Is Psychology a good career?

There are people with good capacities for observation and analysis of information that help generate logical and critical thinking. If you’re this kind of person, a degree in Psychology could be a good option for you to decide to study at the university as soon as you leave high school.

In this brief guide, we’re going to answer the question “Is Psychology a good career?’’ what is psychology, areas of study and field of work, and the advantages and disadvantages of studying psychology.

Is Psychology a good career?

Yes, psychology is a good career. Studying Psychology is, for many people, one of the most attractive options when it comes time to consider what university studies to pursue. Despite not being an easy career, it’s a worthwhile adventure. There are many reasons why studying psychology is the best option. However, the most important reason is the passion for the career.

The career of Psychology provides the knowledge to understand and analyze human behavior and improve the development of mental health. In this post, we’ll present to you the best reasons why you should study psychology: 

You’ll develop new perceptions of mental illness

Studying psychology will allow you to break down many of the myths you might believe in mental illness. You’ll understand, for example, the differences between what is a syndrome, a disorder, and a disease.

You’ll realize that drugs don’t cure certain diseases, they only “treat” them. You’ll discover on your skin how complex it’s to make a diagnosis, the many nuances behind depression, an anxiety disorder, or schizophrenia.

You will develop critical thinking

Much of the material, theories, approaches, and areas that makeup psychology studies help us develop critical thinking. Whether we like it or not, it’s an essential requirement if we want to be good professionals, if we want to be useful to people without losing integrity and self-honor. 

Only in this way, we’ll differentiate the tree from the forest, the lucidity of deception, the reality of manipulation.

“Never think that you know everything. No matter how high you value yourself, always have the courage to tell yourself: I am ignorant ” -Ivan Pavlov-

Psychology helps us understand ourselves better

As we delve into the career, the different approaches to personality, human development, or how culture impacts our behavior, we’ll relax more than one aspect about ourselves and others.

Studying psychology will almost oblige you to ask yourself many questions. Questions, of course, that don’t always have an answer, but will become a reason for the constant search, a persistent adventure to get to know each other a little more every day, and where you’ll leave behind certain schemes, attitudes, and previously main ideas.

A greater understanding of human relationships

Studying psychology won’t spontaneously make us psychologically healthier, more successful, or happier. Psychologists also suffer depression, anxiety, they too fail like anyone else in their affective relationships and they have, why not, their little phobias and limitations.

However, having all this knowledge they are much more aware of what is happening to them and what is happening around them. By having all that science and those skills based on human behavior, they understand relational dynamics much better, they know when to ask for help or what paths it’s better to start to promote greater well-being in themselves or others.

Psychology: a perfect complement to other disciplines

Few studies complement other disciplines as well as psychology. We may have, for example, a degree in journalism, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, philology, anthropology, art, or economics and decide to start the degree in psychology to acquire a much richer and more complete training, as well as fascinating.

Beyond having a much more solid curriculum, studying psychology enriches us by understanding much more human behavior, social interaction, language, communication, motivation, emotions, decision-making … They are often essential processes for having a more complete vision of the rest of sciences.

You’ll learn to communicate much better

This is an aspect that isn’t always talked about. However, something that the psychology student discovers in his day to day is that by acquiring competencies in the management of emotions or by understanding body language and its nuances much more, he also acquires greater skill in his interpersonal communication.

We aren’t referring only to the opportunity to improve our ability to speak in public, but you’ll be able to communicate better with your people, understand who they have in front of through their non-verbal communication, their tone of voice, and expressions to build a more empathetic and effective dialogue.

What is psychology?

Psychology is a science that seeks to understand the behavior of human beings. 

It also delves into the thoughts that constitute thought; its goal is to provide good emotional health, as well as good development of people. 

In broader terms, it seeks to ensure the psychological well-being of society. The psychologist’s job is to collect facts about behavior and experience and organize them systematically, developing theories for understanding.

Areas of study and field of work of psychology

This science is made up of multiple and very varied areas of study. They build different profiles to offer services in the labor market and, as you study your degree in psychology, you will discover what specialization is for you.

• Industrial and organizational psychology, study the work environment to promote internal communication in companies. Its purpose is to promote a good work environment and that the people who work there have the best conditions to carry out their work.
• Social psychology, on the other hand, studies how the social environment intervenes in people’s way of thinking and how the individual mentality contributes to collective social thought. If you follow this area, you’ll study with a community and social focus.
• Educational psychology is focusing on educational settings. That is, how people and groups behave in academic sectors. If you decide on this area of ​​studies, you can dedicate yourself to educational and vocational guidance, evaluate the development of individual capacities, and many others.
• Clinical psychology is focusing on clinical work. Your field of work will be concentrated in hospitals, clinics, public and private institutions.

Advantages and disadvantages of studying psychology

The advantages and disadvantages of dedicating yourself to psychology are something that depends on the personal opinions and subjectivity of each one, but in broad strokes, they are the following.

The advantages of studying psychology are:

Satisfaction

Psychologists, very often, have great reasons to be happy: the consequences of their work directly benefit someone, and they translate into lasting happiness that you can see for yourself. This is something that happens with very few professions.

Flexible hours

If you don’t work in a company, psychologists can have freedom of hours that is appreciated. Besides, the possibility of doing online therapy means that the sessions don’t have to be canceled if a patient or client goes out of town or is traveling on time.

Learning constantly

Psychology is a young field, so it develops very quickly. That is why those who are dedicated to this field are always in contact with very interesting sources of knowledge about human behavior: seminars, conferences, books, scientific articles … All of them can be relevant to the profession, addressing topics as different as biology, philosophy, neurology, learning, etc.

Techniques applicable to yourself

Having a therapist to advise and direct us externally is never the same as not having one.

However, by knowing various principles, theories, and techniques, psychologists have more ways of adapting to the circumstances that appear in their own life, on one hand, and they’re less likely to fall into harmful beliefs about mental processes, personal problems, and behavior patterns that they manifest from time to time.

The disadvantages of studying psychology are: 

Emotional stress

The profession of psychologists tends to go hand in hand with significant and intense experiences since in most cases it’s constantly dealing with people of all kinds. 

Also, the type of relationship that is established between the psychology professional and those with whom he interacts (whether they’re patients, clients, or subjects on whom he intervenes psychologically) can have a strong emotional charge, which he usually is common in professional settings.

And it is that, after all, psychologists don’t stop empathizing at any time. That is why, on occasions, it’s possible to doubt whether certain actions are carried out from a professional criterion or a personal one, based on emotion.

Find time to search for clients

If the fact of offering psychological intervention services already consumes enough time, money, and effort, to that we must add the task of looking for clients.

This is compounded considering that it’s usually a task that isn’t foreseen by psychologists, who have been training for several years with the idea of ​​having to invest all their capacities in therapeutic intervention and education and awareness programs. Developing a marketing plan can be complicated, and you’ve to make time for it.

Prejudices

Many people believe that psychologists are always practicing as such, which means, on the one hand, that any friend, family member, or friend of a friend can request free therapy, and on the other, that they’re always trying to “read the mind” of people. None of this is true, but sometimes it can be quite annoying for people in your immediate environment to assume these wrong beliefs.

So, is psychology a good career?

Yes, psychology is a good career. The professional in Psychology is called a Psychologist and specializes in listening to and interpreting the problems of his patients concerning their relationships and their vision of society.

The psychologist has the function of discovering the reason for the actions of the human being to accompany the patient in the search for various solutions.

The career of Psychology teaches techniques and skills to identify problems in the relationship, family, work situations, or any other that the patient decides to mention during a session.

The psychologist inquires about the patient’s life, develops theories about their possible reasons, and tries to prevent future acts as a consequence of their decisions. There are several branches of psychology related to labor, social, and educational aspects.

Psychology is a long-term career, requires a large volume of reading, and is aimed at people with great ability to listen, motivation to help solve problems, good oral and written expression, ability to observe and enhance the virtues of the human being. The graduate sstands out for their honesty, great emotional sensitivity, and shows constant empathy with their patients.

FAQSs: Is Psychology a good career?

References

7 reasons to study psychology | University of Essex Online. (2017). Retrieved October 29, 2020, from University of Essex Online website: https://online.essex.ac.uk/blog/7-reasons-study-psychology/

Psychology Career Information and Outlook. (2020, October 21). Retrieved October 29, 2020, from Psychology Degree 411 website: https://www.psychologydegree411.com/careers/‌

10 Great Reasons to Earn a Psychology Degree. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from Verywell Mind website: https://www.verywellmind.com/reasons-to-earn-a-psychology-degree-2795621#:~:text=Psychology%20is%20certainly%20not%20a,that%20are%20available%20to%20graduates.&text=Health%20Psychology,Industrial%2DOrganizational%20Psychology

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