Clinical Psychology: Career Pathway

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Introduction
Findings
Conclusion and Recommendations
References

Executive Summary

The report aims to explain what my ideal job, a clinical psychologist, is about and what one needs to achieve to work in this sphere. For convenience, the paper is divided into logical parts, namely:

Introduction;
Findings (ideal industry overview, the ideal job, skills and knowledge pathways, education and training pathways, job prospects);
Conclusion and recommendations.

To make the analysis of the ideal industry more thorough, findings from scholarly literature and current data have been included in the report. The paper is a concise and convenient way of explaining why clinical psychology is a significant sphere of work and what qualities one must possess to become a true specialist in this field. The skills necessary for clinical psychologists, education requirements, and career prospects are outlined. In the end, a self-assessment and recommendations are given.

Introduction

The purpose of the report is to present an overview of the ideal job and industry in which I would like to work in the future. For me, such a job is a clinical psychologist, and the industry is psychology. To prepare this report, the analysis of current scholarly literature on the selected job has been performed. Additionally, relevant data concerning the requirements, salary, and training pathways are offered. The report consists of several parts: introduction, findings, and conclusions and recommendations. The most extensive sector is findings since it discusses the ideal industry and job, the skills and knowledge necessary for it, education pathways, and job prospects. In the concluding section, a self-assessment of skills is performed, and the readiness for the ideal job is analysed.

Findings

Ideal Industry Overview

My ideal industry is psychology, and it is both an exciting and challenging career to pursue. Psychologists’ professional duties include the analysis of people’s emotional, cognitive, and social mechanisms by means of observation, documentation, and interpretation of individuals’ behaviour (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.). Findings of these professionals’ work are employed to enhance the demeanour and mental processes of various people. Working as a psychologist presupposes the fulfilment of many duties, which include the following:

performing scientific observation and analysis of brain function and behavior;
conducting interviews and surveys with clients;
diagnosing cognitive disorders by means of identifying psychological problems;
investigating and establishing emotional patterns of clients;
discussing the options of treatment with individuals;
testing clients for patterns that will promote a better understanding of their behaviour;
collaborating with other healthcare specialists to increase the opportunities for individuals to improve their cognitive functions;
performing research, publishing articles, and exchanging experience (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.).

The major authority publication for psychologists is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This manual contains the detailed description of psychological disorders, which makes it easier to identify the client’s problem. The work of psychologists is hard but extremely rewarding since these professionals help people to cope with crucial issues that prevent them from living a high-quality life.

Ideal Job

There are different types of psychologists, but my ideal job is a clinical psychologist. These specialists evaluate, diagnose, and offer treatment to behavioural, emotional, and mental disorders (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.). Clinical psychology is one of the most popular career fields nowadays, but it is also very demanding and competitive (Knaffo, Keisner, & Fiammenghi, 2015). In clinical psychology, people seeking help are mostly referred to as clients and service-users rather than patients (Jones & Hartley, 2015). The reasons for such a choice of language is that the word “patient” presupposes a passive participant of the treatment process, whereas clinical psychologists encourage their clients to collaborate and take an active part in the process of recovery.

Llewelyn and Murphy (2014) identify the following core competencies of clinical psychologists: assessment, formulation, intervention, evaluation, research, communication (consultation) and service delivery, and leadership. One of the major functions of a clinical psychologist is creating behaviour modification programs for their clients (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.). This job is extremely diverse and requires much training (Murphy & Llewelyn, 2014). However, people who truly aspire to help others turn difficulties into challenges and bravely overcome them.

Skills and Knowledge Pathways

There is a variety of skills necessary to obtain for those who wish to work as clinical psychologists. First of all, one should have profound analytical skills that involve analysing the collected data and drawing logical conclusions (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.). Next, clinical psychology specialists should have perfect communication skills since their work presupposes much speaking with and listening to clients. Integrity is also vital for this profession, and this skill is responsible for trustworthy relationships between the psychologist and service-users. Besides, clinical psychologists should be patient, which will encourage them to persist in their research and treatment efforts.

Other crucial knowledge pathways include problem-solving, interpersonal, and observational skills (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.). Interpersonal proficiency is necessary to arrange the work with clients at the highest level. Problem-solving abilities are employed when gathering data, designing research, and seeking solutions to clients’ problems. The talent to observe is useful when a specialist needs to investigate clients’ attitudes by means of inspecting their behaviour. Besides skills, clinical psychologists need to follow ethical guidelines (Murphy & Llewelyn, 2014). The major values are dignity and worth of clients, and the main standards to meet are integrity, responsibility, competence, and respect.

Education and Training Pathways

To become a clinical psychologist, one needs to obtain specific education. The first step in gaining the necessary skills and knowledge is completing a Bachelor’s Degree (“What does,” n.d.). Currently, there are no clinical psychology baccalaureate programs, but one can choose to study psychology, sociology, or even anthropology for a starter (“What does,” n.d.). The next step is a Master’s Degree, and this one already has a specific program for clinical psychologists. However, specialists at this level can only work as industrial-organisational psychologists (“Psychologists: Career,” n.d.).

At the doctoral level, clinical psychology students have two options: earning a Doctor of Philosophy or a Doctor of Psychology. The first path is most suitable for those who intend to concentrate on research, whereas the second alternative develops the skills needed for consulting service-users in a clinical setting (“What does,” n.d.). Apart from writing a dissertation, a student needs to complete one or two years of internship under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist. Depending on the selected area of work, a student may also choose to complete supplementary clinical training (“What does,” n.d.). Finally, a crucial requirement for a clinical psychologist is obtaining a license and retaining it (“What does,” n.d.).

Job Prospects

There are several major career prospects for clinical psychologists in Australia, each of them having a different salary range and requirements. For instance, one can work in psychology services as one’s first or second main position (Mathews, Stokes, & Grenyer, n.d.). Out of nearly 12,000 psychologists that responded to a survey, 84.5% are fully registered psychologists, and 15.5% hold provisional registration (Mathews et al., n.d.). The distribution of being a psychologist as the main job is almost equal for the private and public sectors: 52% and 48%, accordingly (Mathews et al., n.d.).

There is no direct evidence of job prospects in the career of a clinical psychologist, but generally, the job in the sphere of psychology in Australia is quite promising (“Job prospects in psychology,” 2013). In particular, this area is in the top 10% of all careers in what concerns the future development. The field of psychology in Australia has a low unemployment rate and offers high earnings (“Job prospects in psychology,” 2013). Almost 65% of Australian psychologists work for Health and Community Services. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) employs many psychologists: while the ACT holds 1.8% of all Australian jobs, it has 2.2% of all psychology positions in the country (“Job prospects in psychology,” 2013). Another advantageous region for employment is Victoria which holds 24.8% of all jobs and 37.4% of psychology positions (“Job prospects in psychology,” 2013).

Conclusion and Recommendations

Presently, I am on my way to reaching the ideal job. I am studying to obtain a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences, and then I intend to complete a Master’s Degree in Psychology. However, besides education, I realise that I need to develop many crucial skills and receive training. I must admit that I should dedicate more efforts to communication and analytical skills. Also, I must enhance my integrity and patience abilities.

In the context of the present assessment, I would make the following recommendations for myself:

engage more in scholarly work to improve analytical skills;
spend more time listening to people and trying to identify the reasons for their psychological problems to develop communication and observational skills;
perform problem-solving activities to train my knowledge and resilience;
read more professional literature and get acquainted with evidence-based practice in clinical psychology.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Job prospects in psychology. (2013). Web.

Jones, F., & Hartley, S. (2015). What does a clinical psychologist do? In G. Davey, N. Lake, & A. Whittington (Eds.), Clinical psychology (2nd ed.) (pp. 3-13). New York, NY: Routledge.

Knaffo, D., Keisner, R., & Fiammenghi, S. (2015). Introduction. In D. Knaffo, R. Keisner, & S. Fiammenghi (Eds.), Becoming a clinical psychologist: Personal stories of doctoral training (pp. 1-10). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Llewelyn, S., & Murphy, D. (2014). Competencies and models in clinical psychology. In S. Llewelyn & D. Murphy (Eds.), What is clinical psychology? (5th ed.) (pp. 17-36). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Mathews, R., Stokes, D., & Grenyer, B. (n.d.). A snapshot of the Australian psychology workforce. Web.

Murphy, D., & Llewelyn, S. (2014). Introduction: What is clinical psychology? In S. Llewelyn & D. Murphy (Eds.), What is clinical psychology? (5th ed.) (pp. 1-16). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Psychologists: Career, salary and education information. (n.d.). Web.

What does a clinical psychologist do? (n.d.). Web.

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