How do I become a psychologist?
A psychologist is a doctoral trained professional. Rutgers GSE offers a 33-credit master’s degree program in counseling psychology. This program prepares students with general knowledge in the field of psychology with a focus on the specialty of counseling psychology. Presently, Rutgers GSE does not offer doctoral study in counseling psychology. For distinctions between a psychologist and a counselor and for general information on training to become a psychologist, licensure and careers visit All Psychology Schools at www.allpsychologyschools.com.
There are several different pathways to become a psychologist. All of them in the US at least involve completing both an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree in the study of psychology. In addition to these minimum requirements, in order to get licensure, most people must pass board examinations and have several thousand hours of supervised training in their field. Since these hours requirements can change it’s important to look at state requirements and those recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA), or the association in the country in which a person plans to study. Plan with most degrees to undergo some therapy too, since this is often a requirement of study or of practice. There are three degrees in the US that allow people to become a psychological. The two most common are the Ph. D or Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology and the Psy.D or Doctorate of Psychology. The third degree is the Ed. D, Doctor of Education in Psychology. Each of these degrees may have
It depends what kind of psychologist you want to be and where in the world you are. Let me know these things and I’ll tell you if I can. EDIT – I am from the United Kingdom, and know the route in the USA is very different from the British route, but I have done a quick search for you and found these web sites: http://www.ehow.com/how_2284663_become-a… http://ask.metafilter.com/70009/How-to-b… In this country, professional psychologist must be a member of the BPS (British Psychological Society), and in the USA, it is the APA (American Psychological Association) You might want to have a look at their website here: http://www.apa.org/ I would also advise doing as much voluntary work as possible in a mental health setting – this is very valuable experience for you – an
As is true of other professions, the extent of education and training is a major factor in determining how much responsibility a graduate in the field of psychology will have and what opportunities will be open. There are many routes to becoming a psychologist, and exactly what you will have to do will depend on the type of psychologist you want to become. Below are the first steps you should consider.
It sounds like you are interested in becoming a clinical psychologist. You will need to go to university and get a degree in psychology, and then go into graduate school. I believe that in the US they have a program where you can get a Psy. D, where you can become a practicing psychologist. I hope I helped.
