How To Decide If The Field Of Psychology Is Right For You

Is the field of psychology right for you? Maybe everyone tells you that you're a great listener. Maybe all your friends come to you with their problems. Maybe you should enter the field of psychology. Or maybe not. Here's how you decide.

Does Psychology Interest You?

You want to start out with an interest in psychology. Some people can't get enough of reading psychology textbooks while others would rather spend their time doing absolutely anything else. Is psychology a true passion of yours?

Do You Want To Go To Graduate School?

Here's a good test to see how much you love psychology. How many years are you willing to put into your education? Job opportunities for those with bachelor's degrees in psychology are fairly limited so if you want to be a practicing psychologist then you will probably need a master's degree or a PhD. This is going to mean years of schooling beyond a bachelor's degree. Do you want to put in all that time?

Do You Enjoy Working With People?

Not every position in the field of psychology will have you working with people but most of them do. Is this something that sounds good to you or would you rather work behind the scenes? You want to pick out what career you want to pursue in this field but odds are you will have to enjoy working with people for this field to be right for you.

Do You Enjoy Problem Solving?

Face it. People who seek help from those working the psychological field do so because they have problems. Do you enjoy collecting information to figure out what problems patients have and then trying to help people work through their problems?

Depending on your exact position you may be charged with first solving the mystery of what psychological issues are at work and then with trying to figure out how to best work on those issues or you may play a slightly different role. You will also have to find ways to deal with the patient's own resistance to doing the work of dealing with the issues. Do you like solving problems? Or perhaps the better question is do you like trying to solve problems even if the patient might be resistant to your best efforts?

Do You Have Patience?

Healing psychological issues takes time. Do you have the patience to keep seeing patients dealing with the same problems and helping them to make what progress they can over time? Do you have the patience to sit and watch people deal with the same problems week after week as they slowly progress?

Can You Handle Stress?

Dealing with constant problems is stressful. Can you handle this type of stress or will it wear you down steadily but surely? Take an honest look at the answer.

This is how you decide if the field of psychology is right for you. Psychology is a field that is more challenging than many expect at first. This is why it is good to figure out if you aren't cut out for it sooner rather than later.

T. Rheinecker writes about how to obtain an MS in Psychology.