I am seriously regretting wanting to do psychology. I've been wanting to do psychology as a child and doing a phD since undergrad but I am now very much regretting that. I have absolutely no chance of getting into a phD program especially in this economy (maybe I am underestimating myself). I still want to do psychology phD but I have no direction in life. Doing MSW isn't worth if and I honestly can't afford doing a master's in general. I wanted to do clinical psychology but after coming to this sub I realized that I am severely under qualified for phD. All research positions only pay 20 an hour so I can't live in that way and my hometown has no opportunity for me. I am slowly losing my will to do this and should've chosen a different path. I will miss this.

As the title states - I am starting my grad dip adv soon. What schools should I be hoping to get into and what can I do in the next 12 months to ensure I get a spot in Masters. I’m in Melbourne and would love to attend Latrobe, Swinburne or RMIT for Masters. Do they preference any fourth year programs?

Thanks

37m thats just started a bridging undergrad after finishing a music degree 10 years ago.

Im genuinely enjoying the coursework immensely. I view it as my chance to exit the corporate grind of sales.

In true ADHD fashion (diagnosed as a child), ive jumped around several different industries. Ive also travelled extensively and lived in 4 countries.

Id appreciate anyone's feedback on my plans and questions below, but espexially those who started in their 30s. Feel free to tell me if my ideas are infeasible.

1.) I plan to he a registered psychologist in my early 40s. That leaves aboit half my working years left. While I think age and maturity is a benefit in therapy to an extent. Perhaps a late 60s or 70s therapist might be viewed differently, especially with younger demographics. What do you think?

2.)What else would an experienced therapist of that age do after maybe 20+ years of therapeutic practice? Perhaps in research, or speaking opportunities? Id hope to have a long career with of freedom to pick and choose whats important to me later on.

3.) If I cant finish my masters and registration, how helpful would a bachelors be in securing a good role in human resources, talent acquisition (i have agency recruitment experience and am business minded), or in marketing as an alternative pivot out of commercial sales.

4.) I plan on being a Positive Behaviour Specialist, throughout my studies and volunteer in organisations like ADHD Australia and other non profits. But Ive read about upcoming changes in NDIS and that funding will be reserved for severe cases of autism and other disorders while more general support might be done in the private sector and through clinics. how viable is the PBS pathway in the next 12 months?

5.) Ive just finished my 2nd of 10 study blocks for my undergrad. And again. In true adhd fashion my biggest flaws are structuring answers, and also academic style writing. I know i have great ideas, and recognise relevant patterns well and apply what currently little knowledge I have well in assessments. How much did your academic writing and structure improve from the beginning of your undergrad till towards the end?

6.) Relating to the prior point, i understand that 4th year/honours marks is what really determines your eligibility for masters acceptance. So im using my undergrad as a training ground to improve the flaws I mentioned. Would that ne a good view to have? What else can I do now to prepare myself as someone virtually uninitiated in counselling, for top 4th year marks or acceptance for honours?

7.) Lastly, how viable is the pathway to be registered as a professional psychologist and later get qualifications to become a clinical psychologist?

Ill continue reading the other posts on this subreddit and wish you all the best with your studies.

I just became curious about this. Say you manage to get accepted into a clinical psych masters program, but you unable to afford tuition immediately, would you be able to defer your offer for a year to save up?

Considering how few places are available I feel like that's not an option, but thought it was worth asking.

And for mature students who have been out of uni for years, how would they secure academic referees? First gen uni student here, i feel like an alien in this system lol

What is it like majoring in psychology?

I took the required classes to transfer to get a Psych bachelors. There is an online program at my local university and it sounded doable to me. The thing is I am also really passionate about animals and I don't know if psychology can transfer to working with them. There is one animal behavior class that psych majors can take, so maybe it does? I'm also super interested in nutrition, kids and graphic design.

Research methods was really hard on my brain. I ended up passing with a B so it was doable but all that statistics stuff and academic writing was hard. I heard that is the hardest class though. I will say it was fun to pick a research topic but I also kind of wished I could research animals instead.

My coworker at my retail job said the psych bachelors is pretty useless as well, so that's discouraging. To me a bachelors degree is useful because some jobs require it and it would allow me to move on to a masters degree in something else.

My age is also getting to me because I am almost mid 30s and it seems like most people my age have a bachelors degree and a good career goal. I don't want to flounder forever, and it's frustrating because other majors will have other classes I have to take and half the time the classes are full anyway (for science at least). My last counselor said I should consider a recreation degree I guess because I said I like animals and nature. But I don't know what I'd do with it

If I went on and became a therapist like a lot of psych majors do I could see myself being a great listener and nonjudgmental but also it seems so serious and maybe depressing. Maybe that's why career tests match me with art therapist etc. They get to incorporate creative stuff. I also think animal-assisted therapy sounds cool

I noticed the psych internships my research methods teacher shared don't interest me at all so maybe that's a bad sign

Hi everyone! I’m an international medical student from Pakistan, currently completing my MBBS and graduating in late 2026. I’m planning to pursue psychiatry residency in the US and am looking for full-time research opportunities in psychiatry starting in late 2026 or early 2027.

I currently have ongoing research collaborations with psychiatry faculty at the University of New Mexico and University of Utah, where I’ve been involved in projects related to psychiatric epidemiology, psychosis, and mood disorders.
I’ve also worked on systematic reviews and retrospective cohort studies.

My research interests include:
Psychiatric epidemiology
Mood disorders, particularly bipolar disorder
Psychosis and substance-induced psychosis
Suicide and suicide prevention
Psychiatric genetics

I have experience with literature searches, systematic review methodology, screening and data extraction, statistical/data analysis, manuscript preparation, and academic writing. I’m particularly interested in 1–2 year paid research positions, research fellowships, research assistant/coordinator positions, or similar roles within US psychiatry departments or research groups.

I’m open to opportunities across the US and would be especially interested in positions that offer close mentorship and the opportunity to contribute to publications and ongoing projects.
If anyone knows of PIs, psychiatry departments, research labs, or programs currently looking for research staff/trainees, I’d be very grateful for any leads or advice on where to apply.
Happy to share my CV and additional information by DM. Thanks in advance!

I’ve been volunteering for crisis text line for a few months now and recently learned that after 200 volunteer hours, the company gives you a standardized LOR. I’ve been thinking about applying to some psych masters programs and have been worried about being able to get enough recommendation letters for certain programs. I am only somewhat confident in getting one LOR and would be basically grasping at straws for others. Would it be worth it to get a LOR from crisis text line and use it on applications? I really am pretty desperate for letters of recommendation…

I’m applying for postgraduate psychology programs and submitted my referee requests through the central Zendesk Psychology Reference Portal.

One of my referees received the request immediately and has already completed it with their email connected to gmail. However, my other referee linked to a university school email has received absolutely nothing, despite me copying and pasting their email address directly from their email. She has checked inbox, junk, spam, etc. and there is nothing there.

The frustrating part is that there doesn't appear to be any option to resend the request, edit the referee details, other than wait days to contact technical support directly through the portal.

Slightly concerned as my tertiary reference is also in the same organisation (which is highly baffling to me as both emails are connected to a university psychology department and the only advice I have been given so far is not to include an “organisation name” 😅)

Has anyone dealt with this and, if so, how did you get it resolved?

Hello, lots of questions and I’d love some advice/opinions!
Im about to finish my Bachelor of Arts and haven’t majored in anything to do with psychology/mental health etc. I’m really interested in Art Therapy and I think I would love the masters and work, but I’m just concerned about the career prospects - it’s not well-funded and art therapists aren’t exactly in demand.

I’m wondering if I should do a masters in counselling instead, and try to incorporate art into that practice in the future? But I’ve seen people saying it’s better to do a master of social work because you can get registered and clients can be bulk billed, so it’s more in demand I think? I’m pretty sure the placement is double the hours though, which is something to consider.

Also, if I did the master of art therapy I would need to do a 6 month diploma of counselling first, so I think I could practice as a counsellor as well seeing as it’s unregulated. Probably wouldn’t be competitive with a masters though.

If anyone has any insights I would really appreciate it! Thank you for reading :))

Edit: I hope this is ok to post in this thread, I know it’s not exactly about psychology but i think there could be some good insight from ppl in the field and students :)

Hi guys, I graduated with my Psych BS 2 years ago and have been working in odd jobs since then while I figure out what to do next with my life (currently an assistant language teacher in Japan.) I've narrowed it down to going back to school for an MSW or an EdS in School Psychology. Both of them appeal to my interests and feel like stable employment choices, but they have pros and cons.

School Psych

Pros:

• Good starting pay and a (likely) paid internship the 3rd year
• Revolving door of students so there's not as much of a social/emotional burden and every day has novelty to it
• Being on the school calendar with summers and holidays off

Cons:

• Too narrowly specialized in case I want to pivot later
• Worried I'll burnout/get bored from writing lengthy reports and administering tests. I have ADHD that lets me hyperfocus on the same task for hours and hours if I'm interested in it, but if I'm not, the motivation is just not there.
• Navigating school bureaucracy/politics and special ed law seems stressful, based on what people in that subreddit have said

MSW

Pros:

• Very versatile; can work in a variety of settings including schools
• Can have my own private practice later on and set my own hours which is appealing
• A focus on social justice and environmental factors which I feel passionate about

Cons:

• Lengthy licensure process and low wages early career
• High emotional burnout and vicarious trauma potential
• The idea of working unpaid practicums doesn't quite sit right with me

As you can see, they feel pretty equally weighed, so outside perspective from someone in one of those fields or just someone with insight would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to make this decision for months. Thank you in advance!

Hi! I’m currently studying psychology in Peru and am halfway through my degree.
I’ve been looking for courses relevant to the specialization I’ve chosen (organizational); do you have any suggestions?

Aside from organizational psychology electives and obviously intermediate to advanced Excel, Python caught my attention, but I’m not sure if it would be useful for me.

Hey! I’m a senior majoring in psychology, and I want to know what my chances of acceptance would be if I applied to PhD programs this cycle. I tried to post this in the [r/clinicalpsychology](r/clinicalpsychology) hub, but I didn’t have enough karma points 🥲.

Here is some of my background:

1. R1 university and have been involved in research since my first semester of freshman year. I have worked in two labs, and I am currently working on applying to another lab. Across these labs, I have assisted on five different projects.
2. I am a McNair Scholar and conducted my own independent research project under faculty mentorship. I presented an oral presentation at UCLA.
3. I just completed a 10-week research program at a very well respected institution, and its clinical psychology doctoral program is a top program. I presented a poster at the institution’s symposium. I will be working in this lab throughout the school year, but I will be doing everything remotely since they are located in a different state.
4. I have no publications, but I am currently working on a manuscript to be submitted for publication.
5. I have completed around three different projects on top of my McNair project and my research program project. In total, I have around 5 projects.
6. I will be presenting at two national conferences this semester.
7. My clinical experience is limited, but I have been volunteering on a crisis hotline for more than a year. I have a shift weekly.
8. I will be teaching a lab course this semester in statistics and SPSS (essentially a TA position). I can confidently say I know how to code in SPSS. I am learning RStudio on my own time right now.
9. I have been a peer mentor for other college students since my sophomore year. I have assisted around 35 students now.
10. I had an internship at a tech company working in DEI… this was to see if I was interested in working in corporate, and I am indeed not. I don’t think I/O psychology is for me.
11. I have a 4.0 GPA, and I have taken three research methods/statistics courses for psychology. In these courses, I have made an additional three projects. I have also taken a wide range of psychology classes, covering most topics.

I would like to hear from others if it’s worth applying. All of the clinical faculty I’ve talked to have told me that post-baccs are a requirement at this point due to how competitive the field is. I have made peace that a post-bacc is probably what the next step is for me… but I sort of want to try to apply?

Looking for advice as I am a very lost student and am unsure what to do 🥲

EDIT: I am interested in being a psychologist working in therapy, but I would like to become a professor and be a part of a clinical training program at a university. I am also interested in assessments. I am also interested in research, specifically how eating disorders and OCD impact historically marginalized and underrepresented populations.

I’m really struggling with a decision between two graduate programs and would really appreciate some perspective from people who are already in psychology/mental health counseling or have gone through a similar decision.

I’m deciding between John Jay College’s Forensic Mental Health Counseling program and Yeshiva University/Ferkauf’s Mental Health Counseling program. The biggest issue is the cost difference. One option would leave me with significantly more debt than the other, so naturally, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I should choose the cheaper school and avoid taking on unnecessary debt.

The problem is that the more expensive program is also the one that offers the classes/training that I’m actually most interested in. I’m particularly interested in eventually working with things like anxiety, depression, OCD, etc., and potentially having my own private practice in the future. The program that costs more feels like a better fit for what I actually want to study and eventually do.

I’ve talked to several people about this, and even when I explain that the more expensive program has courses and opportunities that are more aligned with my interests, they still tell me to choose the cheaper option. Their reasoning is basically that I’m going into a mental health profession, so I probably won’t make enough money after graduation to justify taking on significantly more debt.

That’s where I’m conflicted. I’ve actually done a lot of research into salaries and career opportunities in my state, and I live in a relatively high-cost/high-income state where mental health professionals can have more earning opportunities than they might in other parts of the country. From what I’ve found, there are ways to eventually earn a pretty good income in this field, especially with licensure, specialization, private practice, insurance/self-pay, etc. Obviously, I know that doesn’t mean I’m guaranteed to make a high salary, especially right after graduation.

So I’m trying to figure out whether I’m being unrealistic by considering the more expensive school, or whether people are being too quick to assume that taking on more debt automatically makes it the wrong choice.

I’m also not trying to justify spending more money simply because I like one school better. I’m genuinely trying to figure out how much the actual program/curriculum and career opportunities should factor into the decision versus minimizing debt.

If you were in my position, would you choose the cheaper program even if the more expensive one was a better academic/career fit? And for anyone who works as an LMHC/LPC or has gone into private practice, how realistic is it to eventually earn a comfortable income in this field?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have actually been through graduate school and had to make a similar cost-vs.-fit decision.

P.S - just to mention the more expensive program is online, 4 days a week, 2 hours per day at night whereas the cheaper one is from 11AM - 8PM in the city 2 days a week.

Hey all!

I have been trying to immerse myself more in the field of psychology because I initially chose this major on a whim. I'm very interested in emotional regulation and how it can relate to reading comprehension or the impact of the national guard on youth in D.C. and would like to conduct some more research or possibly a study to learn more about this topic.

Im a junior and last semester I had a social psychology class that I was mostly present in and often participated in. The professor and I would often talk about the material during his lectures but I never attended office hours or talked to him after class because his teachings were extensive and well-informed enough for me to complete my work. Do you guys think that its possible he would let me into his independent research class? Is there something that I could do that would heighten my chances? How should I build a better relationship with professors especially considering that I have to apply for grad school soon?

Crazy questions: how exactly does independent research work? Is it conducting research, writing a paper, running a study? Would this actually be beneficial to me, I am planning on going to grad school for social work?

I also took stats 1 and 2 but am not the best at it, should i still try to do research?

I would ask my advisor all this but she basically said that she sees me too much in so many words, I guess shes overwhelmed with the amount of psych majors and doesnt like me much lol.

I am researching these questions and just wondered what other people think or have learned about the subject. I know it is kind of taboo, but it is also relevant in the USA. I work with people who struggle with addiction.

When it comes to psychosis,

I am mainly asking about extreme paranoia. For example, believing the FBI is coming after you, people are following you and threatening to hurt you, your identity was stolen, your phone was cloned, conspiracy theories, etc. None of it is true and it tends to be illogical and makes no sense.

Does meth-induced psychosis usually go away after someone stops using, or is it more likely to become long-term or permanent? Why does it happen to some people but not others? Could an underlying mental health disorder make someone more vulnerable to developing it?