complete clinical internships and work for thousands of hours of training under supervision by licensed professionals before you can even sit for (take) the licensing exams that each profession requires. (This is only required for clinical work, but not for the other types of psychologists). It is not easy. The exams are very difficult, and they need to be, because therapists do a very difficult job, and it’s essential that they’re well trained, to protect the public that they help.
These are important considerations and thinking about them now is a great idea. I have to admit that I’m biased - because I love psychology and I loved earning a Ph.D., and I love helping people. You can do this! It’s just important to know about the challenges you’ll face before you start so that you have a realistic understanding of what’s ahead. All psychologists help people, in direct or indirect ways. All psychologists observe people, in direct or indirect ways, for different purposes. It is an amazing profession, and it sounds like you may be a great psychologist one day! I love being a psychologist, and all the effort it took for me to become one was nothing compared to the rewards I feel when I help people. I hope this information helps you make a better decision. Good luck!
Dr. Carolyn
I’m glad that you’re starting to think about these important decisions before you must make them. It means that you are a person who is intelligent and thoughtful, and these are great qualities for anyone who might be considering a career in psychology. And you are correct – there are many different ways to study psychology, and they lead to many different career paths. So, let’s break it down to help you make an informed decision.
First, what kind (type) of people would you like to help (work with)? Adults, couples, or children? Once you decide that, then you want to consider what environment (place) you want to help them in. For example, in clinical, businesses, schools, hospitals, rehab centers, court rooms, nursing homes, research labs, etc. Once you decide that, then you want to consider how (method) you want to help them. For example, you said you like giving advice and helping people with their problems, right? But you also said you might like observing how people act as a way of determining what might be wrong with them. That leaves you with a lot of options (explained below)!
The next consideration is being really honest about how well you like school! To become any kind of psychologist requires achieving a Ph.D. It takes a lot of years of school, and a lot of hard work to earn a Ph.D. You need to be a good student, who enjoys reading and writing, because you will read and write a lot. You need to learn to become a good researcher, since all Ph.D.’s in psychology must complete a rigorous research project called a dissertation. And you must be good at statistics (a type of math), since all Ph.D. students must complete both graduate level statistics, and advanced level statistics before they can even start their dissertation research.
If you feel confident about all of that, remember that it is very expensive to go to school for that long! You need to consider costs and whether you can manage them as you go through school.
After you have thought through all of that, and you still feel like you want to become a psychologist, great! Now you get to decide what kind of psychologist you want to be! Some examples are clinical psychologists (therapeutic work), social psychologists (very broad range of opportunities), industrial/organizational psychologists (businesses and organizations), forensic psychologists (legal systems), educational psychologists (schools), research psychologists (research), and health psychologists (medical fields). Each specialization has different requirements and often works with different populations in different environments. I have loosely defined them in a very general way, just to give you a brief idea of what they each do. You can do a little research on your own to see what each specialization focuses on, and that may help you decide which one would be the best fit for you.
But you don’t have to become a psychologist to help people with their problems. You can become a therapist (but not a psychologist) with only a master’s degree. They do therapy work with clients, and they don’t need to go to school for nearly as long! There are several options for becoming a therapist, including social workers, marriage and family therapists, and licensed professional counselors. Importantly, with any clinical career path (therapists and psychologists) you’re not done when you finish school! After you finish school, you still have to complete clinical internships and work for thousands of hours of training under supervision by licensed professionals before you can even sit for (take) the licensing exams that each profession requires. (This is only required for clinical work, but not for the other types of psychologists). It is not easy. The exams are very difficult, and they need to be, because therapists do a very difficult job, and it’s essential that they’re well trained, to protect the public that they help.
These are important considerations and thinking about them now is a great idea. I have to admit that I’m biased - because I love psychology and I loved earning a Ph.D., and I love helping people. You can do this! It’s just important to know about the challenges you’ll face before you start so that you have a realistic understanding of what’s ahead. All psychologists help people, in direct or indirect ways. All psychologists observe people, in direct or indirect ways, for different purposes. It is an amazing profession, and it sounds like you may be a great psychologist one day! I love being a psychologist, and all the effort it took for me to become one was nothing compared to the rewards I feel when I help people. I hope this information helps you make a better decision. Good luck!
Dr. Carolyn
Barbara Kwinta
Talent & Performance Senior Manager
1
Answer
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Updated
Barbara’s Answer
Hi Hanah,
A perspective of a HR professional, 16 years of experience, no formal education in psychology: everything you've shared as "I like to do" may become a part of many more professions than a career within psychology. To name a few: HR, coaching, mentoring, counselling, social support and... many more (I've found a research that claimed that psychology-related competencies can be utilized in more than 4 000 jobs!). Not all of these jobs though require formal psychology degree.
I believe what differentiates the psychology path from the others - is the clinical aspect (both from the education & job perspective).
To simplify it, in a nutshell: would you like to work also with people who need clinical support (hospitals / formal psychotherapy)? If the answer is yes, then probably psychology is a career to consider. If the answer is: no necessarily, then I would suggest consider other jobs that may involve helping others.
As a first step I would encourage you to read articles (or ideally interview) on how a typical day of a different type of psychologists look like (eg. clinical , organizational, children psychologist) to prepare better your what "I want / don't want" list.
Hope this is a good start! Good luck!
A perspective of a HR professional, 16 years of experience, no formal education in psychology: everything you've shared as "I like to do" may become a part of many more professions than a career within psychology. To name a few: HR, coaching, mentoring, counselling, social support and... many more (I've found a research that claimed that psychology-related competencies can be utilized in more than 4 000 jobs!). Not all of these jobs though require formal psychology degree.
I believe what differentiates the psychology path from the others - is the clinical aspect (both from the education & job perspective).
To simplify it, in a nutshell: would you like to work also with people who need clinical support (hospitals / formal psychotherapy)? If the answer is yes, then probably psychology is a career to consider. If the answer is: no necessarily, then I would suggest consider other jobs that may involve helping others.
As a first step I would encourage you to read articles (or ideally interview) on how a typical day of a different type of psychologists look like (eg. clinical , organizational, children psychologist) to prepare better your what "I want / don't want" list.
Hope this is a good start! Good luck!