When a psychology graduate goes to a party, they will often be asked if they can read minds.
Well, unless they’re Derren Brown, not quite. But they are experts at understanding people and their behaviour, which makes them very good at predicting what people will do.
Psychology is currently one of the most popular university degrees in Scotland, yet is only starting to be incorporated into the secondary school curriculum.
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Because of this, many kids don’t know the career opportunities available.
So here are three of the healthcare roles you can choose from by venturing into psychology.
Clinical Psychology
Many GPs will refer patients to clinical psychologists, who can help with mental health issues – whether depression, personality or eating disorders or addiction.
You’ll work with people of all ages and your aim is to reduce stress and help someone learn to live without worrying thoughts.
The therapies used include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Counselling Psychology
In this area you would normally work within the NHS, private practices and GP surgeries.
Here there a stronger focus on healthier individuals who aren’t necessarily patients.
Many counselling psychologists are employed at universities to help students with their mental health and run counselling sessions.
People often don’t realise just how deeply everyday issues such as breakups or family problems affect mental health, but counselling psychologists can help find ways to deal with such concerns and not only diagnosed disorders.
Neuropsychology
Being an expert in the field of cognitive psychology and neuroscience, you could find yourself working in brain trauma units and helping people with memory and speech problems – such as amnesia or aphasia, which usually occur after a stroke.
This is an extremely rewarding career in healthcare, utilising various therapies such as mindfulness and cognitive rehabilitation to improve the lives of those who have suffered brain damage.
Using innovative brain scanning techniques such as fMRI, EEG and PET are all vital to assessing and understanding an individual’s brain damage. Being able to analyse these and run complex statistical data is also important.
The kind of jobs in this area often come under the name of clinical psychologist, but with a specialism in brain injuries rather than general mental health.
It’s time to think about your career by considering the latest Medical/Dental/Healthcare vacancies on s1jobs.