Questionnaire: What Field of Psychology Suits You Best?

Choosing to study psychology is an important step and not one that should be taken lightly. If you are considering making a career as a psychologist, you will need to understand not only the different types of psychology, but also your own character.

A good psychologist understands themselves just as much as any of their patients. Indeed, the vast majority of clinical psychology courses require their students to undertake a period of self development to ensure that they do not transpose any of their own issues onto their patients and that they have dealt with any underlying issues that may surface during the course.

Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour. There is a great many differing approaches to psychology, all with their own followers, beliefs and methods of development. Different psychological perspectives offer different explanations and angles from which to learn more about ourselves and others, so it is imperative that you appreciate which field of psychology will allow you to grow and share your knowledge in the most productive, beneficial manner.

A career in psychology is often a choice made by mature students or people that have already worked in a related field, such as counselling, mental health support or teaching. This means that many people thinking of making psychology their career may already have a specialist area of interest that they are looking to pursue.

If, however, you are thinking about psychology as a career choice and are yet to know which field would suit your best, work through the following questions to help you decide.

1) Do You Want To Work With Children?

Child psychology is a very important field, widely considered to have been started by British psychoanalyst John Bowlby in the late 1950s, offering a range of theories for the problematic and emotional issues suffered by children.

Child psychology can be a very rewarding field, knowing that you are helping to support and nurture children who may otherwise have a very difficult adulthood ahead.

2) Do You Want To Work With Adults?

If you are interested in the issues that surround childhood and its affect on people, but do not actually want to work with children, behavioural psychology is also for adults. Modern psychologies such as CBT and CAT therapy are now available on the NHS, although there are long waiting lists for these highly successful ‘talking treatments’.

3) Do You Want To Continue To Study?

Many practicing psychologists miss the continual personal and professional development of studying and choose to take additional training to enhance their qualifications. Indeed, many private practices encourage their psychologists to stay on top of current developments in their field in order to offer their patients the very latest in modern thinking.

If you are passionate about psychology but do not want to actually be a psychologist that, either in the NHS or private practice, has patients, you may prefer to research and write on your specialist subject. Some academic psychologists prefer to continue with established works and take them in a new direction and others look to establish their own theories.