Why to become a psychologist

Top 10 Reasons To Get A Bachelors In Psychology

If you’re fascinated by the way the mind works and want to know more about what motivates people to do the things they do, a psychology bachelor’s degree may be the perfect next step for you. If so, check out what can you do with a psychology bachelor's degree?

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should earn a bachelors in psychology:

Insight into human behavior: Many individuals study psychology because they want to better understand themselves or those around them. Through a bachelor’s degree in psychology, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the many factors that affect human behavior. This will empower you to more effectively help others, and it can increase your capacity for compassion for them (even when they aren’t being their most lovable selves). Such insight is also valuable in careers related to education, persuasion, conflict resolution and negotiation.

Many career pathways: There are many different types of jobs that you can get with a psychology degree. Some focus on research — that is, digging deeper into the workings of human behavior and the mind — while others are more focused on applying research in clinical, corporate and other settings.
A bachelor’s in psychology can be the first step toward a career in counseling, research, social work, human resources, marketing, workforce development or education. With a bachelor’s degree, you’ll be eligible to go into jobs such as: advertising agent, career counselor, case manager, human resources specialist, lab assistant, market researcher, rehabilitation specialist or substance abuse counselor.

Graduate school: Many jobs in the field of psychology — such as clinical mental health counselor or school psychologist — require a master’s degree and certification or a professional license to practice. For some psychology-related jobs (such as psychiatrist or college professor), you’ll also need a doctorate.
Earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology enables you to work in the psychology field as you’re going on to graduate school. It also lets you discover and explore areas that are of particular interest to you and that you want to learn more about in graduate school.
Your bachelor’s degree will also establish a great foundation of knowledge that will be invaluable as you advance into more specialized programs at the master’s and doctorate levels. Psychology-related graduate programs may also require you to have taken certain classes as an undergraduate, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology can help ensure you already have those pre-requisites in place.

Making a difference in people’s lives: Individuals who study psychology are often motivated by the desire to help others. A degree in psychology opens up many opportunities to have a positive effect on someone’s life. For example, as a practitioner in the field, you may help people overcome the effects of trauma, deal with a mental illness, face a mental health crisis or achieve personal goals. As a researcher, you may help educators better understand how their students learn or make advances toward better treatments for diseases, disorders or illnesses that affect mental health or cognitive function.

Job outlook: The job outlook is very bright for psychology-related professions. The criminal justice system is increasingly using treatment and counseling services in place of jail time for convicted drug offenders. As a result, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 25% growth in demand for substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health counselors between 2019 and 2029.
Job openings for school and career counselors are also expected to increase — projected to grow 8% in the 2019–2029 time period. This will be driven by a rise in the number of students in K-12 schools as well as a trend toward expanding career service offerings on college campuses.
While growth in demand for psychologists may seem modest in contrast — just 3% during the same time period — there are still strong career opportunities in this area as well. Aging populations and a better understanding of mental health needs will mean continued demand for psychologists.
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There’s always something else to discover: We haven’t come close to completely figuring out the human mind. What’s more, our understanding of what we think we know is constantly evolving, thanks to ongoing research. That leaves a lot of room for you to make a significant contribution to the field. Consider, for example, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which was originally thought to be a form of childhood schizophrenia and was at first attributed to poor parenting. We’ve come a long way since then in our understanding of ASD, but there are still many questions left to answer. The field is wide open for you to help make the next major advance in this and other research.

A wide field of study: There are many different types of psychology, including cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, forensic psychology and occupational psychology. These various branches explore how the mind develops, learns and ultimately functions and how various factors affect human behavior, cognitive development and mental health. You can take your study of psychology in a lot of different directions — and a bachelor’s degree in psychology is a perfect starting point for all of them.

Always learning: As new research emerges and existing theories are refined, the field of psychology continues to evolve. A bachelor’s in psychology establishes a great base of knowledge that you’ll be able to build on throughout your career. You’ll continue to learn as you read peer-reviewed journals, attend conferences and otherwise engage with colleagues.

Every day is different: A degree in psychology will set you on a path to a career in which you can help people find solutions to the challenges they face. You’ll put your problem-solving skills to use as you continually tackle unique situations. It’s likely that no two days will look alike — and that keeps things fresh and interesting, even after you’ve got years of experience under your belt.

Becoming a better thinker: Psychology is the scientific examination of the way the mind works. As a result, when you study psychology, you learn how to think scientifically: testing hypotheses, questioning assumptions, looking closely at evidence and digging deeper when there’s not enough information. Such critical thinking skills are applicable in a variety of professional settings and everyday life.

In short, a bachelor’s degree in psychology can open up a lot of different rewarding career paths and other opportunities. Ready to get started? Apply to PennWest California’s psychology program today.

5 Reasons to Become a Psychologist

It's a very popular major in the country and yet relatively few graduates in this field go on to pursue their education through the doctoral level. What is it? Psychology.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 123,920 bachelor's degrees in psychology were conferred in the 2014-15 school year, and that certainly wasn't the first time the field ranked as a popular choice among students. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports only 118,990 psychologists were working in 2014. Given the major's popularity, it seems that many people end their studies before the doctoral level, which is the degree needed to become a licensed psychologist.

While in some cases this is because students move on to a complimentary field such as social work or public health, others may stop studying psychology because they feel daunted by the level of education needed or they don't understand the possibilities presented by a career as a psychologist.

Online-education.net spoke to Dr. Katie Tart Allen to learn more about the reasons to become a psychologist. Allen had started her undergraduate studies in zoology before moving on to psychology. She went on to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology (Psy.D.) and currently works at Greenlee Psychological & Support Services in Durham, North Carolina.

Allen notes that she needed extensive training -- including three practicums, one internship and one post-doctoral fellowship -- but she says it was worth it. Here are five of the reasons you might think so, too.

1. You Can Pursue Diverse Career Opportunities.

Psychologists have plenty of options when it comes to selecting their career path. "There is therapy, assessment, research, consultative services, teaching [and more]," explains Allen. "I do both therapy and assessment, and I love them both for different reasons."

In addition to a specific type of work, psychologists can focus their efforts on a variety of populations and issues, making this one career that is highly customizable. The American Psychological Association lists 57 topics in the field which may be areas in which psychologists can specialize. These include the following:

Addictions
Death and dying
Intelligence
Personality
Safety and design
Trauma

2. Psychologists Can Make a Difference in the Lives of Others.

For Allen, one of the best reasons to become a psychologist is the opportunity to help others. "There is something very powerful about sitting with someone who trusts you and is willing to be vulnerable and talk about the difficult things in life," she says of her therapy work.

Even those who aren't working directly with clients can find deep meaning and satisfaction in their jobs. A career as a psychologist is centered on discovering what drives human behavior and motivation, and those findings can lead to the creation of innovations intended to improve the quality of life for a broad spectrum of people.

3. The Career Offers Flexible Working Arrangements.

Whether you want to work independently or be part of a team, psychology careers can be a good choice since professionals in the field can do either. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found one-third of psychologists were self-employed in 2014, and these individuals have the added flexibility of setting their own hours to work when they want.

Allen adds that it can be a good fit for those who have a family. "It is a diverse field with many different opportunities and the chance for a flexible work schedule," she says.

4. Psychologists Can Earn Above Average Pay.

While money isn't necessarily the driving factor for many psychologists, it doesn't hurt that this is a career offering above-average salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, professionals in the field had the following average annual incomes in 2015:

Clinical, counseling and school psychologists: $76,040
Industrial-organizational psychologists: $92,320
All other psychologists: $93,050

What's more, there should be continued opportunities to enter the field with the government anticipating jobs for most psychologists will increase 19 percent from 2014-2024.

5. You Learn How to Unravel the Mysteries of the Mind.

This last reason to become a psychologist may be the one that brings people to this field of study in the first place. The human mind can be a complex machine, and psychologists learn how it reacts and responds in different situations. While this knowledge has practical applications in everything from business to sports, it also a fascinating subject on its own.

Allen notes that is one reason she likes performing assessments. "I enjoy being able to help answer questions with test data. It is a challenge to try to integrate all of the data and make sense of it in a way that is helpful to the client," she says. "I never thought I would enjoy writing reports, but it is a nice balance to therapy."

There are a number of reasons to consider a career as a psychologist, and Allen suggests students who may be on the fence try working with community-based organizations to see if the field is a good fit. She volunteered for a suicide hotline and with an organization serving children with autism during her undergrad years. "There are many ways to help people," Allen says, "but if you find yourself really interested in psychological research and fascinated by psychological concepts, this could be the career for you."

Check out more information about online psychology degree programs.

Sources:

Interview with Katie Tart Allen
National Center for Education Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Psychologists, http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm4.
Psychology Topics, American Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org/topics/index.asp

Why do we need a psychologist?

whole list

People who want to improve the quality of their lives, solve any problems or conflicts turn to a psychologist. And also to better understand and realize yourself and your relationships.

A psychologist, having special knowledge, will see the situation more deeply, diagnose and determine what prevents a person from having what he aspires to Personal communication at a psychologist's appointment usually consists of the following components: discussion, analysis, diagnosis and application of psycho-corrective approaches.

Main topics of appeal to psychologists:

Fears, depressive states.
Severe crises, trauma, grief.
Communication problems, conflicts.
Loneliness, creating relationships, choosing partners.
Family and child counseling.
Psychological diagnostics.
Career guidance.
Search for the meaning of life, self-determination.
Work with diseases of the body.

A psychologist helps a person:

Understand his inner reality and structure his experience.
Find ways out of conflicts, solve problems and achieve goals.
Gain inner strength to change yourself and your life.
Discover your potential and fulfill yourself in life.
Build relationships with others.
Save your time, resources and health.

What a psychologist does NOT do:

Doesn't evaluate you or give you much specific advice - but creates a safe and trusting relationship that gives you the freedom to be yourself. This allows your true feelings and needs to come out.
Does not take responsibility for your life and does not tell you how to live - instead, it encourages you to make your own choices and find your own solutions. This will give you strength and confidence.
Doesn't give you one-size-fits-all recipes that instantly solve problems and eliminate discomfort - but it does provide feedback and encourages you to explore yourself and your relationships. This is a basic and realistic way to achieve sustainable and positive change.
Does not correct your loved ones and the world around you - but helps you find inner resources so that you can change yourself. This will improve the quality of your life and open up new perspectives in it.

How many sessions are needed? Each person is individual, he comes with a specific task. Sometimes one meeting is enough. If a person is in a depressed state, protracted neurosis, then repeated visits to specialist sessions will be required. A person can choose the mode of visits himself. Usually once or twice a week is the optimal schedule.

Sometimes and less often, with long breaks.

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If the task of doctors is to treat, then the task of child psychologists is to control the development of the child's psyche and create everything so that this development goes on time and correctly.

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Should I go to psychology?

Know yourself

Main ideas

Sometimes when choosing a profession, a future psychologist is driven by a desire for power, self-affirmation, a need for admiration and love.
The desire to help often leads to negative consequences: the psychologist seeks to get results by pushing the client to move faster than he is ready.
The most important qualities for a psychologist: interest in people, curiosity, goodwill and respect.
A future psychologist must undergo personal therapy and supervision.

Some people think they are special people who hold the keys to human souls. Oracles capable of unraveling our secrets, unknown to ourselves. Healers who relieve heartache. Let's try to get rid of romantic notions and take a sober look at this work. Because a psychologist is just a job. But not at all simple.

Desire to help

Psychologist is a helping profession, clients turn to psychologists for help… It seems to follow from this that people who want to help others should become psychologists? Not everything is so clear.

“At the heart of our profession, of course, is the desire to be useful, to help,” says Gestalt therapist Nifont Dolgopolov. “But I have been training psychologists for many years and I can say that a pronounced desire to help often leads to negative consequences.” Systemic family therapist Anna Varga agrees with this. “If a psychologist is eager to help and overwhelmed with pity for the client, this is a bad motivation. It most likely hides its own unresolved problems.”

What does this mean for the client? “The psychologist seeks to quickly get visible results of his work, confirming to himself that he helped, and thus increasing his professional self-esteem,” explains Nifont Dolgopolov. “In doing so, he violates the client’s boundaries, pushing him to advance in therapy faster than he is ready.” In this way, the psychologist can harm the client if he increases resistance or leaves therapy altogether. That is why helping cannot be the goal of therapy.

“The main thing is to understand the client, build a psychotherapeutic contact with him, and help is a side effect,” concludes Anna Varga.

Such is the paradox: the desire to help prevents helping.

Interest in people

Well, then, maybe a future psychologist should love people? Not at all, Nifont Dolgopolov objects. Moreover, in some cases it can become an obstacle in psychological work, since a strong feeling prevents the specialist from maintaining the necessary position of “neutrality”.

The same is true for negative emotions. Can a specialist experience, for example, disgust for a client? “This is absolutely unprofessional! exclaims Anna Varga. “Imagine a surgeon who, instead of operating, begins to think that the patient is ugly. It is the same with a psychologist: when during work he enters a professional position, he is already “not quite a person”, rather, a function.

But what is really extremely important for a psychologist, experts agree, is sincere curiosity and interest in people, in their inner world. Nifont Dolgopolov adds two more qualities to this: benevolence, in order to explore his inner world together with the client, and respect - it suggests that any features and actions of another person deserve careful attention and consideration. “If I respect another person,” says the Gestalt therapist, “then I give him the right to his own thoughts, feelings, values, even if they do not coincide with mine.”

Good attitude towards myself

“I can't treat another person kindly and respectfully if I don't love and respect myself, if I don't rate myself highly,” emphasizes Nifont Dolgopolov. “The measure of my tolerance for other people, and in particular for clients, depends on how tolerant I am of my shortcomings, to my actions, how much I can recognize them, while not destroying my values and ideals.”

This implies the ability to reflect - awareness of one's thoughts, experiences, actions, which develops in training. If parents are interested in the inner world of the child, if this is a value for them, then they encourage him to turn his interest inward, notes Nifont Dolgopolov. This interest can come through literature, and more broadly - culture, if the child in the family is introduced to it. Such childhood experience can be a good (but not necessary) prerequisite for studying psychology.

In any case, the psychology student will spend many hours in therapy during their studies, emphasizes Anna Varga. “A psychologist will be taught to observe himself and be aware of what is happening in his soul. Unless, of course, this is a serious educational institution. Sometimes you have to deal with the fact that a practicing psychologist was not a client himself, and this is very bad.”

Psychologist - a specialist who has received a psychological education. Can engage in science and teaching, conduct trainings and career guidance, work on a helpline, test the level of intelligence, identify abilities, and advise.

Psychotherapist works with people in difficult life situations. In addition to basic (psychological or medical) education, he needs to receive additional specialization in psychotherapy. The task of the psychotherapist is to help the patient understand himself more deeply, change his thinking and behavior in order to become happier and more productive. A psychotherapist who does not have a medical education does not have the right to make diagnoses and prescribe medications.

Psychiatrist is a doctor who consults mentally healthy and mentally ill people and treats with medication.

Therapist himself

There is also a reverse situation. Psychology often attracts those who really want (often unconsciously) to deal with their own problems and difficulties. That is, their interest is rather directed not outward, to other people, but inward, to themselves. The therapy that the student undergoes during his studies will help to understand what really brought him to this profession, and it is quite possible that he will be able to resolve his problems.

“There is nothing wrong when initially a student is driven by the desire to get help himself, if in the course of training he successfully advances in self-healing,” says Nifont Dolgopolov. “This experience can be a good basis for understanding others and helping them. ”

If his problems are not solved and he remains more of a client of a therapist than a professional, then he will not be able to meet the requirements that the system of psychological education places on him.

“The teachers will explain to him that it would be better to think about another specialty. And the student himself usually understands that he can’t cope, ”says Anna Varga. “But even if he gets a certificate as a psychologist, he will not be able to really help clients and, most likely, they will not go to him,” adds Nifont Dolgopolov.

False motives

Deal with the question “why am I going into this profession?” for the future psychologist is extremely important. This choice may be based on hidden motives that emerge at key moments in personal psychotherapy: the desire for power, self-affirmation, the need for admiration, love ...

“All these are rental motives (a person wants to receive a “rent” from his profession), and they are unacceptable,” explains Anna Varga. “If in the course of training we find out that a student seeks to use clients to satisfy his egocentric needs, this is a signal for us that it is contraindicated for him to practice, and he may not receive a certificate,” confirms Nifont Dolgopolov.

Learn from others, work on yourself

Finally, those who believe that the profession of a psychologist will allow them to earn a living in peace, without reporting to anyone, must part with illusions. This job involves a great sense of responsibility, and can also carry risks, such as meeting unstable or sometimes dangerous clients.

The study itself will be long. You cannot become a practicing psychologist by entering a university right after high school. “Such young people receive a basic psychological education and can work as researchers,” says Anna Varga. “But in order to practice, they lack the experience that will help them understand what clients have to say. To become, for example, a family therapist, you have to study for another four years. Mature people often come to us after 35 - and this is perhaps the best option.

Education will always continue, because this is how this profession works

In addition, both during studies and becoming a practicing specialist, a psychologist regularly undergoes supervision, where he discusses his work with experienced colleagues. “Students are often asked by relatives: “When will you learn and stop going to your trainings?! Nifont Dolgopolov smiles. “And there is only one answer: it will always continue, because this is how this profession works.”

A psychologist must be a member of at least one professional community: “Otherwise, he is nobody! exclaims Anna Varga. “There is no collective body behind him with which he can consult, which will give him feedback, and in case of unacceptable mistakes, will apply sanctions.”

Cultural baggage

We may think that this is a necessary condition for successful practice, especially if we read the books of the classics of psychology, marveling at the richness of their cultural associations. In fact, it depends on the approach that the specialist chooses for himself.

For example, in systemic family therapy, Anna Varga explains, a professional really needs to be well educated, understand such related fields as medicine, psychiatry, philosophy, neurosciences, ethology (animal behavior), know modern cultural trends: cinema, theater, literature, because this is the external environment that surrounds the family.

And, say, for short-term psychological help, when it comes to stress or shock, cultural background is not necessary, it is enough to have the necessary strategies to get a good result. The Gestalt method requires attentiveness and the ability to describe well what is seen and heard. “For this, rather, a rich language is needed,” Nifont Dolgopolov reflects. - And this already depends on the wealth of the individual. After all, the psychologist works with himself, with his thoughts, experiences, his personal experience. Although, of course, professional knowledge from related fields is also needed. ”

Gift or trade?

Anna Varga answers this question categorically: “This is not a gift. I am against this myth. This is a profession. This is skill. And even in a sense, a craft. In her opinion, anyone can master it, provided that he is well trained. The only thing is that he must understand his professional limitations. So, a conscientious and responsible psychologist who does not shine with bright ideas can work effectively as a training leader.

“As in any profession, there are especially gifted people among psychologists. I remember how brilliantly my teachers worked with a large audience, how they inspired hundreds of people in the hall. That's what talent is needed for, - Nifont Dolgopolov reflects. But this is not at all necessary for a practical psychologist. Having a good school and painstakingly working with a client, you can always be of great benefit.

But how not to lose a keen interest in the profession after many years of practice and meetings with hundreds of clients? “A psychologist should not work for wear and tear, this leads to the fading of energy and he will not have a natural impulse to turn on the client,” answers Nifont Dolgopolov.

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