Are you interested in learning about the human mind and why we behave the way we do? Then, a psychology degree might be the one you've been looking for. But, while studying is supposed to be fun, and you'll always get a better grade doing something you're passionate about, is the psychology field really that lucrative? Are there plenty of jobs you can explore with this degree, or will you be pigeonholed into one for the rest of your life?
The good news is that along with all the advantages of a psychology degree, you'll be able to enjoy it. The psychology field has plenty of roles you can take on in the future. Today, we're looking at eight possibilities for you to consider, hopefully helping you plan and get excited for your future!
1. Clinical Psychologist
A clinical psychologist is someone who works with people experiencing a range of issues that can occur at any point in their lives. This means you might work with children, teenagers, or older adults to help them work through their mental and physical roadblocks. Clinical psychology is often the most common result of a psychology degree, but it's definitely not your only option!
2. Behavioural Neuroscientist
A behavioural neuroscientist focuses on the study of the relationship between our brains' physiological processes and our behaviours, helping to determine why we might act certain ways while others don't. They also focus on genetic mechanisms and our neural system, helping to understand illnesses like depression, anxiety, and drug abuse, as well as neurological illnesses like Alzheimer's disease.
3. Forensic Psychologist
Forensic psychology is all about applying psychological theory to a criminal investigation to help you understand criminal behaviour better, hopefully offering better insight to the victims, their families, and even the families of criminals. Forensic psychology is also often used in trials, so you can help improve the justice system by going into this field! This is another popular career path after getting your degree, so it's a great option if you're interested in criminology.
4. Mental Health Worker
When going down the mental health worker career path, you'll be training to become a healthcare professional who offers support to people suffering from a range of mental health issues. You may also work with people who deal with things like substance abuse, psychological and emotional issues, and social problems. Rather than just helping with diagnosis, you'll be able to help them improve their day-to-day life, including keeping employment and running errands.
5. Social Worker
Social workers are paramount in helping vulnerable people with any problem they might have, from finding housing to applying for services and accessing mental health treatments. You'll work with your clients, their families, and others in their community, making life more enjoyable for everyone. Common areas you could choose to specialise in might be mental health, family services, public health, or child services.
6. Child Development Specialist
As a child developmental specialist, you'll be trained to identify development and psychological disorders in children. Children are almost always more difficult to diagnose as they can't tell you what's wrong, so this speciality is incredibly important. Using the ideas you learned during your psychology degree, you'll be much more prepared to observe and work with children to diagnose them accurately. You'll be helping families from far and wide!
7. Counsellor
A counsellor works closely with their clients to build a healing and trusting relationship before offering several types of assistance. The most common is talk-based therapy, but you can specialise in other forms if you find them more effective or interesting. Counsellors are hired to talk and work things through with their clients, helping them move on with their lives through all personal problems imaginable.
8. Research Analyst
Research analysts might not sound like they use much psychology, but your degree can actually help you plenty by letting you make more informed decisions through the psychology of the research you've collected, analysed, and interpreted for your chosen company. Compared to a research analyst without a psychology degree, you might be able to come up with deeper levels of understanding of why your research has resulted in what it has.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are plenty of jobs you can go into after getting your psychology degree—and we've only just scratched the surface! Not only is psychology one of the most popular areas of study out there, but it's also one of the most versatile! So, if you're considering studying psychology, we say go for it—there are plenty of opportunities out there for you to explore in the future.
