How to Become a Clinical Psychologist?

In the present times where the urge to earn more and more money and soar higher in the competition, it becomes easy to fall prey to mental illnesses and disorders. Each one of us has some off days wherein we do not feel like ourselves and start feeling weird, owing to endless problems, stress and tension hovering around our mind. These feelings generally do not endure within us for a long time and after a while, we come back to being normal. However, there are times when these thoughts and feelings refuse to bequeath us, and what we are left with is negativity and mental disorders. This is why the demand for clinical psychology is rising exponentially. Owing to enormous career prospects and opportunities in this branch of psychology, more and more people are flocking towards pursuing various clinical psychology courses. If you are intrigued by how clinical psychology works and want to work towards the well-being of others, this blog is just for you. Wondering about how to become a clinical psychologist? Read on to know more about it. 

What does Clinical Psychologist do?

Prominent since the 19th century, clinical psychology is one such specialisation which was widely recognized and respected among the public. Clinical psychologists are the ones who are responsible for examining, diagnosing and providing psychological treatment to the people or a specific group facing some kind of mental abnormalities and disorders. Through their extensive knowledge and skills acquired during their clinical training, these professionals help their clients or patients improve their mental well being which further leads to a better quality of life and confidence to deal with future problems. A licensed clinical psychologist administers and evaluates various personality and cognitive mental tests and accordingly prepares the treatment plan along with psychotherapy if needed. 

How to Become a Clinical Psychologist?

Becoming a clinical psychologist is not a piece of cake as it seems to be. It takes a lot of patience, dedication, hard work and consistency to become one. Given below is the chronological step-wise procedure on how to fulfil your dream into becoming a successful psychologist.

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor’s degree

Starting off from the scratch level, the first step towards becoming a clinical psychologist is to pursue a bachelor’s degree with a major in psychology. Through pursuing a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree, you will be introduced to all the basic fundamental concepts of psychology and that’s when you will be able to decide whether clinical psychology is the ideal field for you or not. The undergraduate degrees will be able to provide the students with the required coursework that will build a strong foundation and work as a prerequisite for further studies in your field of interest.

Having a duration of about 3 to 4 years, the following are some of the most popular and sought-after undergraduate courses in clinical psychology:

• Premedical course (foundational) for Clinical Psychology
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
• Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
• Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
• Bachelor of Education (BEd)

Step 2: Gain Work Experience

After you complete your undergraduate degree, certain higher-level programs require a considerable amount of work experience in the same field you are pursuing. Upon successful graduation, you can take part in various research projects or internship programs where you can not only get just theoretical knowledge but also hands-on practical knowledge. Through these activities, you can determine what being a clinical psychologist is like and you get to know their daily activities and how do they administer their psychological treatments to the patients. Apart from internships and projects, you can also look for some clubs and active groups on psychological health and like wherein you get to network yourself and get additional knowledge, outside your books and classrooms.

Step 3: Get a Postgraduate Degree

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The next and most important step towards becoming a clinical psychologist is to pursue a master’s degree wherein you will actually start your focus on this specialization. After completing your 2-3 year master’s degree, if you want to be a licensed professional, then it is a must to complete your doctorate degree. A PhD program within your domain of interest would generally take 4 to 5 years to complete. 

Given below are some popular masters degree programs which you might want to consider.

• MSc Clinical Psychology
• Master of Science Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
• Master in Clinical Mental Health Counselling
• Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology (Marriage and Family Therapy)
• Master of Science in Abnormal and Clinical Psychology
• Master of Science Clinical Psychology and Psychological Empowerment
• Master of Science in Clinical Health Psychology
• Master in Clinical Neuropsychology
• Master in Clinical Psychology

Opting for a postgraduate program is a useful step whether you want to either practice as a clinical psychologist or want to pursue a career as an academician. Upon receiving your license for practising as a clinical psychologist, you can complete further clinical training in order to get a hand of practical knowledge in various areas of employment.  

We hope that we have provided you with all the information related to becoming a Clinical Psychology with this blog. If you are looking for a career in psychology and want to study abroad, then get in touch with mentors at Leverage Edu and we will help you gain insight into everything you need to know about the specialization and help you get admission into your dream university.