Ok, so here are my interests: I like Psychology, but I don't want to be anything like a psychologist. What other careers are there along the psychology lines that have a little less communication with people? I also like dream psychology and forensics. So, if you know any careers that incorporate one of those, that would be helpful as well.
Psychology is a great thing to minor in, as it gives wisdom. Going all out and becoming a doctor of psychiatry, you are limiting yourself to the narrow field of psychiatry... which boils down to hearing people whine all day and giving them pills by the thousand to sedate them. Of course you can always become an expert in psychology then go live in a tree and write a new Bible but that don't pay the bills. I love psychology but I feel it has its place like everything else.
Actually there are many possibilities that don't involve clinical psychology. Research, teaching writing. Lot of info here: http://www.allpsychologycareers.com/
Welcome to the forums. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Isn't this a bit contradictory?
Any profession or occupation that involves leading, serving, working with or communicating with people can benefit from understanding what makes them tick. If you're not going to major in psychology, skip the old Freudian stuff and study Jung's work. Joseph Campbell popularized his work and made it very accessible. You can read his books and/or get his PBS series on DVD.
Ah yes - "The Hero With 1000 Faces" - good read, great insights. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm interested in Human Factors Psychology, which is applying what is known about human capabilities and limitations to the design of products, processes, systems, and work environments. A number of programs are housed in both the Psychology departments and Engineering departments. The only decent online program I have found, graduate degree, was from the University of Idado. Some of the areas to study are ergonomics, human computer interations, and of course training and performance. Seems like an interesting career choice.
I'm...actually wanting to shrink people myself. I find fun in that sort of thing...it's very much like a puzzle...only, unlike most puzzles, I enjoy helping people sort their brains out. Advertising, sales, human resources, anything with the title "co-ordinator" in it, I imagine...police work, cult deprogrammer(I'd enjoy that one myself), labor relations, psychology statistics analysis (If you're also good with numbers), Research psychology (I like that one also)... Really it can be applicable to a lot of things. Psych or sociology degrees are sort of the Swiss army knives of degrees.
Helping folks work through their personal issues/problems is indeed quite rewarding. The flip side is that you then get to carry some of their load afterward, thus the professional requirement to get occasional counciling yourself if you do that. It can be very stressful for the therapist to go through that stuff, especially if you get to deal with a sociopath or 2. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Yeah, ergonomics would be a fun thing to do as well, but you don't have to get that specific degree to get into it.
Neuro-psychology. You'd be testing and evaluating brain injuries of all manner. That could be strokes, Alzheimer's, blunt force trauma induced by sports, industrial accidents, traffic accidents, violent beatings, gun-shot wounds, battlefield injuries, other injuries induced through legal or illegal drug use (like crack/cocaine), etc. You'd have minimal interaction, and very little communication since, well, they've had a brain injury and often cannot communicate because the speech center has been affected. Your job is to determine the extent of damage, and to determine an appropriate level of rehabilitation in cases where that might be possible. So you test a traffic accident victim with head trauma and conclude that after 6 months of speech therapy, they will regain their speech, and after 18 months of physical therapy, they will be able to walk, but probably require the use of cane or walker. You'll need a doctorate and a year of post-doctoral work at a major medical center. You'll be on staff and any number of hospitals, and you most likely would work from home, but maintain an office for testing and other reasons. A great opportunity for publishing, and also later on, testifying as an expert witness in civil court cases.
...and the less communication and connection that you had with people the poorer a helper professional you would be. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! If you were attempting to assist persons with TBI's, CHI's stroke etc the less empathy you had with them the further off base your diagnosis would be, only your error could well kill or permanently disable someone. Just a few missteps like that and you would be looking for employment as a dish washer in a greasy spoon. No. What I think you are really asking here is how to get better at relating to and communicating with other people. Pursuing a degree program in psych could help, as those require one to address their own issues at a certain point. Instead of trying to continue to dance around the issue, you will need to deal with it straight on if you wish to succeed in this field. If you cannot deal satisfactorily with this rather small personal issue, how can you expect to help another person with a much more drastic problem? If you cannot convince yourself to openly communicate with others comfortably, how do you think you would deal with the guilt of messing up with a patient or client?
