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Nervous about what my parents will think.
I am a sophmore in highschool and I have been thinking about careers for my future. There has been one thing that I have been interested in for a while now. I want to become a sex therapist to cousil couples about their sex lives.. Sort of like Dr. Ruth? (Short little lady that talks about sex alot). The thing is.. I'm not sure how to approach my parents about it, because they would probably think it's a horrible career choice and wouldn't agree with what I'd be doing with my life. In my personal opinion I think it's admirable career.
So, I have a few questions here. One would be how should I approach my parents about this subject? The other is what colleges would actually have that course? Or is it made up of multiple courses?
If you have any helpful websites about schools and programs that would be great too.. Thanks if you can help!
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Bring the topic up with an example and tell them why you want to do it. At first they'll proabably go against it but eventually they'll support you because isn't it YOUR future and YOUR life. It'll be hard, I'd be a bit shock if I were them, but I would listen to see whats about it that you wanna become one so much. I'm not sure about colleges try lookin under fileds of therapy and psychatrist.
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hmm, I can see how that would be weird. I guess it all kind of depends on what type of parents you have. Supportive and cool? Or do they want you to pursue THEIR dreams for you? ..I would just casually bring up "I think I know what I want my career to be in the near future. You might think it's a little weird, but I think it's a good idea." then tell them. As far as colleges go, I'm not sure. Hope this was atleast some help.
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As I understand it, a sex therapist can be a psychiatrist, a marriage and family therapist, a psychologist, or a clinical social worker. After achieving that degree, sex therapists go for additional training in sex therapy. It generally requires a post-graduate degree so it may take some time to complete all the training.
Since you are uncomfortable talking to your parents about your career choice, perhaps you can tell them you would like to pursue one of these careers. Then, after you've gotten into your schooling and are more comfortable talking about it, you can lead up to telling them that you would like to become a sex therapist. A sex therapist does more than just discuss sex with couples. They also help people deal with emerging sexuality, do research on sexual problems and issues, teach sex education classes, even help those with sexual identity issues.
I agree that it's an admirable career choice. You obviously care about others and want to help them. I'm sure once your parents get over their surprise, they will agree.
I'm including some information for you about sex therapy, what it involves, and the training necessary. Since I'm not sure of your location and personal preferences with schools, it's difficult to recommend a specific school. However, I am including a link to a school in Florida that offers the training. You may be able to find more with a college search engine. The second link includes a list of schools that offer training in human sexuality as well as links to more information.
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Good luck. I wish you well in your chosen career.
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In order to be a therapist of any kind you need to get a degree in psychology. Just a general degree in psychology with a focus on research or whatever...your psych department at the college you will attend will have all of that info for you. After you have graduated with a degree then you must take an exam called the GRE or the GRE Psych specific. Some grad schools require you to take both. These exams are expensive and cost about 100-150 dollars each time you take them.
This is a general exam much like the SAT or the ACT except it is much more harder and much more involved. After you get a good score on that, you must apply to graduate school. You cannot become a counselor just by graduating with a four year degree. You can get your masters which is only two years, but you will not have the freedom you want.
You can only be a high school counselor or a social worker with a masters. You might be able to teach a psych course at some community college. You may be able to work in a hospital, but you will not be able to have clients of your own. In order to have your OWN practice and be able to have your OWN patients or clients you have to have your PhD. This can be up to 8 years including research and a apprentiship under another licenced Therapist. Then after you receive your PhD you must take the board exam for whatever state you are in to get a licence to practice.
It is hard and it is long and it takes a huge amount of commitment. I am telling you all of this ahead of time because I didn't know all of this when I decided I wanted to become a psychologist. You are going to have to have great grades because right now psych grad school is so competitive that to be able to go anywhere good, you have to have an excellent resume.
If you do decide to go for psych anyway...which I want you to know is honestly a great field and worth while to those who really want it....when you are in college, get to know your professors. I know it sounds teacher's petish...but you will need them after you graduate. You will need letters of recommendation and you want professors who know you and can say great things about you, not just "Oh she got an A in my class and showed up on time every class period." Depending on where you go...volunteer. It looks great on a resume and will help you deal with the population you are going to be trying to help.
Find a job or volunteer at a mental health facility. I know it might sound scary, but I did it, and there is nothing to be afraid of. You can also get a job with your psych department. I also volunteered with the LEAD Institute, they had a crisis hotline where you got training to handle crisis calls and then would take shifts answering phone calls of those who call in. I was really scared the first time I did it, but honestly, these people just want you to listen and talk to them. You also have the police and an ambulance available to you if indeed you do have an emergency.
So if this is something you want to do, start now. I assume that you are still in high school and have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do if psychology isn't the thing for you. If you do end up becoming a sex therapist, doing all of these things will help you anyway in your daily life.
As for talking to your parents, tell them you would like to major in psychology and eventually become a therapist. Later once you are in college and actually decide for good what you want to be, they will most likely be more understanding. You won't need to tell them anything until you are in grad school. By then you should be in your early to mid 20's and they have no longer have any say in what you do anyway.
Good luck, and, sorry for the length. If you have anyother questions, you can always ask me. Or if you want other points of view, I recommend Dr. Chad. He may be able to fill some gaps that I have left out.
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unfortunately im not that knowledgable on the college part of your question..but i can help you out with how to tell your parents. Well i agree it will be awkward and whatnot..so if i were you i wouldnt tell them just yet. your only a sophmore. if they ask you what you want to be..reply with "some kind of counselor or therapist. when the time comes..like into 11th grade ..around there..and if you still have the same dream, then sharee it with them. tthey will respect your choice *they should anyway.* look at it this way, its your life..your career..it will pay good..tell them you want a job you will enjoy and really want..and this is your dream job. by the way...excellent job..its something im even thiking about !
if you decide to them now, shoot for it! and keep me posted :)
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A great site to go to about colleges and universities that offer psychology majors is the following:
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You'll see a map of the U.S. and you can click on any of the states and then you'll be given a list of universities in that state that offer good psych programs. For example, I clicked on Missouri and found that my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis was listed. You can then click on the university and see what is written about it. My school is a very fine school and is well known around the world especially because of its medical school, which would include psychiatry if you're interested in that. OK, no, I'm not trying to get you to go to "my" school, I'm just giving you an example!
I think that the best thing to do with your folks is to say that you're interested in studying psychology. That's the truth! There really is no need to go into what kind of psychology you're interested in until after you've been in a program for a while. Once you're in college, you will know what your direction will be and it should be YOUR choice as to what you do with the direction you choose. Keep in mind that you may, after taking psych courses, decide to go into another area of that field. You never know until you dive into all the aspects of psychology! And, you may find that you want to be a social worker - a licensed clinical social worker - and you might want to investigate Social Work schools at some of these universities.
Wanting to help couples deal with the sexual aspects of their relationships is admirable. Just get your feet wet with psychology and see if that's still where you want to concentrate all of your energies. You might be surprised.
Good luck and don't worry about your folks. Once you get into college and know exactly where you're headed, you'll have plenty of time to share details with them...AND you'll have more details and concrete info to GIVE them!
P.S. I thought I really wanted to be a psychologist, but once I was in school and took several psych courses, I decided to switch to other majors (for me they ended up being Fine Arts and English Literature - ha! pretty off the psych path, don't you think?!). I'm not saying this will happen to you, but keep an open mind and allow yourself to experience all kinds of new education at college! Again, Good Luck! This is an exciting time of your life. Have fun! And NEVER feel guilty about following your dreams!
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Well, the kind of work your talking about is a type of therapy. So tell your parents you want to go into psychology. It's just a certain type of it so, good luck with your aspirations.
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