Psychology Professions

p.pete · 2006-11-01 12:03:15

Based on an excellent suggestion from JuliusCaesar - this will eventually be a thread on psychology professions. There's already a wealth of knowledge from previous posts so I'm going to try string it together in this sticky. PSYCHIATRIST A Psychiatrist is not a Psychologist. A Psychiatrist is a medical…

#2 02-11-2006 01:16PM

p.pete

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Gibs on becoming a psychologist

For instance, what stage are you at in your education/career? What kind of psychology career are you interested in? Do you see yourself as a teacher/lecturer/researcher/business person/clinician? Are you particularly focused on doing psychology or are you looking at a range of careers? (From looking at several of your previous threads, it seems like you are also thinking of doing medicine).

Secondly, people on Boards in general are extremely helpful and, in my experience, this is very much the case on the Psychology forum. You are unlikely to get the kind of detailed response you are looking for by complaining about how unhelpful "people" are.

If you want posters to spend time and effort giving you information or helping you out, then you might start by being a bit more polite.

I would suggest reading through the previous threads here as there is a lot of good information in them.

The PSI website www.psihq.ie has some good information. There are also many books out there that are helpful for example, this one and this one.

You will find that most people have carved out a fairly individual path into psychology as a career. The main thing I would say is that persistence is the key. Those who make a career out of it are basically those who kept on knocking on doors until they were let in.

There is no standard recipe, but typically people do a bachelor's degree in Psychology from a course that is accredited by PSI as being of a sufficiently high standard. Many colleges offer these courses, but you should check with the college and PSI if it is accredited. The reason this is so important is that when you apply for subsequent courses (which realistically, you must do if you want a career in psychology), any masters/PhD/Doctoral courses will require that your undergrad fulfills this requirement.

I did a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and then a doctorate in clinical psychology. It took about 8 years altogether. I managed to get some clinical experience during my masters by researching a topic that had clinical relevance and accessed a clinical population. I also did a couple of small pieces of other clinically relevant research around that time. This all came about through knowing a few people who were active in clinical research through the university I studied in and getting them to use me to do some of the legwork for them (administering the tests and gathering the data). They get a publication out of it and I get a masters and some experience working in a clinical setting. That was invaluable to me when I applied to do my doctoral training as the place I did the training could see that not only did I have a bachelors and masters, but I also had some clinical experience, albeit to a limited extent. I did my training some time ago however, and from what I hear, things are getting tighter and the standard is always going up. Many people i know with Bachelors, MAsters and, sometimes, PhDs are not getting places on clinical training courses. However, you tend to find that many of the peopl on the courses have applied several times and only through persistence managed to get on the course.

I now work for the HSE as a clinical psychologist in a busy clinic with children and adults. If you wanted to develop this kind of career, you will probably find it best to get any experience you can working in a setting that suggests to those who admit people into training/educational courses that you are serious about being a clinical psychologist. Volunteer work with various organisations that work with those who have physical or intellectual disabilities, helplines, etc might be a good start. To be honest, noone is likely to take you seriously until you are already in an undergrad course. That might be the first necessary step.

Other clinical/counselling psychologists work in very different settings and there are a huge number of possibilities in the field. Alternatively, you can work in an academic setting and many people choose that route, in which case you will be looking at doing a lot of research and probably will have to get a PhD (an academic doctoral degree) if you want to have a successful career.

Things are improving all the time but there's no point pretending that it is easy to find a career in Psychology. You will encounter a tight bottleneck several times with no gaurantee of success or even a reasonable career. Its hard to get into an undergrad programme, it's hard to get into a masters programme and its hard to get into a doctoral programme. And at each step of the way, there are loads of other people trying to get access to a very limited number of places. It is therefore, extremely competitive.

If I were you I would try talk face to face with anyone doing/working in psychology. I think its the best way to get a proper understanding of the job. Go into the colleges and make an appointment to see the head of the psychology department. Its also very important to decide whether you are willing to spend a long number of years studying without necessarily getting to where you want to get to.

In my opinion, there are certain characteristics that are helpful in getting into a career in psychology:
being interested in people and their behaviour, being very strong verbally, having good analytical skills (i.e. be able to see the woods for the trees), being quite academic, (if only because the competition will be). You also need to network a lot, you need to be extremely persistent and not get disheartened by rejection and most importantly you probably need a certain amount of luck. But, as Jack Niklaus said, "people say I'm a lucky player, but the more i practice the luckier I seem to get...".

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#3 02-11-2006 01:20PM

p.pete

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busybee2 on becoming a psychologist, related to Clinical

Clinical Psychology

firstly, there is no 'magic formula', so to speak, and increasingly many of the people who are on professional doctoral programmes come from different backgrounds...some have gone the traditional route of B.A/BSc + MA/MSc in psychology + good few years clinically relevant experience. It is interesting to note, however, that more and more people on these courses have gone back to study psychology at a later stage in their lives and completed postgrad conversion courses etc. it is also becoming increasingly apparent that some courses (notably NUIG and UL) prefer mature students who may not have a significant amount of clinically relevant experience but do have a lot more life experience.

my advice for anyone wanting to train as a clinical psychologist would be the folllowing. please note that this advice is based on my own perceived mistakes through the years. basically, what i outlined below is what i would have done if i had my time again, but please note it is NOT the absolute path to the holy grail!!!!! while i am not a qualified clinical psychologist yet, i am currently completing the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology:

1. get your undergraduate/H. Dip course in a reputable college (DO NOT listen to people who tell you that doing your degree/postgard in trinity will fasttrack your application at a later stage!!!all colleges that have psi accredited courses are ranked the same when applying to the DClin Psych programmes, even 'pay the fee get the degree ones' that have accreditation)
2. try to get a bit of voluntary experience while doing your undergrad, e.g., samaritans (don't be fooled this is hard work and should not be taken lightly), college helpline, summer camps with individuals with learning disabilities etc
3. do a masters degree as soon as you can after your undergraduate (although some posts have suggested that there is no way you could get onto a clinical course without one, this is not true for some courses. three people in my class do not have a postgrad of any sort, but they are mature students, so other factors may have taken into account such as life experience and previous employment. doing a masters is advisable though, particularly for younger people in the area, and you do receive additional points at the initial interview selection stage.)
4. continue to work part-time in clinically relevant areas while completing your masters, e.g., ABA therapist, student support worker for third level students with learning difficulties/mental health difficulties(you can contact the student disability service in your college to see if they need support workers, you should do this early, i.e., when you get your masters)
5. after your undergrad or when you complete your masters it is advisble you try to get experience in different settings, e.g., care/support worker in learning disability org (don't do this for too long, a year or so is fine), research assistant, assistant psychologist etc (be under no illusions, these posts are scarce and fiercely competive at the minute, as they are given high weighting during selection, and you will need some experience in other areas before applying). the best way to do this is to get on your bike and knock on as many doors as possible, send letters/CV's to psychologists, check out the sunday independent, ring psychology departments etc. please note you may have to work voluntarily, but don't stress if you can't get a job like this as many people who get on have not worked as an assistant.

above all else, if you want to get on a clinical course you will need four things: persistence, determination, resilience, and patience like you wouldn't believe in saying that, it is an extremely worthwhile and exciting career with loads of variety.

it is also important to point out that the age of people who get on to training varies significantly, but if you have followed the traditional route from say LC the average age is around 27/28. very few gain entry on their first application, but again it is not unheard of. on average, myself and most of my mates applied around 3 times before we got on, and we are all in our late 20's.

if you want more info please feel free to PM me, as i'm aware the information above is fairly generic in nature. do also check out the psi website. another good site is www.psyclick.org.uk ....i personally refer to it as STRESSclick because it would seriously make you feel inadequate!!...and while it is specifically geared towards those trying to gain entry to UK courses, it contains masses of info, and there are a lot of irish posters to chat with. it's a great place to talk with others in the same boat and people are extremely helpful.

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#4 02-11-2006 01:26PM

p.pete

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Gibs on Clinical psychology

Sounds a bit like you are referring to a specific situation and a specific person? Might be more appropriate to answer in a more general way without commenting on particular circumstances or individuals

(What follows is only my opinion and may not apply to some or even many situations.)
The short answer is, it depends. Sometimes a clin psych might function as part of a team, in which case the presenting problem may be dealt with by various members of the team, with each member having a role to play. The nature of the problem may determine whether the clin psych takes the major role, (or whether it is a nurse or Psychiatrist or social worker or drama therapist or play therapist etc etc.).

If the clin psych takes a major role it might be typical for them to see a client for a few sessions to conduct an assesment and then decide whether any further intervention was warranted or whether the person should be referred on/discharged. If a clin psych does think it would be helpful, then they might contract with the person to see them for a specific number of sessions, with a particular goal in mind.

I have to emphasise that there are lots of ways of working as a clin psych. Sometimes they will engage in therapy, but that can take many forms, some direct and some indirect (e.g. working with parents when a child is experiencing difficulty).

If you are referring to a particular situation, then I would suggest that you should address any concerns you might have about how/whether therapy is going to be conducted with the psychologist. Most reasonable professionals will be willing to work according to what suits the client, obviously within the limits of their professional competence and in accordance with best/ethical practice.

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#5 02-11-2006 01:32PM

p.pete

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Gibs on CBT therapy

I would be quite cautious about attending someone whose qualification is a "CBT therapist/counsellor". Depending on the type and severity of difficulty you need addressed, you should really seek out a fully qualified clinical or counselling psychologist. These are professionally trained people who will have completed usually between 6 and 9 years of training in psychology and who can draw on a variety of therapeutic intervention strategies and styles of working that are designed to meet the needs of their clients. CBT suits some people very well but there are many other therapeutic approaches that might be a better fit depending on the person and the difficulties being experienced.

There are a lot of people out there who are working as counsellors and "CBT therapists" who have extremely limited training and expertise. They tend to use a cookbook approach and mistakenly believe that CBT is something you can deliver effectively by just atttending a CBT course that provides the basic format for this type of therapy. Unfortunately, there is minimal regulation at the moment to curb this kind of thing (although it is coming soon). In fact, you could open an office tomorrow and put a plate outside your door and call yourself a psychologist or a CBT therapist or a counsellor or basically any variation thereof and start seeing people and 'treating' them. There is absolutely no regulation of any of these titles at present. Anyone can be a psychologist

If you need to see someone reputable who can work effectively with you using a therapeutic modality that fits with you and can help you to resove your difficulties in a way that is respectful of your world view, a good place to start is with the PSI, (the psychology society of Ireland). They may be able to direct you to a qualified clincial or counselling psychologist who can help you. Their website is at:

http://www.psihq.ie/

You should also remember that CBT is the current a la mode therapy, primarily because it is amenable to being researched in a readily quantifiable way and can therefore be shown to be effective. However, there are many criticisms of CBT that appear to have some validity including its tendency to be simplistic/overly reductionistic and its lack of emphasis on context, environment and emotion. Other forms of therapy can offer different perspectives and ways of understanding one's difficulties. A 'CBT therapist' is basically a one-trick pony. A fully qualified clinical or counselling psychologist can draw on a variety of theoretical perspectives that fit with their clients' needs.

If you find a clinical or counselling psychologist, make sure you ask them about their training and qualifications. Anyone appropriately qualified should be happy to explain their background and way of working and will not be offended in the slightest, as they will be glad that you are seeking the best and most suitable standard of care for your difficulties. Most if not all will probably be members of PSI or the BPS (British Psychological Society) and they should have:
1. an undergraduate bachelor's degree in psychology AND
2. either a master's/doctoral degree in counselling psychology OR
a master's/doctoral degree in clinical psychology OR
a PSI diploma in clinical psychology.

The only other possibility is that if they have been practicing for many years, their qualification may predate the introduction of the master's and docatoral degree programmes. These people will usually have a H.Dip. Psych from either UCD, UCC or Trinity and will have been practicing for at least a decade if not more.

Be carefull about attending people who tell you they have done lots of counselling/psychotherapy/CBT courses and who don't have post-graduate (or undergraduate) qualifications in psychology. As I said, the field is unregulated in Ireland and even when the regulation kicks in later this year, the word "psychologist" is not going to be protected the way that, say, "Doctor" is.

If you do attend a counsellor, at least make sure that they are IACT accredited (NB - Full Members!), but I would recommend that you only do this if you can't find a clincial or counselling psychologist. There is a reason it takes the best part of a decade to become properly qualified and it would be unwise in my opinion to ignore the difference in expertise out there and go with an unqualified person who can 'do' CBT.

Your first port of call should probably be your G.P. who will be aware of any psychological services in your area and who can refer you in for a consulatation. If you go via the HSE (i.e Health Board/Health Service Executive) depending on where you live, it won't cost you anything although you may have to wait a while.

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#6 12-11-2006 11:06PM

p.pete

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Myksyk on Clinical Psychology

You're referring specifically to Clinical Psychology which is just one of the applied professions in the field of psychology. This I take it is what you would like to do. People usually make the mistake that studying psychology is the same as doing clinical psychology; it's not.

If you do a primary degree in psychology you will not typically be doing any work in this area. You will be doing academic psychology which is largely the study of normal behaviour/cognition/emtion etc. There will be a strong emphasis (or should be) on the fact that scientific psychology is a probabalistic/inferential science and involves a good understanding of statistics. You'll be sick of statistics by the time you finish!

You will cover areas like industrial/organisational psychology, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology/psychophysiology and so on.

The application of psychology to people's problems will form a small part of your study usually under something like an 'abnormal psychology' section. This is usually academic and does not involve placements.

When you're finished your primary degree you then have a choice to make about the type of profession within psychology you would like to pursue. Clinical psychology is one of these but by no means the only one. Once decided you would have to pursue postgrad study in that area (not always easy to get). When finished you could work as an organisational psychologist, an educational psychologist, an experimental psychologist, a neuropsychologist, a clinical psychologist, a health psychologist or stay in academia and get into any of a myriad of specific research areas.

So there's nothing to stop you doing a primary degree in psychology but do make sure that you have a good understanding of what you're getting into, not a vague idea.

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#7 12-11-2006 11:19PM

p.pete

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Jelmpsych on Work and Organisational Psychology

You'd have to check each university since they vary between academic x related work experience. However, W/O psych tends to have slightly larger intakes than a lot of other masters in psych.

Work varies considerably from recruitment consultancy, internal recruitment, selection, leadership training, re-employment, community development, organisational change and development etc. However, these roles are not always exclusive to W/O psych's - CIPD practitioners often aim for these roles as well. Hope this helps.

What's your selling technique like ?, and how good of a politician are you ? (It is not quite as easy as it seems). Alternatively seek employment with a research company who often get appraoched by large organisations. If it's for a P.Hd., some universities will publish what area's they are interested in developing (normally in relation to the interests of the academic staff).

The problem is that research findings often prompt change - which costs, or exposes flaws which would prefer to be left buried (You'd be surprised how may reports are left to gather dust on a shelf). Bear in mind the stakeholder must like the findings if the research is going to go anywhere - anything related to improved performance at low cost / little disruption normally attracts attention. There would also tend to be a slight bias towards quantitative methodologies (it's easier for the accountants to get their heads around).

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#8 12-11-2006 11:22PM

p.pete

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JuliusCaesar on Psychiatrists

Psychiatrists operate under a double burden (as I see it):
1. They depend on a system of diagnostics which is questionable (DSM or ICD)
2. In the public service, they have very little time to spend with patients. Half an hour to an hour to assess and 10mins per visit therafter. (outpatients)
and thirdly (a gripe of mine)
3. In the private service, the hospitals make most of their money on admissions and so there may be more pressure to admit. In any case, not having a cachement area, they are poor on outpatient services.

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#9 26-11-2007 02:38PM

p.pete

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http://www.psychology.heacademy.ac.uk/html/call_for_career_case_studies.asp

The above is a link to case studies of careers for psychology graduates.

Also, I'm not sure why this thread is closed - if anyone else wants to contribute knowledge it's welcomed. If anyone has more general questions related to areas of psychology, please continue to start individual posts

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#10 05-12-2007 05:24PM

mc-panda

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Hi,

I'm currently doing the M.A in Forensic Psychology at UCC.

It's a brilliant course and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to anyone.
Modules covered include:

Criminal Behaviour
Legal and Professional Issues
Research and Statistics
Treatment and managemnet of violent offenders
Treatment and management of sexual offenders
Policing and Investigative Psychology
Psychological Assessment
Forensic IT

In addition to core lectures, a series of seminars, workshops and training batteries are included which are given by experts in fields such as:

FBI (offender profiling)
An Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU)
Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) training and selection
Hostage Negotiation
Risk Assessment
Irish Prison Service
Forensic Hosptials (such as Broadmore, UK)

The course is excellent, is one year full time and is secheduled as follows:
Monday: 1 hour tutorial
Tuesday: 10am to 5 pm
Wednesday: 2 hour tutorial
Thursday: 10am to five pm
Friday: 10am to five pm.

Assessment is conducted on six modules by way of:
One 5,000 word essay per module, and five 1,000 word essays.

Also, 25/60 credits is awarded for the completion of a 25,000 to 30,000 word thesis.

An additional two years supervised practice is needed to attain Chartered status after successful completion of the course, and, due to the deart of qualified supervisors in Ireland, it is necessary to go to England for this. However, alternative routes include doing the DPsych Clin in Irealnd and progressing to work in Forensic settings.

Best of luck.

THANKS, mc-panda, great post! Would anyone else like to do a similar post on their course? Please? JC

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#11 20-11-2008 03:15PM

Xander82

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I am currently working as a Sport & Performance Psychologist. Once you have completed your Psych degree, I would recommend looking at Masters courses in the UK. There are no good MSc Sport Psychology courses. WIT do one, which is fine if you want to go to an IT. Regarding actual universities, you can study by research, but there is no taught masters here.

It is difficult to get employed even when you have your MSc here. There is some good work being done by Coaching Ireland to introduce a basic uniformity regarding the standards Sport Psychologists are subject to in Ireland. But there are still a lot of people out there chancing their arm because they did a correspondence course or a diploma in an IT. Most good professionals are members of the BPS, or BASES. In the UK, a club or sports facility cannot use public funding on a Sport Psychologist unless that person is a member of the BPS or BASES. Unfortunately this does not apply in Ireland and everything is done by word of mouth.

Finally, unless you wish to set up your own business, or just work as a Sport Psychologist on a part-time basis in the evening or weekends, it is nearly impossible to start working in this area full-time in Ireland. There are no AP posts for Sport Psychologists, and there is notbody going to hire a Sport Psychologist full-time (as opposed to those working in the Education or Health systems).

However, if you are willing to just do the minimum, call yourself a Sport Psychologist, and have a few contacts who'll throw a bit of work your way, then I'm sure you'll be a huge success!!!

Great post Xander82, thanks! Would anyone else like to do a similar post about their own profession? please? JC

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#12 16-12-2008 10:55PM

Balthemos

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p.pete wrote: »

Gibs on becoming a psychologist

Hey...I am a psychology student, first year in a BA.

Could you answer few questions for me if you can?

1. Can a person with a dortorate in clinical psychology call themselves Dr.(Whatever)
2. Do you ned to go on to an MA before you can go onto a doctorate? From what I've seen on Qualifax and other course searchers most of the places that offer a doctorate only require a 1:1 or 2:1 in a BA. Could you clarify?
Thanks in advance.

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#13 18-12-2008 01:03AM

Doghouse

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Balthemos wrote: »

Hey...I am a psychology student, first year in a BA.

Could you answer few questions for me if you can?

1. Can a person with a dortorate in clinical psychology call themselves Dr.(Whatever)
2. Do you ned to go on to an MA before you can go onto a doctorate? From what I've seen on Qualifax and other course searchers most of the places that offer a doctorate only require a 1:1 or 2:1 in a BA. Could you clarify?
Thanks in advance.

If you have a doctorate in anything you can call yourself Dr. (whatever) and that includes clinical psychology.
Officially the minimum criteria for being accepted on the clinical doctorate (if that's what you're talking about) is a 1.1 or a 2.1 in a primary degree or conversion higher diploma but apparently very, very few people get accepted without having a masters or PhD. If you had A LOT of experience in psychology you might be accepted without, it's hard to say. As regards other types of doctorates, yes I think it is possible to be accepted on to some PhDs without doing a masters.

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#14 18-04-2009 05:45PM

Spartan09

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Doghouse wrote: »

If you have a doctorate in anything you can call yourself Dr. (whatever) and that includes clinical psychology.
Officially the minimum criteria for being accepted on the clinical doctorate (if that's what you're talking about) is a 1.1 or a 2.1 in a primary degree or conversion higher diploma but apparently very, very few people get accepted without having a masters or PhD. If you had A LOT of experience in psychology you might be accepted without, it's hard to say. As regards other types of doctorates, yes I think it is possible to be accepted on to some PhDs without doing a masters.

In reality at the moment you would need a minimum of a Masters after your BA. The two ones which seem to be successful for getting onto DClins are the MSc in Applied in Trinity and MSc in Forensics in UCC. I am personally aware of some people who have research Doctorates before applying to clinical who dont get through. Its a long road but is worth it in the end, its a very satisfying career to be in.

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#15 10-05-2009 10:10PM

Butterscotch

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Spartan09 wrote: »

its a very satisfying career to be in.

That is good you like it. I am studying Contemporary Culture and Society in DCU, in my 2nd year with one more year left. I am interested in working with mental health or mental disorders such as phobias, personalty disorders. Would these be under clinical psychology?

This thread is helpful but by judging your posts it would take me a long time and includes more study, would I have to do the 3-4 year BA in Psychology degree or can just do the 2 year HDip in Psychology then go into a masters in Clinical Psychology or whatever study the mental disorders come under? I would like to know is their a backdoor way in or a quicker way? If I wanted work experience where would be the best to look and is there a such profession in working with people who have mental disorders such as personality disorders, phobias etc? I plan to give the HDip in Counselling in DCU a look at.

Thanks.

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#16 10-05-2009 10:33PM

Spartan09

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Butterscotch wrote: »

That is good you like it. I am studying Contemporary Culture and Society in DCU, in my 2nd year with one more year left. I am interested in working with mental health or mental disorders such as phobias, personalty disorders. Would these be under clinical psychology?

This thread is helpful but by judging your posts it would take me a long time and includes more study, would I have to do the 3-4 year BA in Psychology degree or can just do the 2 year HDip in Psychology then go into a masters in Clinical Psychology or whatever study the mental disorders come under? I would like to know is their a backdoor way in or a quicker way? If I wanted work experience where would be the best to look and is there a such profession in working with people who have mental disorders such as personality disorders, phobias etc? I plan to give the HDip in Counselling in DCU a look at.

Thanks.

Yes phobias and personality disorders would be some of the areas which would come under the remit of clinical psychology. If you already have a primary degree then yes you could apply for the 2 year hdip programme as an alternative to the full degree. Following this a masters would be required, as mentioned previously the applied masters in trinity is a very good one and relevant to further study. After this you would need to apply for one of the DClin courses for the actual qualification in clinical psychology (ucd, trinity, queens, ucg, ul). They are all 3 year programmes. There is no back door way in or short cuts available, its a very rigorous process and you need serious committment to get into one of the courses. There is huge demand for the courses and the quality of the applicants is getting higher and higher. The average age of trainee clinical psychologists on some of the courses right now would be late 20's to early 30's. This I think in some way reflects the length of time that it takes people to build up the requisite academic qualifications and experience before they get on the courses.

With regard to experience, most of the courses will look for evidence of varied work experiences working with different populations. Alot of people would gain experience working as care staff with people with intellectual difficulties or with teenagers in residential care, or people with acquired brain injuries. Other areas of relevant experience would be as a research assistant doing research in a mental health area, or volunteering for one of the various helplines that are out there (childline, samaratins etc).

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#17 10-05-2009 10:52PM

Butterscotch

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Thanks for your information. I have already spent four years of college unsure what I want to do and I am not sure if I have the time to spent another six years in college but I would be 33 by the time I get a career if I chose to go then this road which I goes is not so bad. I have to really think about it. I always felt I would be good working with people who have problems and always wanted a rewarding career. All my life I dealt with solving people's problems and have some friends who have mental disorders.

Do you mind me asking is the pay good? Is it worth the long wait? Why do you enjoy working in Clinical Psychology? I think the best thing would be to start work experience immediately. Thanks again.

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#18 31-07-2009 12:35PM

D.R cowboy

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Hi
I feel I will fall short on medicine but all is not lost I have psychology down as one of my choices so thing look good for that, anyway I would love to work in a hospital is there any jobs for a psychologist eg surgical neuropsychologist , or do all people with a degree in psychology end up working outside a hospital in a Mental heath clinic

Could some people working in a hospital help me??

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#19 31-07-2009 02:50PM

Doghouse

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D.R cowboy wrote: »

Hi
I feel I will fall short on medicine but all is not lost I have psychology down as one of my choices so thing look good for that, anyway I would love to work in a hospital is there any jobs for a psychologist eg surgical neuropsychologist , or do all people with a degree in psychology end up working outside a hospital in a Mental heath clinic

Could some people working in a hospital help me??

Lots of hospitals have clinical psychologists, and sometimes clinical neuropsychologists. I currently work in a hospital as a researcher and myself and three of the other research staff have psychology qualifications of some kind ranging from undergrad degrees to the clinical doctorate. There is also a psychology dept who carry out therapeutic work within the hospital. I know Beaumont have a neuropsychology department and there are also psychologists working in St. James', the NRH and the Mater. So that's just a few hospitals that I know of for sure. I'm sure there are psychology departments in lots of others. I've never heard of a surgical neuropsychologist and I'm not sure what one would be. Only doctors can go on to be surgeons of any kind. Neuropsychologists are involved in assessment, diagnosis and sometimes treatment of neurological conditions but that treatment would not involve carrying out any invasive procedures (such as surgery) nor prescribing drug therapy. If you go into research depending on where you do it you might be involved in stuff like MRI/fMRI/PET or experiments that involve stereotactic surgery on animals.

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#20 31-07-2009 04:37PM

D.R cowboy

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Thanks that was very enlightening as I did not know that many of the hospitals had psychology departments I would love to study neuropsychology after

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#21 10-09-2009 10:45PM

wexican!

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This info is so helpful thank you! I can't wait to start my first year in NUIM! Any advice for getting ahead of the pack?

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#22 01-10-2009 10:40AM

Niamhb5

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Hi, I have just competed a BA in Psychology in NUIM, and have now just started a Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy at NCII - does anyone have any comments on this Masters? It's new this year - but there are a bewildering amount of courses out there - very hard to figure out what is reputable and what is useful etc!
Also as part of the course - I need to find 200 hours of counselling practice in some organisation - I have no experience just lots of theory! Any ideas where to start? I am interested in addiction...

would be really grateful for any comments/help/offer of a placement!!!!:D:D:D

thanks

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#23 12-10-2009 06:21PM

Genevieve

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hi,

Just wondered what people think of the Msc in Speech and Language Therapy at UL. Would it be helpful to have this if you wanted to enter clinical in the long run? I'm not sure, as UL Msc is a conversion? Would it be veering away?

I also noticed that someone stated earlier that masters in forensic pscyh. at UCC worked for somebody in getting into to clinical...

I don't know is there any safe or better route really, do you???? All, I know is that it will take a few years for most of us after an undergrad. in order to build up the expertise and knowledge that I imagine would be required...:o

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#24 20-10-2009 11:45PM

maryjm

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The MSC in speech and language therapy in UL is for people who wanna be an SLT and who hae a previous degree in something else (preferably something related, linguistics, phsch, nursing- but there are ppl who get in with comp sci and business too)
It is a 2 year course and the same material is covered as the undergrad do in 4 years! so its a busy course!
any other questions please ask!

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#25 19-11-2009 03:21AM

Valmont

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Has anyone gone down the research route in psychology? I would very much like to hear the opinions of someone who has!

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#26 06-12-2009 05:14PM

marxcoo

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Has anyone done or in the process of doing the Work and Organisational Pychology Masters in UL? I am in the process of applying for it now and would love to hear how other people have found it and what career path people are looking to on completion of the course

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#27 09-12-2009 12:13AM

Hazel O

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Hi everyone!I'm quite new to this so feel free to re-direct me at any time!I'm looking into doing a degree in psychology. I'm just wondering how to get into child psychology? There isn't a specific child psychology degree is there? What route would I have to take after a degree in psychology? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

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#28 09-12-2009 07:34PM

JuliusCaesar

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Hello Hazel

you'll find useful information in previous posts, especially those quoting Gibs.
You'll do a Child & Adolescent placement during your Clin Psych. and can specialise in it afterwards.

Two major sources of information on psychology careers & training:
Psychological Society of Ireland
British Psychological Society

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#29 09-12-2009 08:29PM

Hazel O

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Hi-thanks for that, I'll go do some searching!So am I right in thinking you have to start with an undergraduate degree in psychology and then go onto a postgrad in psychology??

Could you just do an undergraduate degree in psychology and work afterwards or do you always have to go on and do more study?

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#30 18-12-2009 01:27PM

Spartan09

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Hazel O wrote: »

Hi-thanks for that, I'll go do some searching!So am I right in thinking you have to start with an undergraduate degree in psychology and then go onto a postgrad in psychology?? Could you just do an undergraduate degree in psychology and work afterwards or do you always have to go on and do more study?

If you want to work as a Clinical Psychologist with children with mental health or developmental difficulties an undergrad wont be enough. You will need an undergrad, masters or doctoral (research usually), relevant work experience, some research experience, the combination of all of the above is usually required to get onto a clinical training programme.

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#31 05-01-2010 12:06AM

irish-anabel

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Hi, I'm aiming to do psychology after this year and for my post grad(obviously I don't know yet) but I think I might be interested in Forensic psych. If it turns out that that doesnt interest me, just wondering are there career options for a psychologists in working with people with special needs ie, down's syndrome, autism etc. If so what are they and what route in psychology do you go for them?

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