While a lot of college students end up with a major in Psychology more as a default than for any solid reason, the degree is actually rather versatile.
So what should you do with a psychology degree?
Well, one thing is for sure: it beats the major of 18th Century French Literature any day when it comes to finding a job!
There are at least ten career paths that you can follow to a rewarding, satisfying, and lucrative life.
Here are ten careers you can obtain with a psychology degree; salary information is also included.
10. Case Management
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Case managers are the people who have the most direct contact with mental health patients who need help with everything from housing and jobs to dealing with social relationships and life in the community.
The case managers are responsible for determining the needs of the patient and making sure care plans are implemented and for teaching the patient how to function in the community.
Case managers are also always in demand in caring for long term care patients, mostly the elderly, but also for younger patients with problems such as closed head trauma or paraplegia, especially those who are living in the community as opposed to nursing facilities. Many training programs are available, helping potential case managers learn to deal with patients in their own unique social situations. The average salary runs around $42,000 per year.
9. Career Counseling
You will find a wide variety of functions here. High schools and colleges employ career counsellors to help their students find their way through the incredibly complex real world after school is finished.
Taking the individual’s desires and goals into account, the counsellor must correlate the student’s strengths and weaknesses as demonstrated by school records, extracurricular activities and teacher evaluations, with the counsellor’s expertise in the job market.
Besides student counselling, many counsellors work with people who have lost their jobs, are dissatisfied with their present job, have been out of the market for many years, or immigrants to the country.
There is no standardised training for this form of counselling, although some schools are starting to offer courses, especially online.
The average salary will vary with location and setting, but runs around $54,000 per year.
8. Rehabilitation Specialist
Accidents that result in amputations, strokes resulting in paralysis, trauma causing physical or emotional disabilities that make continuing a normal life impossible: all these situations produce people who can no longer function normally.
The rehabilitation specialist works with individuals who are facing terrifying losses, especially of independence, as a result of their disease process or trauma, helping them to learn new ways of functioning and helping them to adjust psychologically to their losses. They work in a variety of settings, including long term care facilities, outpatient clinics and day care centres for adults. The number of new cases each year makes this career a particularly indispensable job in today’s world.
The salary usually runs about $41,500, depending on geographic location.
7. Psychiatric Technician
Psychiatric technicians generally work in hospitals or long term care facilities. They are responsible for directly evaluating patients with mental health problems, whether those problems are the result of psychiatric conditions or disease processes, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases.
After training in pharmacology, as well as psychology, the psych techs are able to gauge the need for and administer medications. They learn intervention techniques to handle sometimes explosive situations, especially in Emergency Departments, as well as methods to implement therapies.
Functioning as essential members of the psychiatric team, they work closely with psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses in deciding on therapeutic plans. Another of the answers to the essential question, what to do with a psychology degree, psychiatric technicians earn about $31,000 per year.
