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Phsycologist
hi, 15f, and i was reading your advice column, and i really am into helping people too, and i know for a fact that i want to do something where i can help someone when i get older. I have had it in my head for a while that i wanted to be an phsycologist (spelling?) anyway, i was just wondering, how did you know you were going to be a phsycologist? How do i know if i would be any good? I know i do not know much about it, and i would go to college to study it. But i really just generally wanted to know what you did, and all the above :-] Thank you so much, and i admire you!
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I am going to write this down in my diary as the first day in my life anyone has ever claimed to admire me!!! Thank you. You are very sweet.
I took every psychology class I could take in high school and college. I didn't want to be a psychologist... I wanted to be a nurse. But I loved everything about psychology. I have always been fascinated about why society is the way it is and how people feel when different situations present themselves.
I did not know until fairly recently I wanted to study psychology. I didn't know enough about the different branches to know! I remember back around 2000 I thought about switching from nursing to psychology but I just could not imagine sitting in an office all day listening to people whine about their problems all day. I did NOT want to continue nursing so I decided to go into theology. The problem I had there was similar to my issue with psychology... I could NOT IMAGINE myself writing sermons week after week and dealing with all the situations my pastor has to deal with. My Christian faith is incredibly strong... but sermons? Hospital visits? Funerals!!!? How depressing!
SO. Luckily I have a very patient, loving, supportive husband. A few years ago I got involved with counseling at my church. I became involved with divorce counseling for kids ages 6-12. I am from a divorced family and my parents' divorce was incredibly traumatic. I ended up with post traumatic stress syndrome from it but never got the counseling I needed. My first term as a divorce counselor (when I was 28!!) actually helped me to finally come to terms with some things from my own childhood.
I was so enthusiastic about the class that I decided to help out with parenting classes as well through my church. My husband made a passing comment one afternoon about me actually switching to psychology with a concentration in marriage and family so I could actually help families avoid divorce... but if it became inevitable, I could help them get through it and cope. Believe it or not, this had NEVER occurred to me. So I looked into at the local university and things just sort of went from there. It turned out that I had had SO MUCH psychology in my past that I was already considered a Junior! I am still studying, however. It is not easy being an adult married student with 2 kids and a third on the way. If you want to actually be a therapist you cannot just stop at a bachelor's. A master's at LEAST is required, and I will likely attempt a PhD so I can have any sort of option I could imagine! My husband just finished his master's degree so it is my turn to go back... but it is a long process. It would be MUCH BETTER for you as you can start right in after high school.
Our society has changed so dramatically over the last 100 years that I cannot forsee psychologists every dwindling. Humans were NOT meant to fall in and out of love the way they do. We were not meant to have our families be constantly separated. Many parents do horriffic things to their kids, neighbors do horriffic things to kids... quite unfortunately, people need someone trained in specific fields of study to help them get through the really tough situations in life. I have this (irritating) ability of actually visualizing myself in someone elses' situation. Not just "feeling bad" for them... but recently I heard about a family whose child was killed. I actually visualized myself crying hysterically next to the open coffin of my 4 year old son and realizing I would never be able to hold him, stroke his hair, hear his laugh, smell his scent, or rub his back or feet ever again. What would I do with his clothes? His room? His favorite toys? I would want things to remain the same forever but how could I ever look into his room again? This is not an ability I wish on anyone as it leaves me in quite a state of depression myself... but it makes me more empathetic to a person's situation. I have a tremendous amout of care and concern for other people's well being, not just the money or status of being a psychologist. I think that is most important!
Shesh... I can't believe I have gone on this much. It is great that you want to be a psychologist. I recommend that you start thinking about what your gifts are as far as helping people. Are you better at helping people who have lost a loved one? Who have been attacked? Whose family is splitting up? Most psychologists have a concentration. Once you know what your concentration would be, read books and take any classes you can about it. Psychiatrists frequently have a general study of the field but this is most often because they need to know if you need behavioral/emotional help or actual drugs to balance out a chemical issue with your brain.
I hope this helped some. I have rambled quite a bit. All I can say is best of luck with college. The more you read and study about psychology the more you will know what you want to do.
Thank you for writing to me about this. I hope you aren't reading all this regreting asking me haha! I can be a talker but I feel that when people ask a question, they do not give a lot of information and I want to help them. I cannot help them by giving them only partial advice so I try to give the advice on every possible scenario that they have not actually given me.
Thanks again and best of luck!
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