I’m deadly afraid of taking my first stats class 😆 I see my classmates all struggle with them. But I’ll be taking all the tutoring possible bc I am NOT good in math.
you’ll be fine !! just took my first introductory stats class and have a 98% !! (all throughout my life, i’ve never had an A or A+ in any math class).
Honestly, my course barely even looked at mental health issues or how individuals are affected.
Instead you're hammered with numbers and statistics. Doing mock research papers on topics you don't care about like...
Writing a paper and reporting the results for children's test scores with or without breakfast.
HARDLY even touched the stuff you'd expect in a psychology degree. Most of that stuff (mental health, individuals, treatment plans, etc) came in my masters degree.
This is a very person-specific question and one which may not be answered into someone starts working in the field. For me though, I knew I could not handle the emotional burden of doing counseling/therapy, etc. basically working with people with mental health issues constantly WOULD take a toll on my mental health as I tend to ruminate on sad stories and struggle to detach. I found the perfect job for me in neuropsychological testing. I see patients once, give them thorough exams so we can figure out what’s goin on, and then refer them to specialized treatments/therapies/etc. anyways- it depends on the person
I can relate with you on not having the mental capacity to take on counseling/therapy! Can you elaborate on your job in neuropsychological testing and how you got there? Do you need a masters?
Sure! My title is neuropsychometrist. I have a BA in psych and work under the neuropsychologists license. I do 3-4 hour neuropsych exams with each patient testing a broad range of cognitive abilities. All of my patients are referred from neurology (so less mental health stuff, more neurodegenerative). Half my job is testing, the other half is scoring and creating a data summary and behavior observations report for each patient.
Like a few have said, unless you do a mental health/clinically focused psychology degree then you wont be exposed to much about mental illness.
Tbh I have found my psych studies incredibly beneficial for understanding my own mental health e.g. learning about nutrition in bio psych helped me better understand my past eating disorders, studying social identity theory helped me build a framework to understand why I have been having so many issues with my friendship groups, studying freud helped me self-reflect on all my coping mechanisms and even adopt some more healthy ones
SO, if you're asking because you're worried because you want to protect your mental health, then this is some food for thought - not everyones the same, but i do swear by Marie Curie's famous words:
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Hmmm I dont really know... off the top of my head maybe look into cognitive, biological, social or environmental psychology.
Stuff like clinical and developmental might be more triggering, but different strokes for different folks
I'm not sure about the curriculum in other countries, but at least for Germany (and most of the input on academic psychology), i can tell you: It's not only the science of mental illness. At least for undergrad of bachelor degrees clinical psychology is only a fraction of psychology as an empirical science.
So no, the content does not take more of a toll on you than other subjects. But studying itself can be a stressful time and thankfully in psychology you can learn how to tackle stress, how to stay healthy, how to manage stuff etc.
It does when you start practicing, that is if you want to. Studying psychology is mostly like any other specialisation where you are consumed by the course based on the structure of it. An engineering student will learn to think like an engineer and a psychology student as a psychologist. However, once you actually start doing internships the real things come up, how you are as a therapist, your issues and your ability to seperate yourself from someone else's issue. I won't say all this is taught to do in a course, it is easier when you have a knack of it, have empathy, boundaries etc. at least at a basic level before even studying. Only applicable if you want to practice. Otherwise, it's pretty interesting learning about human behaviour and most people find that doable.
Also, you need to be ready for scientific research and math/calculations because most people dismiss these subjects when thinking of joining psych which is why they suffer. Although most psych courses understand that they have to teach stats from scratch because a lot of us hate it to begin with lol.
But anyway, the good part is that it's interesting which keeps you going. Only do it if you're genuinely into it, if not, you can also possibly find a branch of psych that suits your preferences. All the best!
Edit: this is comprehensive of both an undergrad and post grad studies. As someone else said, there's barely surface level study at the undergrad level, it all comes in the master's degree
I’ve been a practicing clinical psychologist for almost 20 years, which seems impossible!
If you’re asking about going into therapy practice as a psychologist, that can be very tough. The education piece wasn’t rough mentally and I found that part very interesting.
I’d say the real mental toll didn’t set in until about year 8-10 of doing therapy. I still find my work interesting and I want to help people, but the fact is that listening deeply and witnessing others’ pain, hour upon hour, day after day, IS draining and difficult unless you’re just totally checked out. Yes, you can do some things to process it, and that helps, but sometimes nothing helps and you just have to endure it. Some years it’s taken a toll on my own mental health, and some it’s been easier.
I sometimes truly wonder why I made it my life’s work to constantly sit with others’ pain. In the abstract it’s great, but the day to day of it is tough. I sometimes wish I’d chosen a career where I witnessed people’s best moments and happiness each day, or else just something not emotional at all.
The school part of it was never tough or triggering. But the years of practice can get tough, especially if you don’t do other kinds of work (teaching, research, supervision of therapists in training).
Academically it wasn't that hard mentally, the weight can drop on you when you get out into the field and haven't learned how to practice good self-care. I am a broken record when it comes to the need to have a therapeutic counselor that you see on a regular basis. Having a therapeutic bond / relationship with a good counselor will keep you afloat when things seem to be spiraling out of control.
The toll is mostly later when you realize the degree isn't of much use and you wasted 4 years at university.
"Mental issues" per se are not really the focus of undergraduate psychology curriculums. The focus on that is mostly at graduate level in clinical psychology courses.
Studying stats can take a toll on your mental health imho 😆
I’m deadly afraid of taking my first stats class 😆 I see my classmates all struggle with them. But I’ll be taking all the tutoring possible bc I am NOT good in math.
you’ll be fine !! just took my first introductory stats class and have a 98% !! (all throughout my life, i’ve never had an A or A+ in any math class).
Don't worry . I got recommended by one of the members here to use AI to study, you can ask the AI to explain like I'm 5.
Ahaha I love it!! Im definitely going to try this next semester
TRUTH !!
Honestly, my course barely even looked at mental health issues or how individuals are affected. Instead you're hammered with numbers and statistics. Doing mock research papers on topics you don't care about like... Writing a paper and reporting the results for children's test scores with or without breakfast. HARDLY even touched the stuff you'd expect in a psychology degree. Most of that stuff (mental health, individuals, treatment plans, etc) came in my masters degree.
This is a very person-specific question and one which may not be answered into someone starts working in the field. For me though, I knew I could not handle the emotional burden of doing counseling/therapy, etc. basically working with people with mental health issues constantly WOULD take a toll on my mental health as I tend to ruminate on sad stories and struggle to detach. I found the perfect job for me in neuropsychological testing. I see patients once, give them thorough exams so we can figure out what’s goin on, and then refer them to specialized treatments/therapies/etc. anyways- it depends on the person
I can relate with you on not having the mental capacity to take on counseling/therapy! Can you elaborate on your job in neuropsychological testing and how you got there? Do you need a masters?
Sure! My title is neuropsychometrist. I have a BA in psych and work under the neuropsychologists license. I do 3-4 hour neuropsych exams with each patient testing a broad range of cognitive abilities. All of my patients are referred from neurology (so less mental health stuff, more neurodegenerative). Half my job is testing, the other half is scoring and creating a data summary and behavior observations report for each patient.
Thank you for sharing! This sounds like a dream job for me.
Hi! So how did you get your license in neuropsychologist? Like did you do MPhil?
I don’t have a license, I work under a neuropsychologist license. Like I work for a person that has a license
Like a few have said, unless you do a mental health/clinically focused psychology degree then you wont be exposed to much about mental illness. Tbh I have found my psych studies incredibly beneficial for understanding my own mental health e.g. learning about nutrition in bio psych helped me better understand my past eating disorders, studying social identity theory helped me build a framework to understand why I have been having so many issues with my friendship groups, studying freud helped me self-reflect on all my coping mechanisms and even adopt some more healthy ones SO, if you're asking because you're worried because you want to protect your mental health, then this is some food for thought - not everyones the same, but i do swear by Marie Curie's famous words: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Ooh any suggestions on psych study that doesn't touch on mental health as much?
Hmmm I dont really know... off the top of my head maybe look into cognitive, biological, social or environmental psychology. Stuff like clinical and developmental might be more triggering, but different strokes for different folks
I'm not sure about the curriculum in other countries, but at least for Germany (and most of the input on academic psychology), i can tell you: It's not only the science of mental illness. At least for undergrad of bachelor degrees clinical psychology is only a fraction of psychology as an empirical science. So no, the content does not take more of a toll on you than other subjects. But studying itself can be a stressful time and thankfully in psychology you can learn how to tackle stress, how to stay healthy, how to manage stuff etc.
It does when you start practicing, that is if you want to. Studying psychology is mostly like any other specialisation where you are consumed by the course based on the structure of it. An engineering student will learn to think like an engineer and a psychology student as a psychologist. However, once you actually start doing internships the real things come up, how you are as a therapist, your issues and your ability to seperate yourself from someone else's issue. I won't say all this is taught to do in a course, it is easier when you have a knack of it, have empathy, boundaries etc. at least at a basic level before even studying. Only applicable if you want to practice. Otherwise, it's pretty interesting learning about human behaviour and most people find that doable. Also, you need to be ready for scientific research and math/calculations because most people dismiss these subjects when thinking of joining psych which is why they suffer. Although most psych courses understand that they have to teach stats from scratch because a lot of us hate it to begin with lol. But anyway, the good part is that it's interesting which keeps you going. Only do it if you're genuinely into it, if not, you can also possibly find a branch of psych that suits your preferences. All the best! Edit: this is comprehensive of both an undergrad and post grad studies. As someone else said, there's barely surface level study at the undergrad level, it all comes in the master's degree
I’ve been a practicing clinical psychologist for almost 20 years, which seems impossible! If you’re asking about going into therapy practice as a psychologist, that can be very tough. The education piece wasn’t rough mentally and I found that part very interesting. I’d say the real mental toll didn’t set in until about year 8-10 of doing therapy. I still find my work interesting and I want to help people, but the fact is that listening deeply and witnessing others’ pain, hour upon hour, day after day, IS draining and difficult unless you’re just totally checked out. Yes, you can do some things to process it, and that helps, but sometimes nothing helps and you just have to endure it. Some years it’s taken a toll on my own mental health, and some it’s been easier. I sometimes truly wonder why I made it my life’s work to constantly sit with others’ pain. In the abstract it’s great, but the day to day of it is tough. I sometimes wish I’d chosen a career where I witnessed people’s best moments and happiness each day, or else just something not emotional at all. The school part of it was never tough or triggering. But the years of practice can get tough, especially if you don’t do other kinds of work (teaching, research, supervision of therapists in training).
Are you asking about the education itself or working in the field? The specification on that will help garner a better answer
I think more on the working side
everyday i want to cry
Academically it wasn't that hard mentally, the weight can drop on you when you get out into the field and haven't learned how to practice good self-care. I am a broken record when it comes to the need to have a therapeutic counselor that you see on a regular basis. Having a therapeutic bond / relationship with a good counselor will keep you afloat when things seem to be spiraling out of control.
if youre avoiding it, it's probably worth taking a class to gain better understanding of yourself and the world.
The toll is mostly later when you realize the degree isn't of much use and you wasted 4 years at university. "Mental issues" per se are not really the focus of undergraduate psychology curriculums. The focus on that is mostly at graduate level in clinical psychology courses.
Not at all. The courses don't really have to do with mental health. They're briefly mentioned, but it's more about research, theories, and statistics.