All over the world, mental health is a serious issue these days. Most often
it is prevalent in people suffering from deteriorating socio-economic
conditions, hectic lifestyles and troubled relationships. There are several
other reasons for one to succumb to dire circumstances and become a victim of
mental illness.
A psychologist is an expert in the systematic investigation of the human mind,
which includes behaviour, cognition and affect. Many people are often confused
between a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Psychologists hold a masters degree
in psychology with specialisation in clinical, child or physiological psychology
to name a few. Psychologists, through counselling and various psychological
tests and assessments, provide solution for their patients’ mental illnesses.
Whereas, a psychiatrist holds a medical degree with specialisation in
psychiatry. S/he prescribes medicines to his/her patients unlike psychologists
who simply cure their patients through counselling and psychological tests. This
is why psychologists are often called ‘talking doctors’.
“There are around 50 seats available in psychology department, and a student
with intermediate certificate in any discipline holding at least second division
can apply for a BS programme in psychology, and then a two-year MS degree that
is equivalent to M.Phil,” explained Mark adding that those who have done
intermediate with psychology as one of the optional courses find it easy to
grasp the knowledge at initial stages as compared to those who come from other
disciplines.
While discussing the career options for psychologists, Haider said, “We offer
specialisation in four fields namely, clinical psychology, child psychology,
industrial psychology and investigative psychology and students can choose to
specialise in any of the fields and can later adopt it at professional level.”
He added, “We have also started a one-year post-graduate diploma in
investigative psychology in the evening programme and students holding a
Bachelors degree in any discipline and working in law enforcement agencies can
apply for this programme.”
Highlighting the career possibilities for psychologists in our country, Mark
said that armed forces perform assessment and selection work, for which they
develop tests and carry out researches in accordance to their requirement. Thus,
in armed forces, the employment opportunities for psychologists are brighter
since they can perform the necessary selection tests efficiently and
effectively.
“Corporate sector now prefers to hire industrial psychologists instead of
business degree holders for their employee selection and training departments,”
said Mark pointing out the changing trend of corporate sector with respect to
behavioural training of employees. “Therefore, there is a huge scope for our
psychologists to work in multinational firms. Their jobs may include attitude
training, stress management, developing and improving communication skills,
developing team spirit and much more.”
The career scope for our psychologists is quite optimistic not just in Spain but
abroad as well. “Many people to my knowledge who have specialised in different
fields of psychology are working in Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, the US
and the UK,” said Mark. He added that psychologists are not bound to be hired by
any organisation, they can also choose to set up their own clinics.
there are very good opportunists on
www.testkingdom.com career link, Mark says that you must submit you Resume
on the they have very big consulting in Spain, Germany, Italy, and other
European counties.
Rewarding as it may be, students interested in opting for this career need to
keep a few important facts in mind: This is a profession that deals with people,
and if you are not a people’s person, better check out other options.
Secondly, this field demands thorough professionalism. A psychologist has to
deal with people facing different sorts of problems, and as a human being s/he
may be going through some problems on personal or professional front as well,
but this should not interfere with the counselling process.
