Career in Psychology.

[Patrick-Ruff]

Hey all, I've been considering for a while a career in psychology. I don't know if this is the right forum to post this but there are so many people using this forum and the ubuntu community is so diverse that I figured there may be some psychologists using this that know their field.

I was mainly wondering what are the job oprotunitys in psychology, and where to start and all that.


so I hope I can get some insight through the experiences of others, and knowledge of what is out there.

[diablo75]

Read some Carl Jung before you get stuck in a stuffy room with some old Freudians. And don't pursue this academic path if you think you might be doing it to learn about you or resolve some personal issue you have with yourself or life. I had an ex who decided to study psychology because she wanted to understand why she had depression, after having convincing herself that "all" depression is genetic and that she'd have to find the best way to treat the symptoms (while not addressing/confronting the causes). I think the reasons she was depressed was obvious: She's a 21 year old mother of a ******* child, her own mother passed away from a brain aneurysm while her and I were dating, another brother of her attempted suicide a decade ago and is now blind, another brother lost his wife and kids in a house fire... Anybody would be depressed when placed in her position.

Blah blah, sorry for rambling.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[DeadZedz]

I used to be interested in psychology (social sciences generally). Ive read college books "Introduction to Psychology", "Sociology", econonmics etc.
Ask yourself if you can get a job in the field of psychology and if you see yourself as someone working in that field.
I have visited a practicing psychologist.
I work as a bricklayer now and consider myself to be more useful than some pshychologist.

[Patrick-Ruff]

hmm thanks for the info. I'm certainly not doing this to solve my own problems, more or less. it's more of understanding how everything works, even down to the simple details of people operating in life, structures of relationships and solutions to mental problems, including anxiety stress, depression, anything.

the subject really just fascinates me in general.

[mips]

Psychology in my view is a load of BS. You can help more people via Hypnotheraphy and regression theraphy

I've done a few courses where we even had clinical Psychologist (and if you ask me they are more whacked out than their patients) present.
http://www.hypnotherapy.co.za/

[wersdaluv]

I'm currently taking up AB-Psychology. I'm planning to work for an HR (human resource) Department of a good company when I graduate. I had a seminar on job opportunities and what pleased me most is the idea that psychology graduates have a lot of opportunities in the industrial world because almost every (if not all) big company has an HR Department.

[Presto123]

Hey!

I'm taking psychology and will eventually center on disaster psychology and crisis management.

Ah. Fun stuff.

I agree with diablo, read some Carl Jung...probably Memories, Dreams, Reflections would be a good starting point.

[Linuxratty]

Psychology in my view is a load of BS. You can help more people via Hypnotheraphy and regression theraphy

I feel just the opposite.
You can help more people using psychotherapy than hypnotherapy.Regressive "therapy" is pure" ,unadulterated 100 % BS..
One thing to keep in mind is you will be dealing with people's problems week in,week out and it's really easy to burn out really fast.
I've taken a lot of psych. courses in college and i really enjoyed it.

[Zarckon]

Tough question to answer without a lot more information. There are jobs in psychology at all levels (High School Graduate, Bachelor, Masters, and Doctor). I kind of assume you're in college, but you didn't say whether you already have a Bachelors or are still an undergraduate.

The guys that said it's all BS do have some points. There have been a couple of well written books by conservatives that have some points to that effect. I tend to go more with the research by Scott Miller that indicates that there is real effectiveness to therapy. It also indicates that the more education that you have the less effective (in general). So, the person who posted about psychologists being crazy is partly right (especially with Phds).

So, you might want to also consider whether an MSW degree would take you in the direction you want to go. They have a huge national lobby and a lot of states prefer them over any kind of psychologist.

You really sound like it's more of an interest than anything at this point. If you're still an undergraduate I'd say take some classes in psychology, social work, and sociology and see what if any of those really appeal to you.

And just so you can have some idea of how many grains of salt to take all this with... I'm a Masters level psychologist. I'm licensed as an Individual, Marriage and Family Therapist. I've been working in the field for about 30 years. I've been practising on a little rock surrounded by an ocean for the last 22 of those years (a little rock with a population of about 150K).

BTW, the Pink Floyd reference, IMHO is an indication that psychology may really be a path that will appeal to you.

[Dutchmaster]

My opinions for what it's worth -

Some suggestions I might offer:

If a masters degree is your level of education choice:

I chose the Master of Social Work degree over psychology in order to practice as a mental health therapist because it is, hands down, the most versatile Masters level degree for the whole spectrum of human services work. After 15 years of practice, I still find it was the best choice - even more so in the current environment. I can do everything I could do with a psych masters, but can additionally choose a zillion other job paths with the MSW that psychology is not qualified for.

A Master of Counseling (or some similar label) is a solid preparation to do counseling, but can be limited in scope of opportunities.

If Ph.D. is your education choice:

Consider student loan debt if that is an issue. I have talked to more than one Ph.D psychologist who found that, in the current environment, the pay is not worth the debt at that level (btw choose clincal psychology rather than educational psychologist [Psy.D.] for versatility).

As for the job opportunities, I defer to the MSW again, but both should grow. The age levels of practitioners is creeping upward - openings will be fine for both disciplines.

One more thing: Check the basic belief systems and perspectives of each practice upfront to see which is more congruent with yours.