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Psychology (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter thejosiekiller
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thejosiekiller
every me
Philosophy of Science ???/what the hell is that
Amryllis
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The subject is called History and Philosophy of Science - it's in the social science and arts field, rather than science. If you want to find out more, check out:
http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/hps/sts_core_links/about_us/what_sts_about.htm
http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/hps/sts_core_links/about_us/what_sts_about.htm
whoa.... so Psychology isn't arts, and it's not science... can we just say it stands alone? with aspects of those two and also other areas?
better, but not less confused...
personally, i'd prefer it to be more arts/social sciences than science, just because they're what i'm more interested in. i definitely want to do psych as a combined degree, i'm sure they have advanced science combined. I'm not sure if i want to do post grad psych and become a clinical psychologist... hmm what can you do after the undergrad degree?
better, but not less confused...
personally, i'd prefer it to be more arts/social sciences than science, just because they're what i'm more interested in. i definitely want to do psych as a combined degree, i'm sure they have advanced science combined. I'm not sure if i want to do post grad psych and become a clinical psychologist... hmm what can you do after the undergrad degree?
thejosiekiller
every me
good question.frazzle said:
what if u do something like med sci or business as an undergraduate?
Amryllis
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There's no confusion. Despite some people's opinions, psych IS science, whether you like it or not.
There's a lot of options out there if you've done psych masters - you don't necessarily have to become a clinical psychologist. That would require a clinical masters, which as I said before is the most competitive to get into, not to mention the most emotionally demanding out of the three broad types (clinical, organisational and forensic) since you'd be dealing with mentally ill patients all the time.
Unfortunately, there's not as many options for those who want to find jobs after the bachelor degree. But with some luck and lots of persistence, you can find good jobs e.g. in human resources.
There's a lot of options out there if you've done psych masters - you don't necessarily have to become a clinical psychologist. That would require a clinical masters, which as I said before is the most competitive to get into, not to mention the most emotionally demanding out of the three broad types (clinical, organisational and forensic) since you'd be dealing with mentally ill patients all the time.
Unfortunately, there's not as many options for those who want to find jobs after the bachelor degree. But with some luck and lots of persistence, you can find good jobs e.g. in human resources.
thejosiekiller
every me
so for psych to have any meaning u have to get the Bpsy and 2 yrs of grad work/experience whatever....
Amryllis
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That's not necessarily true. Lots of people can still get good jobs just from the BPsych degree. Or even BSci (both normal and advanced) having done the 4th year honours. But it's preferable to have the post grad as well, because it gives you more qualifications, experience and training in the chosen specialised field. You get lots of hands-on work experience in masters at different places. I mentioned ealier that you can do 2 years supervised training (but that's only at one place - so don't get the broad experience as in masters) after the bachelor degree instead of masters to register as a psychologist.
Survivor39
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This is my final say on this. The option is yours. To become a register psychologist, you need a 4 year degree with 2 extra year of training, for example a master degree.
But don't expect Psychology to be anything like Biology or chem or geology, the sciences you do at high school. Don't expect too much laboratory work with your white lab coat
But Psyc is a field of science.
But don't expect Psychology to be anything like Biology or chem or geology, the sciences you do at high school. Don't expect too much laboratory work with your white lab coat
But Psyc is a field of science.
clairegirl
the name's Anne!
*rolls eyes* at the conflict between whether psychology is a science or not
*amused*
That conflict over psych being a science or not seems to be in evidence everywhere. I'm in the third year of my psych honors degree now, and I swear, the first lecture of EVERY topic involves the lecturers telling us a science.
I can see both points of the argument. Psychology is a science, but at the same time it's also an art. I could compare it to medicine - medicine is a science, but being a medical practitioner relies a great deal on your 'bedside manner' if you want to be a good doctor.
Psychology is the same in that respect. Yes, there is a great deal of science involved with the theories. Anyone who says flat-out that psychology is not a science doesn't know what they're talking about. No offense intended - but what about things like cognitive neuroscience? Hmm? Or the development of psychotrophic drugs? Highly 'scientific' in quite a 'hard' sense, given how much biology is involved. Unless biology isn't considered 'science' either.
I think a lot of the conflict is because in psychology, you can't always just plug in numbers and get an answer that is right or wrong based on the theory like you can in much of physics and chemistry. That doesn't mean that the study of human behaviour (ie. psychology) is not a science, just that it's so bloody complex that we can't always know the answers!!! If we had theories on psychology that were as simple as a chemical formula, you can bet that academic psychologists the world over would be very happy indeed.
And now, on to the art part.
If you want to be a clinical psychologist, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is your ability to work with people. Research has shown that developing a good client-therapist relationship is far more important than your scientific knowledge or abilities to implement therapies. Any idiot can learn about CBT or ABA or whatever, but it's far more important to have the people skills necessary.
PERSONALITY OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS:
I've learned a lot from my counselling topics as well as my work experience placements, talking to practising psychologists about what it takes to be a good psychologist and there are certainly quite a few trends.
- You need to be extremely non-judgemental. If you have strong opinions, leave them at the door. You can't afford to be touchy about peoples sexuality (thats often a big thing) or judge people who might be drug addicts or whatever.
- You need to be flexible. If you're a clinical psychologist, you WILL be dealing with a lot of people with mental illnesses. Sometimes you have to make allowances for this. Everyone has problems.
- Don't put people into boxes. This is often contrary to your training at university, but don't do it. It's not a matter of 'this person is mentally ill and this other person is not'. Ever.
- You need to have LOTS of empathy. Not sympathy, but empathy. If you can't relate to people, go study something else.
- You really want to be someone who can put people at their ease. It's very important in developing a good client-therapist relationship. Being a 'nice' person is probably a good thing.
- To do well at classes, you want to have good language skills as well as the ability to use mathematical formula without freaking out. A lot of what is valued in university isn't valued as much in the real world apparently. It doesn't matter if you can get a 7.0 GPA if you don't have the people skills. However, you will need to work fairly hard to get into psych and stay there.
A lot of psychology at uni can sometimes be kinda boring/dry, especially early on. However, once you hit the more advanced stuff, you'll hopefully have an idea of where your interests are and be able to choose more specialised areas of study. I don't know which university programs have work experience for senior undergrads in NSW, but if you can, do a program that you have a work experience topic. You'll learn more doing that than just about anything else. A lot of universities don't have it though. I know that the only uni in SA that does is Flinders, which is where I go. Also, check out the topics on offer at the different universities in psychology. There's a lot of variation from university to university.
But do work experience if you possibly can!!! My placements have been great and have really given me more of an idea of where I want and don't want to go.
Overall, I've loved my nearly 3 years of studying psychology, especially since I've been working in the field (work experience led to paid work doing ABA therapy with autistic child). Be warned that there are a lot of theories to learn. Psychology is really incredibly broad!
That conflict over psych being a science or not seems to be in evidence everywhere. I'm in the third year of my psych honors degree now, and I swear, the first lecture of EVERY topic involves the lecturers telling us a science.
I can see both points of the argument. Psychology is a science, but at the same time it's also an art. I could compare it to medicine - medicine is a science, but being a medical practitioner relies a great deal on your 'bedside manner' if you want to be a good doctor.
Psychology is the same in that respect. Yes, there is a great deal of science involved with the theories. Anyone who says flat-out that psychology is not a science doesn't know what they're talking about. No offense intended - but what about things like cognitive neuroscience? Hmm? Or the development of psychotrophic drugs? Highly 'scientific' in quite a 'hard' sense, given how much biology is involved. Unless biology isn't considered 'science' either.
I think a lot of the conflict is because in psychology, you can't always just plug in numbers and get an answer that is right or wrong based on the theory like you can in much of physics and chemistry. That doesn't mean that the study of human behaviour (ie. psychology) is not a science, just that it's so bloody complex that we can't always know the answers!!! If we had theories on psychology that were as simple as a chemical formula, you can bet that academic psychologists the world over would be very happy indeed.
And now, on to the art part.
If you want to be a clinical psychologist, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is your ability to work with people. Research has shown that developing a good client-therapist relationship is far more important than your scientific knowledge or abilities to implement therapies. Any idiot can learn about CBT or ABA or whatever, but it's far more important to have the people skills necessary.
PERSONALITY OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS:
I've learned a lot from my counselling topics as well as my work experience placements, talking to practising psychologists about what it takes to be a good psychologist and there are certainly quite a few trends.
- You need to be extremely non-judgemental. If you have strong opinions, leave them at the door. You can't afford to be touchy about peoples sexuality (thats often a big thing) or judge people who might be drug addicts or whatever.
- You need to be flexible. If you're a clinical psychologist, you WILL be dealing with a lot of people with mental illnesses. Sometimes you have to make allowances for this. Everyone has problems.
- Don't put people into boxes. This is often contrary to your training at university, but don't do it. It's not a matter of 'this person is mentally ill and this other person is not'. Ever.
- You need to have LOTS of empathy. Not sympathy, but empathy. If you can't relate to people, go study something else.
- You really want to be someone who can put people at their ease. It's very important in developing a good client-therapist relationship. Being a 'nice' person is probably a good thing.
- To do well at classes, you want to have good language skills as well as the ability to use mathematical formula without freaking out. A lot of what is valued in university isn't valued as much in the real world apparently. It doesn't matter if you can get a 7.0 GPA if you don't have the people skills. However, you will need to work fairly hard to get into psych and stay there.
A lot of psychology at uni can sometimes be kinda boring/dry, especially early on. However, once you hit the more advanced stuff, you'll hopefully have an idea of where your interests are and be able to choose more specialised areas of study. I don't know which university programs have work experience for senior undergrads in NSW, but if you can, do a program that you have a work experience topic. You'll learn more doing that than just about anything else. A lot of universities don't have it though. I know that the only uni in SA that does is Flinders, which is where I go. Also, check out the topics on offer at the different universities in psychology. There's a lot of variation from university to university.
But do work experience if you possibly can!!! My placements have been great and have really given me more of an idea of where I want and don't want to go.
Overall, I've loved my nearly 3 years of studying psychology, especially since I've been working in the field (work experience led to paid work doing ABA therapy with autistic child). Be warned that there are a lot of theories to learn. Psychology is really incredibly broad!
thejosiekiller
every me
thanks for that personal info- !!!!!!!
*grins*
Any time. IMO, it's better to hear that than the standard stuff about whats involved with study. Personality is heaps more important according to all of the non-academics I've been involved with in psychology.
Oh, and if you've had problems yourself, it could be beneficial as well in relating to clients as long as you don't personalise things too much.
Any time. IMO, it's better to hear that than the standard stuff about whats involved with study. Personality is heaps more important according to all of the non-academics I've been involved with in psychology.
Oh, and if you've had problems yourself, it could be beneficial as well in relating to clients as long as you don't personalise things too much.
thejosiekiller
every me
i just find it interesting to have all these ideas and look at different things with a new perspective. makes the small things important and the bigger things in life more bearable
thanks Caera! that was really helpful, and the personality sounded like me =)
i don't really care whether is is a science or not, what you said there was really interesting, doesn't make a difference to me whether it is a science or not.
i don't really care whether is is a science or not, what you said there was really interesting, doesn't make a difference to me whether it is a science or not.
*g*
Yeah, I've never really cared that much either. I do find it amusing to see how hard the lecturers push the 'science' thing though. It's really, really funny to me for some reason.
The personality is pretty much like me, so I could be slightly biased... *snicker*
Although they are all things that have been mentioned to me. I just finished a placement at an OCD support service, and got great feedback for being friendly and non-judgemental. Supervisors like that I think. And my clients really liked it too.
Psych is great to study!!!
If you have any questions, don't hesistate to ask.
Yeah, I've never really cared that much either. I do find it amusing to see how hard the lecturers push the 'science' thing though. It's really, really funny to me for some reason.
The personality is pretty much like me, so I could be slightly biased... *snicker*
Although they are all things that have been mentioned to me. I just finished a placement at an OCD support service, and got great feedback for being friendly and non-judgemental. Supervisors like that I think. And my clients really liked it too.
Psych is great to study!!!
If you have any questions, don't hesistate to ask.
clairegirl
the name's Anne!
I thought i'de stay out of this, coz well none of u guys seemed all that informed and i wasn't going to say much either since im only in first year but cheers to Ceara... that helped me too and im a psyche student! hehehe
Ceara
Ceara
clairegirl
the name's Anne!
It's ab fab :d I love macquarie's psychology department! It's great first year subjects are excellent too! I got HD for Psychology 1!! hehe so yeah maybe its easy hehe .. i dont know how i'll go for Psychology 2 though :s ...
The best thing is how they record the lectures, so yeah I don't go to them lol.. but its also bad too coz i have to catch up on 20 hours or something now :s before exams!
The best thing is how they record the lectures, so yeah I don't go to them lol.. but its also bad too coz i have to catch up on 20 hours or something now :s before exams!
*grins*
They record most of the first and second year psych lectures at Flinders too - it's great!
I'm doing one second year topic as an elective this semester, lovin' the fact that I can watch it online over the uni network, even better than just on video!
Third year topics at flinders don't get recoded, except for plain audio, and not all of them do. Getting a HD is a great start!!!
Better get to catching up. If it's any consolation, I have to re-teach myself how to use SPSS (a statistical analysis program, if you haven't encountered it before, you will!) to do my major project for research methods... Ewww!
They record most of the first and second year psych lectures at Flinders too - it's great!
I'm doing one second year topic as an elective this semester, lovin' the fact that I can watch it online over the uni network, even better than just on video!
Third year topics at flinders don't get recoded, except for plain audio, and not all of them do. Getting a HD is a great start!!!
Better get to catching up. If it's any consolation, I have to re-teach myself how to use SPSS (a statistical analysis program, if you haven't encountered it before, you will!) to do my major project for research methods... Ewww!