Hi, I am trying to become a psychology high school teacher and also do school counseling. I researched a lot and came across too many different things. I am from NY and I am applying to Manhattan College for my Bachelor’s in Psychology. I just do not know what steps to take in order to fully become a certified psychology teacher. I’m confused as if I should also major in another subject due to the fact that some school will not hire a full time teacher for one class. Also do I finish getting my psychology degree and teaching certificate then go back to school for my masters in school counseling. I am just SO overwhelmed with all of this. Someone help me 
I would appreciate it a lot.
In addition to your bachelor’s degree, you would need to meet the requirements for teacher certification. If you intend to teach in NY State, check these requirements at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/certprocess.html.
The teacher certification website is somewhat confusing, so start with the links in the lefthand sidebar (beginning with “Certification from Start to Finish”).
To Become a Teacher
Option 1: While pursuing an undergrad major in psychology, you also might consider an additional major in education, but it might be too difficult to complete both majors at the same time.
Option 2: After completing your bachelor’s degree , you could complete a master’s degree for your teacher certification.
I’m unclear whether there is subject certification specifically in psychology, or whether it gets lumped in with a category like “social studies”. It wouldn’t hurt to be able to teach another subject.
You might also consider an undergrad major in special ed. It wouldn’t lead to teaching psychology, but it would result in teacher certification, and some areas of special ed might be useful background for later pursuing a master’s in school counseling.
To Become a School Counselor:
Option 1: After completing a bachelor’s degree, complete a master’s degree in school counseling. Not all master’s program will require that your undergraduate major is psychology, but it is usually an advantage.
Option 2: Become a teacher, and complete a part-time master’s program in school counseling while you are working as a teacher and/or in the summers. Classroom teaching would provide useful experience for a school counselor, and this is a pathway many school counselors take.
School counselors require a separate certification from NY State. You can find the requirements on the same website listed above.
Once you enroll in college, you can talk to faculty in the college’s education dept. for more information about the pathways for teacher and counselor certification.
I don’t know that anyone becomes a psychology high school teacher exclusively. There typically aren’t enough psychology classes in a typical high school to teach exclusively psychology at that level. When I was in high school, the psychology (and sociology) courses were taught by teachers who were certified in something else and primarily taught something else (usually history/civics/government, but occasionally English). So I think your best path would be to go in to teach something else, like history/social studies, and try to work at a school that also offers psychology courses that you could teach.
Also, most school counselors don’t teach classes. You’d have to decide whether you want to be a school counselor or whether you want to teach. I think that being a school counselor is a more viable career path since most schools won’t hire you to teach just psychology.
Manhattan College has a teacher preparation program (https://manhattan.edu/academics/education/education). You would get the Adolescent Education certification for grades 7-12. There is a social studies concentration, but a quick look at most NYS social studies education requirements (including Manhattan’s) shows that they focus primarily on history with a bit of political science and geography. They are definitely intended to prepare teachers to teach history, civics, government, that kind of thing. Manhattan’s curriculum doesn’t even require psychology other than education of psychology, which is intended to prepare you for classroom management and understanding how to transmit information, not teach psychology.
If you want to be a school counselor, you’d major in psychology (or anything, really; it doesn’t matter, but psychology is an obvious choice) and then go to get a master’s degree (usually an M.Ed) in school counseling from a program that leads to licensure in the state in which you want to work. You don’t need a teaching certificate to be a school counselor; you need a counseling certificate. Some schools in the New York City area that offer M.Ed programs in school counseling are Hunter College, St. John’s, SUNY-New Paltz, Hofstra, and Teachers College.
Another alternative is school psychology. School psychologists basically counsel students and help teachers and students by drawing up individualized education programs for students. You’d have to get a master’s (in a specialist-level program, approved by the National Association of School Psychologists) or a PhD to do that. But it’s the same path - you’d major in psychology in undergrad and then get the masters and the certification later.