What Every Would-Be Psychologist Needs to Know

"I've been teaching Psychology at the college level since 1994. Near the start of many of my classes, I ask students to raise their hand if they came to college thinking that the words "Psychology" and " Therapy" were synonymous. Invariably, more hands go up than not. Most fresh college students seem to think that psychology simply is therapy. I know I thought that when I started as a Psychology major at the University of Connecticut in 1988."

"I was downright shocked at how scientific the field was. Neurotransmitters, Research Design, Standard Deviation, etc., etc. I had no idea how incredibly broad and varied this academic discipline actually is. Now that I am well over three decades teaching Psychology (to students at various levels and at nearly 10 different colleges and universities over the years), I have a much firmer grasp of what the field is really about."

"Behavioral Science versus Applied Psychology It turns out that huge part of Psychology is best termed as "behavioral science." That is because researchers who study human behavior (such as myself) are not therapists. And, as my late friend Joel Alexander (who did research on brain waves and aggression) once quipped, behavioral scientists like us typically couldn't counsel ourselves out of a paper bag! Applied psychology, on the other hand, focuses on ways to use findings from behavioral"

Many incoming college students assume psychology equals therapy. Psychology is a broad, scientific discipline that includes neuroscience, research design, statistics, and diverse subfields. Behavioral science centers on researching human behavior and typically does not involve providing therapy. Applied psychology focuses on using research findings in practical contexts. Extensive teaching experience across many institutions reveals the wide-ranging topics presented in introductory courses. Introductory Psychology exposes students to core concepts, empirical methods, and applied uses, helping clarify educational choices and career pathways through foundational knowledge of the field.

Read at Psychology Today