Pros and Cons of Studying Psychology

Hello friends!

I have received a lot of feedback from the text on the Job Market in Psychology and from the text I wrote about why study psychology at university. I see that there is a lot of interest, from people of all ages and backgrounds, about college and about the profession.

There are many techniques that help us to make a decision. Among them, this fantastic Technique for Deciding. However, it is always useful to gather as much information as possible about the options we have. In the case of professional choice, I always recommend Professional Guidance, which can be done online, through Online Guidance or at the office of your trusted psychologist.

The purpose of this text is to answer questions from readers of the site about the pros and cons of choosing psychology. In addition to objective data, I also want to talk about my experience of 7 years working in the area. The text is also a response to Jennifer’s comment, in which she asked me: Do you regret your choice (profession)? If you could go back, would you do psychology or choose another profession?

In a way, what I am going to say about the faculty of psychology is also valid for other faculties where there are already thousands of trained professionals, such as the faculty of medicine, law, administration. But, of course, I will also get into the specifics of psychology.

Well, a first point that we can say that is positive for studying psychology (and any other college) is the acquisition of knowledge. This is generally not thought about, but the main reason for going to college is to learn. I believe that this should be the most important reason and only second comes the issue of profession.

Well, think about it: if you’re going to spend 4, 5 years studying, what’s the point of studying what you don’t like to study?

Maybe we spent years and years studying disciplines that didn’t interest us and now choosing a college just for the profession, in my opinion, is something without sense.

So the first point for me is this: do you like studying college subjects? Are you very interested in the area? If so, go to college because you will have excellent years of learning ahead of you. You will make friends who are also like you and broaden your horizons.

Personally, I always had a generalist background. I learned English in childhood, I studied in good schools, I read a lot, all kinds of books. But still, college opened my eyes to many things I didn’t imagine! The faculty of psychology, and I think that every faculty in the humanities area, causes this opening of horizons! Because we started to study human behavior, individual and group behavior, the history of civilization, the differences between cultures, between individuals…

Second positive point, which is also valid for other faculties: with more knowledge, with a higher degree, the possibility of earning higher salaries increases. It doesn’t mean that if you go to college you’ll become a millionaire, but it does mean that you’ll work less and earn more. Or else work as hard and earn more. Several studies point out that there is an exact correlation between the number of years studied and the salary range. That is, more study, more money.

It is important to stress here that psychology faculty is not just clinical psychology. There are many areas of activity within psychology. But since I think that most students choose to think about working in the clinic and since I have been working in the clinic for the last seven years, I will say the positive point regarding my experience.

I know that the minimum wage is the minimum wage, it is little, very little and should not be used as a basis for anything. But let’s think that the minimum wage pays 22.60 per day (678 reais divided by 30 days). A 1-hour consultation ranges from 70 to 300 reais. I set my fees at 70 reais – even though the amount is relatively low – so that I can help as many people as possible. I don’t think charging 300 reais would value my work. I’d rather have 10 patients a day and help these 10 patients than have 2 who can pay 300 reais. It’s an ethical choice, after all.

But going back, even if it is 70 reais or a little more for the consultation, it is easy to notice that it is much higher than the minimum wage. If we divide 22.60 by 8 hours, we will see that the worker who earns the minimum wage earns 2.82 reais per hour. That is, the consultation is 24 times the minimum wage.

The third positive point of studying Psychology is self-knowledge. During the course, we studied several psychological theories that help us to think and rethink our values, our thoughts, our perspectives. The importance of doing analysis, of therapy, of going deeper into self-knowledge is very clear. Contrary to what many people think, going to a psychologist is not something for crazy people or people with serious mental problems.

We can look for a professional when we are feeling good, when we don’t know what direction to take in a relationship or in the profession, when we want to understand our fears, dreams, wills, desires. Anyway, therapy is self-knowledge and we only have positive points when we get to know each other more and more.

However, here’s a tip. If you’re going to study psychology just to get to know yourself….consider going to therapy first. Maybe it’s faster (and cheaper) to go to therapy than to invest in an undergraduate course.

Now, saying about myself. I said above that I had a humanist background and since before college I knew, and tried to put into practice, the motto γνῶθι σεαυτόν, Nosce te ipsum, know thyself. College reinforced this in me and I do not hesitate to recommend the need for therapy to everyone I know.

The downsides of going to psychology school are a little tricky for me to describe. Let’s say I’m a little suspicious, because in principle I only see positive points. Thinking about the points above, we could invert:

about knowledge

When we start a college, we soon realize that knowledge has no end. As one historian said, to begin to learn something, we always have to go back centuries. That is, to learn psychology we have to go back to philosophy, to the emergence of modern science, to the birth of sociology, anthropology. What I mean is that knowledge is extremely broad and anyone who thinks they will finish college and be able to stop studying is wrong.

It is possible to stop studying, of course. You can just go to college and start working and never go back to college. You don’t need to do a graduate, master’s or doctorate. It’s not mandatory, but you’ll soon see that it’s necessary.

So if you don’t like studying, if you don’t like reading, college is not a good idea.

Speaking from my personal perspective, I know that this is actually exciting for those who like it. However, at times, we got a little tired, it’s true. I’ve been in academia for eleven years now. I really like it, I’m extremely happy, but sometimes I feel like taking a vacation, lol. To stop reading, to study. It’s just that it’s on me and I really can’t. For fun, I end up reading a novel.

In summary: a negative point is that you will not stop studying. (For me it remains a positive point).

about wages

Above I made a comparison between a psychological consultation and the minimum wage. It was a specific comparison, because, as I said, psychology has many areas of activity and, in some places, there is a devaluation of the profession. I’ve seen newly formed professionals earning minimum wage. Even if they worked half the time (20 hours a week), it’s really very little.

So, a point against would be the salary options at the beginning of the career. However, this factor also occurs in other professions and not only in psychology. As more and more newly formed professionals emerge in the labor market, there is more demand than supply, which lowers wages.

Some find 1200 reais too little to work 20 hours a week in a city hall, in Caps, for example. But the salary of nurses, dentists, psychiatrists, can be identical in the same notice. As I said, it’s not just psychology where wages can be low.

Even so, I see that studying psychology allows you to work in many places, such as companies, hospitals, schools, colleges. In this sense, it is a better profession than others that are more focused on just one specialization.

Personally, I can say that when I graduated it was a bit complicated. I started working with companies and, although I liked it, it was not my desired area. I always thought about the clinic. However, I graduated at 22 and this is a point that could be negative for the practice. But, little by little, things fell into place. There is a natural period of adaptation between college and the first jobs in the new profession.

about self-knowledge

It may seem strange what I’m going to say, but self-knowledge is not for everyone at any time. I saw many psychology students, especially in the middle of the course, completely lost. From so much questioning their own life, their own family, their education, the meaning of things, they ended up getting lost. And, getting lost, they sometimes dropped out of the course. This can be a negative point for studying psychology at university. Even more so if the person has a predisposition to some mental illness.

Well, now to answer Jennifer’s question. No, I never thought of giving up. I’ve already questioned a lot about what my future would be within the area. Let me explain myself better.

I entered college thinking clearly about professional opportunities, but this was not my main focus. My main objective was to obtain knowledge, to understand, to understand more. With that, I sometimes wondered if it wouldn’t be ideal to attend another college (such as philosophy or letters). But when thinking about the professional choice, I saw that psychology should be my option.

I like many things, I study very different areas (like computer science to make my websites) but I don’t see myself working in any other area. Although you can carry out occasional work such as, for example, revising a doctoral thesis, translating a text into English or creating a website for a professional colleague. But all these other activities work more like a hobby, a diversion that mixes pleasure and work, but which is not my real area.

My real area is psychology and I feel happy and fulfilled all these years, helping people from all regions of Brazil, giving supervision to psychologists and psychologists, explaining more about psychology on the website and about Jung in the Jung Course.

Putting it all together, I realize that the Professional Guidance I took when I was 17 was extremely profound. Although it was just a single session (which shows that therapy can be brief and effective) I was able to choose the right profession and understand that I could keep my…