How to Become a Psychologist

Understand what you want. Do you really want to become a good psychologist?

Many dream to become a good psychologist, but they often think: “I’ll help people. I will meet with good people, talk with them heart to heart and grow with them as a person”.

No, this is this is not what a good psychologist is paid for. It is increasingly difficult, and the difficulties begin with the study. Studying psychology is not easy and not always interesting. Typically, university preparation involves first 1.5-2 years, the last three training courses for most stops like: repetition, theory knowledge that is impractical.

Further, from whom you are going to learn? If the therapist, after graduating from college has no work experience you will most likely take on a meager salary in social security for conversations with elderly people wanting to talk to someone. However, the psychologist is not necessarily the therapist, and not necessarily a lock to help people with mental difficulties. Perhaps instead you want to advise people who do not have enough life experience in family relationships or child rearing, but it is not psychotherapy and counseling. Or maybe you’re attracted to work as a coach, but it is even a more completely different format and it requires other skills. In any case, you should know: There are four major schools or directions in Applied Psychology: NLP, psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy and Sinton approach. They are different and one’ approach experts often do not understand the other specialists. In order to determine and meet with representatives of these schools, interviews, look for your own.

Look to work with a group

If you’re a talented and successful person, it is recommended to take a closer look at the psychological group work. Working with the group is livelier, brighter and richer than working individually, with one person. If you do not talk about the interest for you, but the effectiveness in terms of outcome, this group work often takes precedence over individual work. Of course, there are also many options: groups can be large or small, group of psychotherapy or business format, personal training, there are specific skills training, but in any case, this is really interesting. What type of training is the most interesting to lead? Of course, this is everyone’s choice, but usually the most enthusiastic coaches are those who conduct personal training sessions. Another thing is that qualitative personal training sessions can conduct only psychologists of the highest caliber, and there is much to learn here.

You need professionalism, intelligence and health

Many people think that it is enough for a psychologist to be a good, kind man, to be able to listen to and empathize with people. No. You need for sure the ability to understand and feel the people, but it does not replace your present or professionalism or good intelligence. A good psychologist should be a very good head, have good memory, fast and clear logical thinking – for only to learn a lot of complex professional literature. In order that all this melts in the high level of professionalism, you will need hard work, and then there is a strong pop and the same good health. In general, keep in mind that the work of the coach-psychologist is associated with high physical activity, so you must train yourself to live a healthy lifestyle, go to bed on time. If you upset a dream, “float” mood might start and the strenuous exercise and emotional stress and depression can begin… To sum up: maintain a healthy lifestyle, protect health. This is important.

Study others’ attitude towards you

Can you become a psychologist, the more the psychologist-coach, to find out is quite simple – take a look at how people relate to you. What is your relationship with relatives: mother, brothers and sisters? How often do you consult with friends or relatives? Do you appreciate the leadership and colleagues? If you are a student and you still don’t have bosses and colleagues who you are at the level of the student group: leader or an outsider? A good coach, leading the psychological group, becomes a leader, an influential person in a particular team or group. Do you have experience in leading groups or teams? For example, if you go camping, whether you were successful there being a leader? If yes, then you have a successful base and experience in leading teams, then you do something shining. If you do not have a successful experience, you must first create it and then go to psychologists. Outsider who has received psychological education and is working with other outsiders, this is a misunderstanding, not a psychologist. “The shoemaker without shoes” can hardly be considered a professional. Start with your own success, only then you get a moral right to teach something to others.

Check yourself at work. Are you a good psychologist? What are you chances to become a psychologist?

The best way to ensure that the work of psychologist is right for you and  you are prepared to become a psychologist, is to check it yourself at work. Yes, but how? Is it possible? Sometimes – yes. You can, make some effort to become a curator – the assistant leader. Being a curator is not great training, but it helps in small classes, working with small groups of 5-10 people, where the assimilation and development of the material that gave the main training master takes place. Of course, the work of the curator also admits not everyone, there will also be mandatory training, but it is quite feasible, and the result is appealing. When working with a small group in the role of facilitator, you will learn group dynamics and learn to manage the group’s attention, speak to people who present themselves to be attentive, to taxi out of difficult situations. You will get invaluable experience in being a coach-psychologist, and most importantly, you can actually decide whether you want and whether you don’t want to become a coach.

Start your career with a business training

Business training – it’s interesting. Engage in them at least due to the fact that business coaches make the best. This is a high demanded sector of our profession and learning it is easier than personal training. Another thing that is especially needed is real expertise and your business success. This is not the same as the psychological education, and when taking a business coach to work is a defining moment – if he has any experience of successful business or work in the core of a successful company. In any case, if you teach sales, you should be able to teach them to sell. By the way, the most popular standard-training in sales training is: to hold them to live comfortably. But there is a danger, sales training is a rather monotonous work, which after four years could become routine: came, worked, not including the head and soul, and all. There is a professional burnout, and for the participants of the training is important to feel energy in coach. Therefore, wherever and however you work as a psychologist, it is important to take care of that you had interest for your work every day, every morning!

Get ready to learn after university

No matter what college you may have learned, if you want to become a psychologist, after obtaining the basic psychological education you have to learn a few more years, studying the particular style of practical psychology. This is usually not taught in universities, and you will learn: or NLP, or psychoanalysis or Gestalt approach, or Sinton approach … Best of all, is getting a higher education, and parallel studying to work as a coach in training centers. And after passing the training of trainers, get ready to learn in the “Workshop of the leading” and after it many years to hone your skills under the guidance of masters. Understand the most important: working as a psychologist implies lifelong learning.