Enormous scope for specialists in psychology

Career Planning is nothing short of giving vision to one’s life. It is following one’s dream, but through a process. It is thinking about one’s interests with commitment, sharpening one’s skills and preferences with dedication, and learning with maximum adaptability without giving up.   Every week I will address a query by a student at length about a particular field.

Q: I am a student of Humanities and love Psychology as a subject. I believe there is a huge scope for the subject, especially with the current lifestyle taking a toll on mental health. What are the prospects of pursuing Psychology and which institutes can I apply to? - Aishwarya K

Psychology gives you a broad option of courses and careers. It is a subjects spanning Arts and Science. Such courses must be followed by a Master’s programme. The fields in psychology are vast. After undergraduate studies, consider the following options: Sports psychologist (helping athletes perform better), Educational Psychologist (treating behaviour, learning problems in children and young adults), Forensic Psychologist (expert opinion to law enforcement personnel, insurance firms), Counselling Psychologist (offering psychotherapy and mental health treatment), Clinical Psychologist (diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness. 

This offers one of the largest employment within psychology), Engineering Psychologist (to increase efficiency and productivity), Neuropsychologist (specialised in brain and cognitive science and assess people suffering from brain injury), Industrial-Organisational Psychologist (to tackle workplace issues) and Psychiatrist.  There is no ranking among colleges when it comes to Psychology. You need to scout for the best institute locally. 

As you have rightly mentioned, mental problems are taking a toll on the mental health of human beings. Specialisations in areas of psychology have an enormous scope, and is highly valued with higher remunerations.