Psychology field for counseling/advising?

<p>What would be the best field of psychology to specialize in order to become a high school/college/life counselor (or advisor) or cognitive therapist?</p>

<p>My school's psychology department offers:
Psychometrics
Experimental Psychology
Psychobiology
Developmental Psychology
Social Psychology
Personality/Transpersonal Psychology
Adjustment/Clinical (not to keep in working in a medical-field, though)
Community/Cultural Psychology</p>

<p>If you would want more information on the courses my college offers via field, University</a> of Hawaii at Manoa Catalog here.</p>

<p>I currently am a freshman here and taking PSY 100 where we will probably learn about each type of psychology more, but I want to start planning my 4-year schedule now.</p>

<p>Though some undergraduate psychology programs might offer subspecialty tracks in neuroscience, cognitive science, or developmental psychology, usually one does not specialize at the undergraduate level. If you look at the bachelor’s degree programs in the psychology department at your school, you will see that this is the case. The various subspecialties that you listed in your post appear to be graduate concentrations. When I checked the department website, I found a different list of graduate concentrations: Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical, Cognitive, Community/Cultural, Developmental, Experimental Psychopathology, and Social/ Personality. </p>

<p>Premature specialization at the undergraduate level is not recommended. A broad exposure to the various subfields of psychology is the best preparation for graduate studies. Once you complete your undergraduate studies, if you want to become a counselor, you could apply to a graduate program in counseling (master’s level) or counseling psychology (doctoral level). These programs are found as free-standing departments (usually, in a school of education) or as a subspecialty (in a psychology department.) Sometimes, they are found as a subspecialty program in a department of educational psychology (in a school of education). </p>

<p>School counseling is usually a master’s-level program found in schools of education or as a subspecialty within a master’s level counseling program. You also might consider graduate programs in school psychology (which offers master’s, specialist, or doctoral degrees).</p>

<p>If you want to be a cognitive therapist, you should enter a graduate program in counseling (master’s or doctoral level) or a graduate program in clinical psychology (though there are master’s programs, independent practice requires a doctoral degree–either PhD or PsyD).</p>

<p>If you want to become a counselor in a college, you would follow the counseling pathway indicated above. For somewhat different aspect of college counseling, you might do a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education & student personnel (in a school of education). </p>

<p>I did not see a counseling program at the UH Manoa campus, either in the psychology department or the college of education. At the Hilo campus, a master’s program in counseling is offered with a subspecialty option in school counseling. <a href=“http://counseling.uhh.hawaii.edu/[/url]”>Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology;

<p>It can get confusing since there are many different mental health and education professions that might be involved in counseling. Also, the units in which a graduate program is located or the title of the program/degree varies across different universities. You’re only at the beginning of your studies, so you will eventually figure it out. You should talk to your professors if you have additional questions.</p>

<p>For the undergraduate degree I know it isn’t possible to choose a specialization, but my courses will most likely need to be limited to one or two specializations rather than having the same amount of courses in each field.
I’m double majoring so I won’t be able to spend all my elective credits on all branches of psychology, that’s why.</p>

<p>If I’m reading the requirements for the degree correctly, it sounds like you’ll be forced to get at least some exposure to different fields in psychology through this requirement:</p>

<p>One course from three of these four psychology foundation areas:
Experimental (PSY X2X courses), e.g., PSY 220, 322, 324
Psychobiology (PSY X3X courses), e.g., PSY 230, 331, 333
Developmental (PSY X4X courses), e.g., PSY 240, 341, 342
Social or Personality (PSY X5X or PSY X6X courses), e.g., PSY 250, 260, 352</p>

<p>In addition to that, I’d recommend that you not worry so much about which field you should be taking classes in. Take the courses that you find interesting, sound relevant to what you would like to do, and fit into your schedule. Perhaps, you could look at the requirements of some counseling programs and see if they require or recommend the completion of certain subjects as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>For instance, instead of worrying about taking classes in Experimental Psychology, look at the particular course descriptions and see if it interests you or would be relevant to your future interests. If you’d like to be a cognitive therapist, then PSY 325 (Cognitive Psychology) sounds like it would be useful to you, but PSY 622 (Animal Learning) might not be as relevant. They’re both in the experimental psychology section, but some courses might be more relevant to you than others.</p>

<p>So take it on a course by course basis and see what courses are being offered and when. If you’re interested in school counseling, I’d recommend that you take courses in developmental psychology (particularly that of children). If you’re interested in cognitive behavioral therapy, I’d recommend courses in cognitive and behavioral psychology. If you’re interested in counseling at all, I always recommend taking abnormal psychology because I think it’s a really helpful course to have, even if you aren’t intending to have a clinical practice.</p>