Your personal guide to the mind-boggling career that is Psychology

Are you fascinated with the way human mind works? How every individual human being has a different thought process and approach to things, but at the end of the day, we are all the same? Are you constantly thinking about what factors contribute to the human behaviour? And why certain people react to a situation in the way they do?

There is one simple answer to all of this : Psychology.

What is Psychology?

Before anything else, let us get this out of the way, that if you study psychology you can read people’s minds. That is completely untrue. Studying psychology will help you understand why people think the way they do and why they react to certain situations in a specific manner. It is a study of complex elements such like emotion, intelligence, motivation and personality broken down into simpler concepts which people find interesting to study.

Psychology is a lot more than just talking to your therapist. This field has application in almost every field, it comes down to what interests you and what you want to pursue.

Psychologist vs Psychiatrist

Both Psychologists and Psychotherapists are different types of professionals trained to help you deal with your mental health issues. Both of them will help you navigate your way through your problems. They have a common aim, that is to provide you with means to help you deal with issues in everyday life.

Different fields of Psychology:

Like every other field, even psychology has a number of branches in which one can specialise. Everything from the way a child behaves when he is encouraged or scolded to the behaviour a boss shows towards his employees in different situations, all comes down to psychology. In psychology one studies not just human behaviour but also understands the thought processes of different people. 

Let us take a look at different fields of Psychology:

• Clinical psychology:

  This field of psychology focuses on human behaviour in relation to emotions and biological functions. Clinical psychologists help in solving complex human problems. They provide clinical and counselling services to solve mental, emotional and lifestyle issues. It deals with emotional and behavioural issues of individuals at a critical level.

• Counselling psychology:

  It is the field that is concerned with helping individuals with emotional complications to gain control of their feelings. The focus is on treating and counselling people to open up their emotional baggage and how to overcome them. For instance individual issues like mental worries, inferiority complex, drinking problems etc. are all resolved by counselling psychologists. While it sounds similar to clinical psychology, counselling psychology deals at less complex level like family and social issues while clinical psychology deals.

• Behavioural psychology:

  It is a study on human behavioural aspects and solve behavioural disorders. You understand and learn about human behaviours. Psychologists provide therapeutic treatments for autistic and behavioural disorders. And also assist in overcoming the abnormal and unhealthy behaviour aspects one deals with.

• Organisational psychology:

  This is a recent and developing field of psychology.  It involves studying the psychological & social theories which are implemented at the workplace to improve productivity and employee satisfaction. The psychologist will analyse the problems specific to the organisation and come up with solutions to enhance the workplace efficiency. One deals with corporate aspects like motivation, stress management and assess the performance. The psychologist also analyses what different methods can help different set of employees across the organisation.

• Forensic psychology:

  It is the usage and practice of psychology in regard to the legal system and understanding the minds of individuals from a criminal background. This field is a specialty career field dealing with crimes, aggressive and antisocial behaviours. The psychologists engaged in this field mostly work in prisons, rehabilitation centres, police departments, law firms, correction centres and many areas. They work in understanding psychology in regard to criminology and the legal systems. Forensic psychologists work with individuals and delinquents and provide therapies on anger management issues. They also conduct personality assessment of the offenders. In addition to all of this, they also provide treatment to the mentally ill offenders.

• Military psychology:

  As the name suggests deals with individuals in the field of armed forces and how psychology helps in selection and assessment processes, also in treatment and coping of stress and other traumatic incidents faced  and in their course of services and post services. Like PTSD, guilt, flashback and anti social issues faced by the military persons are looked into under this specialisation.

• Abnormal psychology:

  Abnormal psychology is a study of atypical or abnormal behaviour under a clinical aspect. It deals with diagnostics of a list of abnormal behaviours and disorders and helps in overcoming them. Clinical psychologists, counsellors and social workers can work with the affected individuals or clients to understand the causes and provide them the required therapy.

• Cognitive psychology:

  Cognitive psychology field studies the human mind and its course of growth and how it develops during our course of life time. For instance, all internal aspects of mind like memory, language, thinking, conscious and perception come under cognition. As a psychologist one will be dealing with solving practical issues of cognitive disorientation, phobias and emotional dysfunctional disorders. You tend to learn how dreams work and why two people have different memories of the same incident. And you also learn how intuitions tend to end up true.

How to pursue a career in psychology ?

Once you are well aware of what all psychology has to offer, it’s time to know what you can do to pursue your career in psychology. One can start psychology at any point of their studies. You can opt for psychology majors post your 10th grade or can start after schooling. To enroll yourself into psychology, you will need to crack a few entrances. 

Step one would be a Bachelors or BSc in Psychology.

 Listed below are a few top institutions you could pursue psychological courses from 

1. Lady Shree Ram College, University of Delhi
2. Indian Institute of Psychology and Research, Bangalore
3. Fergusson College, Pune
4. Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi
5. Christ University, Bangalore
6. Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, University of Delhi
7. Ambedkar University, New Delhi
8. Panjab University, Chandigarh
9. Sophia College for Women, University of Mumbai
10. Zakir Hussain College, University of Delhi

These institutions are known for the psychology courses offered. Some of these institutions have an entrance exam that you will have to clear. Once you have all the qualifications, one needs to get the licensing to become a certified psychologist and start your career.

Can you pursue psychology without a Bachelor degree in psychology?

It is alright if you don’t have a bachelors degree in psychology. But you need a master’s or a doctoral degree in your specialization to practice and pursue a career in psychology. You can pursue psychology for personal interests as well, if not for a full time career, it does help in understanding behaviour and enabling us to cope better and improve with daily interactions   

Scope of Psychology in India

• • Counsellors work in NGOs, Rehabilitation Centers, Old Age homes etc. They understand the problems of their clients and help them come out of miseries which can be anything from a traumatic event to some personal problem in a relationship. The average pay of a fresher is approximately around 20-30k per month.
  • Clinical Psychologists need to finish their M.Phil. before they can set up their independent practice. They work with patients who require clinical attention and aren’t able to deal with day to day issues easily. They can earn 30-35k per month on an average after completion of their M.Phil.
  • Education sector has a need for psychologists in school as counsellors, trainers etc to help students during their educational years. They also help out students who have learning difficulties and behavioural issues. The average pay for a fresher is approximately 20-35k per month
  • Organisational Psychologists work with MNCs and various organisations with their HR Departments. They are responsible for handling the problems of the employees while also helping them work together efficiently as a team. The average pay of a fresher is approximately 30k per month.
  • Research has the requirement in both qualitative and quantitive areas. Research psychologists earn an approximate amount of 25k per month and this pay keeps on increasing with time especially if the psychologist decides to pursue their PhD in the area that interests them.

Are you interested in Psychology and want to explore it more? Then, sign up for the MyCaptain Psychology Workshop.