Can You Work to Be an Art Therapist by Earning a Bachelors in Psychology

Psychology means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Often, people's perceptions of the field are based on a narrow understanding of the discipline and sometimes, it can be influenced past outdated, stereotypical and even glamorized views of psychology portrayed by the media. Psychology is a fascinating subject area and it draws the interest of many students; if you are one of them and have establish yourself wondering, "What can I do with a available'due south in psychology?" the reply is: probably more than yous think.

Ask any layperson about what psychology means, and they will almost certainly reference the therapeutic role of the psychologist. They may be influenced by their own personal experiences of counseling or past popular media personalities in the field, such every bit Phillip McGraw, "Dr. Phil," a tv set mainstay.

The media is oft responsible for portraying psychology in a somewhat confusing light. In the realm of fiction, psychologists are everywhere — from the quirky animations of One-act Cardinal'south Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, to the smooth-talking radio host, Dr. Frasier Crane, from the hitting TV show Frasier. Psychologists also feature heavily in the realms of science fiction and the paranormal, in series like the X-Files (FBI Special Agent Fob Mulder), Ghostbusters (Dr. Peter Venkman), and The 10-men (Professor Charles Xavier). And there are no shortages of cartoons and memes featuring hapless souls on the psychologist's couch.

Things don't get any clearer in the "real world" of psychology where complex and ofttimes colorful psychologists like Sigmund Freud or Benjamin Spock lead the way in proper noun recognition associated with the profession. It is niggling wonder why sometimes people are confused about what psychology actually is or what you tin do with a bachelor'due south degree in the subject.

What Is a Psychology Degree?

Dr. Brian Tilley, Associate Professor of Psychology at National University, offers a more nuanced understanding of what psychology is and how it is applied.

"Psychology is the report of humanity," says Tilley. "How we retrieve, how we act, how we experience feelings. How all 3 of those influence i another and too influence our relationships with one another. Therapy is just ane part of an incredibly expansive field."

Outside of the therapy room, any business or organization can benefit from a greater understanding of human behavior and relationships. This creates an opportunity for an individual with cognition of psychology to help an organization connect with customers and clients in a more than effective and compelling manner or to build more successful collaborative teams inside the organisation itself. An online psychology degree from National University tin create new opportunities beyond a wide range of career paths and educational opportunities.

Studying the various range of electives available in National University's online psychology caste is a great starting point to respond the question: What can I do with a available's in psychology?

With topics including applied sport psychology, criminology, conflict resolution, human communication, union, sex activity and the family, and psychology for managers, information technology is clear that an online psychology degree can exist as varied equally the career opportunities that follow it.

Career Options in Psychology

Psychology majors can exist found in many unlike professions within the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

A few examples include:

• Entry-level counseling in government-funded agencies and hospitals
• Bookish counselors within educational facilities
• Career counselors
• Counselors for at-adventure youth
• Sales and marketing
• Childcare workers

The salary and benefits comparison website PayScale.com highlights the variety of the career options in psychology by ranking 2 very different organizations equally meridian employers in the field. The online retailer and tech giant, Amazon.com, sits very neatly beside the nonprofit system Catholic Charities. These are not two names you would ordinarily associate with each other — simply they are both big employers of people with available's degrees in psychology.

Diverse Careers

The common thread running through all these career paths is an interest in human behavior and a desire to connect with others on a deeper, more personal level. This is something that Tilley believes unifies all psychology majors.

"As students of psychology, nosotros enquire questions like, 'Why do we react the way that we react in certain situations?' or 'Why does this matter more to united states than other things matter to us?'" says Tilley. "We examine all those questions about the heed that we take been asking for thousands of years. Essentially, psychology is that scientific pursuit of those, often initially, incredibly vague philosophical questions."

Tilley explains that developing this involvement in human being beliefs and building rapport with people is equally equally important in the business environment every bit it is in a therapeutic function.

"Many students are interested in human behavior and learning more about it only applying it in other settings outside of the therapy function. Peradventure they don't want to be licensed — they just want to continue working in behavioral health for example, or they want to rise upwardly the career ladder," says Tilley.

Studying psychology gives y'all exposure to the rigors of the scientific method — doing careful, thorough research, organizing, and analyzing data logically, and explaining results conspicuously to a variety of audiences — all skills that are valuable in the workplace, wherever that might be.

"Successful business organisation managers want to learn a better mode of relating with people and existence able to support their employees or whoever they interact with," says Tilley.

That's why you could meet a psychology graduate in an advertising agency, on a sales team, in a police force office or in any other job that benefits from a better understanding of human beings, not simply a therapy office.

A Step Upward the Career Ladder

For many National University students, a available'southward degree in psychology represents a desire to climb the career ladder. They might accept entered the workplace at the ground level with minimal qualifications and limited opportunities to progress. Achieving their bachelor'south degree is the first step towards improving their chances of promotion and demonstrating that they have the transferable skills that employers crave for more senior positions, such as communication, disquisitional thinking, analyzing, independent learning, and the ability to work in teams and collaborate.

I surface area where National Academy has seen particular success in helping graduates create new career opportunities for themselves in the field of psychology is in the transition from military machine service into civilian roles.

National University's close ties to the military (the academy was founded by veterans and offers a number of specialist resources to assist veterans and service personnel access education, benefits, and boosted support), make information technology a pop choice for veterans transitioning back into noncombatant life. The flexible nature of the online programs also makes National'southward programs accessible to military personnel in active service — creating better employment opportunities for them following their military careers.

The success of its military students is just one attribute of National University's attain and appeal that Tilley is uncommonly proud of.

"I talk to our armed services students in the graduate psychology programs that I teach, and I'1000 just blown abroad past how they are able to exercise information technology," says Tilley. "I was barely able to do information technology while I had cypher on my plate as a 23- or 24-year-old, I don't know how they do it with the security of the nation hanging in the balance."

It is no surprise that many armed forces students are drawn to psychology following their own personal experiences of therapy following a traumatic experience while on deployment. As therapy becomes increasingly recognized as a main source of healthcare in the military, it could be argued that therapy saves lives when soldiers return home in the same way that trunk armor saves lives on the battlefield.

But this path isn't unique to armed forces veterans.

Following a "Calling" to Therapy

According to Tilley, students who desire to pursue a career in therapy are often drawn to psychology through their own personal experiences.

"Many students may come from family unit backgrounds where maybe there was a divorce that was particularly traumatic or something that happened like a decease in the family where the educatee wound upwardly getting some therapy," says Tilley.

"Maybe information technology was just in their own marriage — we've had students come up in and say, 'I went to a marriage and family therapist and I realized I desire to be in the other chair, I want to be the person doing this therapy, this is actually appealing to me.'"

According to Tilley, beyond personal experience, there is ordinarily a "calling" to the career.

"About students come in with this idea that not just have they had a positive experience with therapy, but people keep telling them 'You're and so proficient with people, you sympathize, and you really listen, and you seem like you intendance,' and the message sinks in at some betoken," says Tilley.

This moment of enlightenment can happen at any fourth dimension.

"They suddenly offset asking themselves "Why am I doing whatever job I'm doing correct at present?'" says Tilley. "'I should exist doing something that I experience good at, that I feel confident in, that everybody seems to think would exist an splendid job for me.'"

These personal explorations oftentimes lead to career choices in psychology. "I tell students who tell me this that you lot're non alone, you're 1 of those special people that everybody can lean on and talk to. I think they like to hear that considering they know they are in a room full of people who are their compadres. They are with people who really get them."

For those people, a available'southward degree in psychology could be the offset of a long journey towards a rewarding career as a licensed therapist — which will also require the successful competition of a graduate degree, practicums, and a variety of state-specific requirements for licensure.

Becoming a licensed therapist isn't easy, but for those with the passion and the dedication to consummate the process, the rewards can be high. Well-nigh clinical, counseling, and research psychologists need a doctoral degree, and clinical psychologists require a state-canonical license.

Co-ordinate to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay earned by licensed psychologists nationally in 2019 was $80,370 per year.

Regardless of your career aspirations, possessing a caste can add together value to future opportunities. This can clearly be seen in Bureau of Labor Statistics, which states that the median weekly earnings of someone with a available's degree are $one,248 compared to $746 for those with just a high school diploma. Unemployment rates are also dramatically reduced for available's degree graduates with ii.2% unemployment rate compared to 3.vii% for those with a loftier school diploma.

The growth in the value of a psychology degree tin exist attributed to irresolute attitudes towards the role of psychology in a healthy population. According to Tilley, this is especially apparent in areas such every bit emergency and traumatic level care — with a particular focus on caring for armed forces personnel and veterans following traumatic events.

Today, in that location is too a better understanding of the of import office that psychology can play in our increasingly complex world.

Changing Attitudes to Psychology

Thanks, in part, to its high media profile, psychology is front and middle of a growing acceptance of the importance of good mental health. This is sometimes wrapped up in the burgeoning "wellness" industry where words similar "mindfulness" take joined the zeitgeist. Tilley likes to go along an open listen about these latest trends.

"I would say information technology is a mixed bag, merely in that location is some pseudoscience out there," says Tilley. "There is a deviation between somebody who is a life omnibus and doesn't really have a whole lot of experience with it and somebody who is actually scientific about it and understands the theoretical pinnings of something like mindfulness.  That said — but the idea that people are taking the time to tiresome down and pay attention to where they are in a moment, to use whatever tiny suspension that they might get in the day is to be welcomed."

For Tilley, only the fact that people are paying more attention to their own mental health and well-being is a good thing. "I only like the idea that there is a move out in that location that's encouraging people to prize those moments and use them as a form of healing rather than assuasive them to be taken up with more worrying, more anxiety, more focus on work or to keep the gears turning in a subversive mode."

Tilley is also happy to acknowledge that trends like "mindfulness" can concenter students to the more scientific discipline of psychology.

"The idea that people are enlightened of a term like mindfulness and how important wellness tin exist, that's a great positive," says Tilley. "The longer it'southward around, and the more than established the proficient research becomes, the cream is going to rise to the top, and people volition get improve at it. It's just been a real positive I think, and I see that in our students when they apply."

A Flexible Road to a Solid Education

The flexible nature of National University's online degree programs, which enable students to commit to periods of study effectually their existing work and personal commitments, creates opportunities for students who might not otherwise be able to fit education into their already busy lives.

Empowering students to access advanced education regardless of their state of affairs or location is something that Tilley is proud of.

"I'm proud of being able to fulfill the mission of the university," says Tilley. "From the very starting time, when I practical to teach hither at National, I think what appealed to me was the idea that yous're giving people a genuine opportunity to change their lives."

"I always telephone call National the 'University of Second Chances,'" says Tilley. "No matter what hurdle you've had to overcome in your life or for whatever reason you didn't consummate your education, we are here for you lot."

Tilly explains there are many reasons why students are unable to complete their educational activity the showtime time around.

"Maybe you lot were raising a kid and you couldn't become to school," says Tilley. "Maybe no one in your family had ever gone to a academy, and the assumption was that you'd just do the same chore that your parents did, or you'd just notice some job somewhere to find a style to put food on the table. Whatever the reason, a lot of our students have been abroad for a while from academia. They get a second chance to come dorsum and prove that not only are they able to succeed in a university and get a degree, but also to have that incredible sense of accomplishment."

A Fast-Paced, Life-Changing Opportunity

National University's degree programs help students who do not have the luxury of excess time on their hands to gain the qualifications they demand to move on in life.

"These students are hither because the program moves very quickly and they love that," says Tilley. "They desire to get out in the world and start working right abroad, rather than completing a thesis that could have v, six, or seven years. I mean, I was in graduate school with people who had been in that location 10 years, and information technology was no big bargain to them — only that's not how it is here."

A bachelor'southward degree from National University in psychology tin can human activity equally a launching pad to an entirely new career. With classes starting every month, a four-week timeline, and continuous availability throughout the year, once a student has decided to enroll in a program at National, they shortly detect themselves immersed in the subject. This unique educational delivery model typically enables students to move on with their lives at a footstep that suits their unique needs.

Start Your Journeying in Psychology Today

To larn more about where a available's caste in psychology can take you, please visit our plan page.

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Source: https://www.nu.edu/resources/what-can-i-do-with-a-bachelors-in-psychology/

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