Career Planning for Psychology Students

 A psychologist is someone who specializes in psychology which is a scientific study about how the human mind behaves, such as the ability to process social cues. Not to be confused with a psychiatrist who is a medical doctor that can prescribe medicine and is often treating more complex cases. They often conduct many tests on willing subjects to research how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Psychologists are also licensed to help people cope with mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, schizophrenia along with dealing with stress.

Some good qualities they should have is being able to empathize with their patients, having good communication skills, and being able to create a bond of trustworthiness. Having these vital skills helps the psychologist assure the patient that they are being heard and cared for, it also helps to create a secure environment.

A psychologist’s main job is to help people improve their lives by using a type of therapy to be able to overcome traumatizing events, learning how to cope with a mental illness, or even couples counseling.

Psychotherapy is the most common type of therapy which is often referred to as “talk therapy”. There are multiple other types of therapy but based on the issue the psychologist will see which one best benefits the person.

Education required to be a psychologist would be a PsyD or a (a Doctor of Psychology) PhD (a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology) this depends on the career goal. 4 to 5 years for a bachelor’s degree which helps with understanding human behaviors.

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2 to 3 years for a master’s degree which is an introduction to the psychology field. 4 to 7 years for a doctoral degree which focuses more on practices and clinical work (Harvard Health Publishing).

The average mean salary for psychologists’ range between $77,000 and $93,000 per year as of 2017. Since there are many different types of sectors in this field the salary can differentiate. The state of Maryland is the state with the highest paid psychologists with wages around $113,900. “Following are psychologists in California, who make an average annual wage of around $109,600, while Kansas-based psychologists make a mean wage of around $104,200 per year” (‘Psychologists: Occupation Outlook Handbook’, 2018).

My whole life I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression. I always felt so lost and scared to tell anyone about what I felt. Until it was too much for me to handle and I almost did something that I would regret. My parents found a therapist for me who really changed my life and ever since then I have admired the work that psychologists do. They can help people in so many ways that for me its just unimaginable, their work truly inspires me.