Why Study Psychology?

Many people are interested in psychology knowledge and I see every day that many people would like to study psychology at university. In this text, I will talk about the reasons for doing and not going to college, including what led me to spend 4 and a half years in São João del-Rey, at UFSJ, as a student of the course.

It is very common in the first college classes for professors to ask freshmen why they chose to join that discipline instead of having chosen among hundreds of other opportunities. In the case of psychology, we often see answers such as:

“- I love listening to my friends and giving advice”.

“- I am a good listener (or a good listener)”.

“- I like to help others and in psychology I will be able to have the knowledge to help in a professional way”.

-“I want to get to know myself and I see this college as an opportunity to get to know myself better”.

All these answers are valid, but in my opinion they can have negative consequences. For example, the last answer is weird. If the person wants to know himself, isn’t it better – and cheaper and faster – to go to therapy than to spend 5 years studying psychological theories and practices?

Of course, we are all free to choose and each one’s motives are private and individual. In my case, I always liked studying and even more studying subjects like history, philosophy, literature and, over time, I started reading books by authors like Freud and Jung. Although the science divisions are arbitrary to a certain extent – ​​it is always important to remember the need for interdisciplinarity – I was confused at the time of the entrance exam because I wanted to attend all humanities faculties. Making a more accurate selection, I saw that psychology was really the best course for me.

I’ve always been more introverted than extroverted and this also answers a question I’ve already received. Does the psychology professional need to be extroverted and talk a lot? No, you don’t. What a professional needs is to find his ergon, his mission in life, his path, in the sense that the ancients gave to vocation, what I am called to do in this life.

When you are 17, 18 years old, discovering this “call” is not always something simple or easy, but it is necessary to seek more information and that is why I am writing this text. I hope I can contribute to help those who want or are interested in college but don’t know very well if it would be the best choice. So let’s go:

If you want to do psychology to get to know yourself, maybe it’s better to rethink. Look for a psychologist or clinical psychologist and do therapy or Professional Guidance.

If you have a lot of friends and they all love to tell you their problems, going to college to work in a clinic might be a good option. If you don’t have a lot of financial resources or a nearby psychology college, another option is to take therapy courses. There are several courses available in the market, such as body therapy, holistic, transpersonal, oriental medicine, homeopathy, etc.

The profession of therapist (see CBO 3221 of the Ministry of Labor) is different from the profession of clinical psychologist. Since those who are therapists do not have to report to the Federal Council of Psychology. As long as the person is updated and takes smaller courses that are renowned, he can become an excellent professional – and, to be clear – he can be a psychotherapist without being a psychologist.

But it is important to note that it is necessary to study a lot and indicate a more qualified professional in cases of more serious mental disorders or those that need psychotherapy, analysis or pharmacology.

See also – Psychotherapy Course

Another idea is to take a psychoanalysis course and be a psychoanalyst instead of being a psychologist or psychotherapist, the person will be a psychoanalyst and, in the same way, will be able to see patients in his private practice.

Psychoanalysis Course

In fact, there is a lot of controversy about how to be a psychoanalyst, since there is no faculty of psychoanalysis. I speak more in this text here – Psychology or Psychoanalysis

It is important to point out that the psychologist’s profession is extremely broad and is not limited to just having an office. We can work in different places, some directly linked to the health area such as hospitals, recovery clinics, but we can also have jobs related to education (and closer to pedagogy in this sense) or work in companies or industries (closer to college administration).

Few people enter psychology school with the goal of working with companies. In my experience it’s rare, but it happens. Normally, those who are interested in working in this area, usually go to courses in Administration or Economics and, more recently, to technologist in Human Resources. The big – and only difference – is that the psychologist can administer psychological tests while an administrator or other professional cannot.

When I graduated from college, in 2006, I worked with Human Resources doing selection processes for small, medium and large companies. Although it is a very good job and teaches us a lot about psychological assessment, I felt that it was not the field in which I would like to invest my career. I immediately reopened my practice and since then I have been working as a clinical and online psychologist.

It is common for people to associate the psychologist with the clinical psychologist because this is the image we see in movies, soap operas and series. But before deciding to attend – or not to attend – the faculty of psychology, it is necessary to collect as much information as possible and, with all the data in hand, assess whether that could be the best choice among all the possibilities that we have .

Heads up! Friends, there are over 1,000 (thousand!) comments below. I love answering everyone, but in many I have to repeat what I’ve already said. So, also read the comments of other readers, ok? Because your doubt will probably be very similar to others.

And, in particular, read the 10 most common questions and my answers about psychology college and career

Yours sincerely,

Felipe de Souza

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