Five Awesome Psychology Careers That Will Stimulate Your Mind

According to the British Psychological Society, psychology careers involve ‘the study of people, how they think, how they act, react and interact.’ So if you’re fascinated by the human mind and you’re looking for a job that will make a difference, a psychology-related career could be the perfect fit.

Read on to discover the range of rewarding roles on offer.

Whether they’re helping children to cope with the effects of divorce or helping adults to deal with stress, chartered psychologists enable people to explore their feelings, understand their difficulties and make positive changes.

It takes at least six years to become a fully qualified psychologist, as you’ll need a degree and a postgraduate qualification.

Whatever specialism you choose, a career in psychology requires empathy, excellent communication skills and the ability to deal with distressed clients. You’ll also need to be accurate, methodical and good at making decisions.

Once you’ve qualified you’ll be given your own caseload, but you’ll also work with a team of other health professionals including therapists, mental health nurses, social workers, dieticians and doctors.

Health psychologists help patients to cope with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness, often supporting people who are chronically ill. They also promote healthy lifestyles and advise doctors.

If you choose this career path you could work in a hospital, community health setting, health research unit, public health department or an organisation outside the health care system. Alternatively, you could become a university lecturer or supervisor.

To become a health psychologist, you’ll need a society accredited masters in health psychology plus a stage 2 doctoral level qualification. This could be the society’s own qualification in health psychology or a society accredited doctorate. Before you apply, you’ll need to gain some relevant experience working with people who have physical health problems.

Clinical psychologists use their expertise to help people with mental health problems. They carry out clinical assessments, psychometric tests, interviews and observations before deciding on the most appropriate treatment for their clients.

Many clinical psychologists work in health and social care settings, community mental health teams, child and adolescent mental health services and social services. Others set up their own private practices.

To become a clinical psychologist, you’ll need a society accredited doctorate in clinical psychology and some relevant work experience. Universities will be particularly impressed if you’ve worked as an assistant psychologist or research assistant before applying.

Educational psychologists help children and young people who have learning difficulties, social and emotional issues or developmental disorders. Mainly based in early years settings, schools and colleges, they explore students’ problems by carrying out observations, interviews and tests.

Once they’ve assessed a client, these skilled professionals recommend the most appropriate educational provision and collaborate with teachers to plan learning programmes.
If you like the sound of this specialism and you live in England or Wales, you’ll need an accredited doctoral qualification in educational psychology. Scottish residents require a society accredited masters followed by a stage 2 qualification in educational psychology.

Becoming qualified through a MSc Psychology course can be the best option for those who want to grow in this area. You could work as a learning mentor, a speech and language therapist, a care worker or an early years worker.

This role involves assessing and supporting people experiencing common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Because the emphasis is on self-management, practitioners start by offering the least intrusive treatment available. This could be an online programme, a number of guided self-help sessions or an educational workshop/group. If a client doesn’t find this helpful, they can progress to a more intensive type of treatment.

Psychological wellbeing practitioners tend to be based in GP practices, healthcare centres and other community venues. They work within an Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) service and collaborate with other healthcare practitioners including therapists, counsellors and employment advisers.

To become a practitioner, you need to complete an accredited IAPT training course. These include 45 days of academic work (1 day a week) and four days of supervised practice, normally spread over one academic year. While you’re training, you’ll also be employed by a local IAPT service.

BPS accredited courses are open to graduates and non-graduates who can show that they’ll cope with the academic requirements of postgraduate study. Members of the community with a wide range of life experience can also apply to receive graduate level training.

A counsellor’s role is to create a safe space where people can talk about difficult feelings, explore their choices and make positive changes. Counsellors help their clients to cope with a range of issues including grief, relationship breakdown, addiction, abuse and illness. They often help them to see things from a new perspective.

Some important skills for counsellors are:

You’ll find counsellors working for schools, GP surgeries, hospitals, advice centres, youth services and charities. Most employers look for counsellors with a professional qualification and membership of a professional association. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy recommends a three stage training route:

Once you’ve completed your training, you can become a member of the BACP or another body on the Professional Standards Authority’s counselling register.

Working in psychology can be intellectually and emotionally challenging, so you’ll need to be resilient, patient and committed to succeed. But if you choose your career path carefully, you’ll be well rewarded.

Have we inspired you to find out more about psychology careers? Take a look at our range of courses below.