A career in psychology

A career in psychology interests me, is there any scope in this field? What should be the other optional that I should take along with this subject? What are the different streams, do I have to study masters later on? -Poornima, Ved Vihar Colony

Nothing could illustrate better that the mind (psyche) is indeed the central point of human existence. Nothing can be more interesting and enthralling than psychology, which involves the study of the human mind/psyche. The entire gamut of human actions and reactions, thoughts and feelings, beliefs and faith and emotions and sentiment is covered in the study of this subject.

It explores in depth the interpersonal relations between the myriads of people inhabiting this globe and how these interactions affect the community, society, and ultimately the human civilisation. With the rise in mental and emotional stress levels in individuals as a consequence to work pressure, increased competitions, and a fast paced life, this field is gaining immense importance.

Whether it is business executives, performers or athletes, psychologists are needed everywhere to combat stress levels and improve performance. You do a graduation in psychology and you are eligible for jobs in health centers, NGO’s, vocational rehabilitations and as administrative assistants.

But, a graduation in psych is a generalized degree and is normally not enough and therefore in this upcoming field, you need to do at least a major’s in this subject to gain an in-depth knowledge base in a specified area. If you can do a Phd/M.Phil, then nothing like it, opportunities for people with advanced degrees in psychology are expanding in number as well as in scope.

Career prospects depend on the area of your specialisation; there are a variety of options and you can choose from the various fields of psychology such as:

Social psychology: Is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. Social psychologists work with the applied psychology fields such as: social organizations and research establishments, rehabilitation centers, prisons, child/ youth guidance centre, advertising industry and in a variety of other set-ups.

Child psychology/Child development: deals with the study of psychological processes of children – how they develop from birth to adolescence, how one child differs from the other, how the psychological process of a child differs from that of the adult and the various stages of learning in childhood and how children perceive themselves and the world at each stage of learning.

Sports psychology: Is a young discipline of psychology and is the study and dealing of psychological factors that improve athletic performance and improve motivation. It is a multidisciplinary science and is an integration of many related fields such as biomechanics, physiology and kinesiology.

They work with professional athletes and coaches and also focus on exercise and physical activity to improve the lives of non-athletes.The major specialties within this field are applied sport psychology, clinical sports psychology and academic sports psychology.

Counseling psychology: Focuses on persons with adjustment problems, with serious emotional and personal problems and helping them through discussion, and deciding how best to cope in specific situations.

Using various techniques including interviewing and testing, they advice people on how to cope up with problems of everyday living. They are employed in academic settings, college/school counseling centres, community mental health centres.

Industrial or organisational psychology: You learn the principles of personnel management, organizational management and HRD; and how to apply these skills in an organization to increase productivity and better quality of work life.

It improves your organizational effectiveness and develops skills of behavioral training and consultancy and helps you improve your employee counseling capabilities. Large companies and businesses hire industrial organizational psychologists to help boost employee productivity and retention rates within the organization.

Clinical psychology: Is a broad branch of psychology and has areas of specialization which includes child mental health, adult mental health, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, substance abuse, geriatrics, health psychology, neuropsychology and geropsy chology etc. They work in hospitals, private practice, or academic settings and their role is the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders.

Some are generalists who work with a wide variety of population while others work with specific groups such as children, the elderly, or those with specific disorders.

Educational psychology: Deals in evaluating the effectiveness of academic programs, behavior management procedures, and other services provided in schools and educational institutes. To resolve the students learning and behavioral problems, educational psychologists work with teachers, students, parents and administrators.

Experimental psychology: Scientifically researches the mind and behavior. It is basically a methodology rather than a single field of psychology and many of its techniques are used by other subfields of psychology to conduct research on everything from childhood development to social issues.

Through research they develop theories that help them describe, explain, predict and even change human behaviors. You have to understand your special interest and then, try and decide on the right area of specialization. Once you decide the specialization, and the university to study, the journey becomes a bit easy.

You do an MA in psychology and you get opportunities in fields such as:

• Academics
• Market research
• Government agencies
• Private industry
• Rehabilitation centers
• Research establishments
• Clinics
• Prisons
• Corporate offices
• Hospitals
• Ad agencies
• Law
• Sports Social welfare organisations, etc
  

The work profile depends on the area of specialisation, it could be:

Working as health care providers Serving as consultants to communities and organisations Diagnose and treat people Conducting basic and applied research Assessing behavioral and mental function and well being Assessing intelligence and personality, etc

This field has proved to be a lucrative field of study but the salary of psychologists mainly depends on the factors like, qualification, area of specialization and experience in the profession.

Try and pursue some short term course in this field from abroad to get global experience or join the likes of ‘Doctors without frontiers’ and this could help you get better exposure in this field. Remember one important fact that psychology is not a cake walk; one needs lot of passion and patience. All the best!

Is it possible to pursue distance degree and D.Ed at the same time? -Mathin, Wyra, Khammam

According to UGC a student pursuing a degree in regular mode can pursue a maximum of one additional degree program simultaneously under the distance/open mode either from the same or from a different institution/university, but you cannot pursue two degree program concurrently under the regular mode.

Also, the student pursuing a degree from the regular mode can pursue a maximum of one certificate/PG diploma/diploma/advanced diploma program simultaneously under the distance/open mode either from the same or from a different institution/university. According to DEC (distance education council) one can pursue two programs simultaneously through distance or through combination of distance and regular modes.

A student can pursue two or more programs simultaneously in varied combinations, like one diploma and one certificate, one PG diploma and one diploma/certificate, two PG diplomas, or two certificates or two diplomas.

By:Shehre Banu Kagalwala