5 Careers for Psychology Majors

A psychology degree offers a plethora of career opportunities. A psychology degree allows you to explore many options, from therapy, to counseling, teaching, marketing, and beyond.  Fortunately, if you cannot afford or do not want to graduate school, you do not need a degree beyond a bachelor’s.  If you are wondering about your career options, here are at least five careers available to psychology majors.

Counselor

People often confuse a counselor with a psychotherapist.  While they do share similarities in that their purpose is to solicit a safe space for a patient to open up about their issues, the way they go about it and how they treat the client is different.  The primary duty of a counselor is to create that discreet space for a client to open up as much as they are comfortable.  While a counselor is not authorized to give advice or prescribe medication, but instead they are there to offer support to the client.  Despite this limitation, a counselor will encounter remarkable success with clients.  To become a counselor, it is best advised that you obtain a degree such as GMercyU’s master’s degree in school counseling to work in an education environment. The extensive training in these programs will help you handle all this challenging role throws at you, and the master’s degree will make you a standout amongst other candidates.

Psychotherapist

Psychotherapists have a broader authority over which careers they may pursue.  People who become psychotherapists will generally specialize in a particular field where they can focus their knowledge and abilities.  For example, a psychotherapist may choose to work with children, individuals, couples, larger families, victims of abuse, those that struggle with addiction, and much more.  The primary job duty of a psychotherapist is to utilize different techniques to help the client overcome these psychological hindrances.  A psychotherapist will often study under particular methods such as cognitive therapy, experiential therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, and more.

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Psychiatrist

Unlike a psychotherapist, who often obtains a master’s or PhD in psychology, a psychiatrist will go to medical school to become a doctor.  This is because a psychiatrist is involved in the medical profession as someone who prescribes mental health medication.  Sometimes, the issues the patient is dealing with is biological and is due to the abnormal functions in the brain.  A psychiatrist will prescribe psychiatric medications to treat a variety of maladies, such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and more.  When a psychologist determines that the struggle the patient is facing is due to a biological condition, often the patient will be referred to a psychiatrist, who will then analyze the patient through a series of lab tests.

Further Research

Psychologists always have the opportunity to further research in their field.  Research is constantly being conducted on the workings of the brain, which is still in many ways a mystery.  New discovers and connections are being made all the time.  The intent of research is to discover how the mind works, how behavior is formed, and ultimately how to better treat patients to overcome psychological illness.  From study habits to addictions, researchers are looking for ways so that we can better understand ourselves as well as connect to others.

Other Alternatives

Psychology majors are adapted to a breadth of careers that extend beyond the field of psychology.  This is because as a psychologist, you study how people behave, think, and emote.  Your ability to understand people is invaluable to most businesses.  Many psychologists find that they naturally fit into jobs such as sales, marketing, journalism, public relations, teaching, or even law.  As a student of psychology, you learn how to interact with people, how to allow people to open up to you, and how to empathize with a patient.  If you become a teacher, it’s critical to understand how to communicate with children.  Likewise, as a public relations agent, you job is to appeal to the audience on behalf of your client to be likeable and seamless to their eyes.  

A psychology degree can open the door to a wide array of career opportunity. Consider your aspirations and choose a promising position.

Author: Zainab Sheikh