Psychology degree

I am interested in helping others mentally , being a mentor to them particularly in areas of self improvement , discipline , motivation , self awareness etc and I also really enjoy to write and speak about these subjects , I would want to have my own practice someday where I could help and advise others mentally and people often ask me whether I study psychology and I have been thinking of studying psychology however the conflict I have with this is that I’m not a very scientific person . I am more a philosophical / soulful person in nature and with a psychology degree I fear that it will be all biological / scientific for me and I won’t enjoy myself and I’m not so keen on all those sorts of research with the human brain as I just prefer theory around psychology and this “theory” that I enjoy is often philosophical and very deep . I know that psychology has different jobs you can go into which draws me to study it on that basis as well but I’m wondering whether for someone like myself would it be better to have a psychology degree or to just find some courses outside of uni around things like coaching , mentoring etc instead?

Reply 1

BankaiGintoki

21

Original post by _np02_

I am interested in helping others mentally , being a mentor to them particularly in areas of self improvement , discipline , motivation , self awareness etc and I also really enjoy to write and speak about these subjects , I would want to have my own practice someday where I could help and advise others mentally and people often ask me whether I study psychology and I have been thinking of studying psychology however the conflict I have with this is that I’m not a very scientific person . I am more a philosophical / soulful person in nature and with a psychology degree I fear that it will be all biological / scientific for me and I won’t enjoy myself and I’m not so keen on all those sorts of research with the human brain as I just prefer theory around psychology and this “theory” that I enjoy is often philosophical and very deep . I know that psychology has different jobs you can go into which draws me to study it on that basis as well but I’m wondering whether for someone like myself would it be better to have a psychology degree or to just find some courses outside of uni around things like coaching , mentoring etc instead?

See https://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/study/subject-area/art-ug/ba-art-and-psychology
All psychology degrees are not all science based

Reply 2

Nerol

21

Original post by _np02_

I am interested in helping others mentally , being a mentor to them particularly in areas of self improvement , discipline , motivation , self awareness etc and I also really enjoy to write and speak about these subjects , I would want to have my own practice someday where I could help and advise others mentally and people often ask me whether I study psychology and I have been thinking of studying psychology however the conflict I have with this is that I’m not a very scientific person . I am more a philosophical / soulful person in nature and with a psychology degree I fear that it will be all biological / scientific for me and I won’t enjoy myself and I’m not so keen on all those sorts of research with the human brain as I just prefer theory around psychology and this “theory” that I enjoy is often philosophical and very deep . I know that psychology has different jobs you can go into which draws me to study it on that basis as well but I’m wondering whether for someone like myself would it be better to have a psychology degree or to just find some courses outside of uni around things like coaching , mentoring etc instead?

The kind of thing you are describing might fit better with training in psychotherapy. There are many different therapeutic approaches and you don't need a psychology degree to train in them. Looking into training as a counsellor could be a good first step. I trained in person-centred counselling first, which you may be interested in. You can then look into other psychotherapies that interest you.

Reply 3

Dana_UoEOnline

4

Hello,

Do not worry about the "scientific" aspects of psychology. There are many fields of psychology including biological psychology, cognitive psychology, clinical (which is what you may wish to pursue) and forensic psychology. There are so many theories in psychology too, even for the fields I mentioned, some are sociological, others are biological. For example, what makes a person develop a personality? Personality can have biological (genetics) or sociological (environmental) causes. The causes of criminal behaviour can have those reasons alongside socioeconomic factors and mental health issues. Essentially, a bachelor's in psychology has many interesting and stimulating subjects. Once you do your postgraduate (master's/doctorate), that's when you can specialise in what you want to do, which appears to be clinical psychology.

Hope this clarifies things for you. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck :h:

All the best,
Dana Kafoud
4th-year BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology student

Reply 4

Lord Asriel

11

If you look at any BPS accredited basic undergrad psychology degree you will be required to do quite a bit of research methods, stats, cognitive and biological psychology. It is very academic and theoretical and will have nothing in terms of coaching or mentoring (and certainly not advising) as part of the degree. I cannot imagine it would be easy for you spending 3 years doing just that, with no definite guarantee of doing anything applied psychology related, when you could be going down counselling, mentoring or other routes that are more connected to your interests and far less competitive or demanding.

Reply 5

University of East London

Official Rep

11

Original post by _np02_

I am interested in helping others mentally , being a mentor to them particularly in areas of self improvement , discipline , motivation , self awareness etc and I also really enjoy to write and speak about these subjects , I would want to have my own practice someday where I could help and advise others mentally and people often ask me whether I study psychology and I have been thinking of studying psychology however the conflict I have with this is that I’m not a very scientific person . I am more a philosophical / soulful person in nature and with a psychology degree I fear that it will be all biological / scientific for me and I won’t enjoy myself and I’m not so keen on all those sorts of research with the human brain as I just prefer theory around psychology and this “theory” that I enjoy is often philosophical and very deep . I know that psychology has different jobs you can go into which draws me to study it on that basis as well but I’m wondering whether for someone like myself would it be better to have a psychology degree or to just find some courses outside of uni around things like coaching , mentoring etc instead?

Hi,

I hope you are doing well.

UEL offers BSc Psychology and applications can be made using the following link: https://uel.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/bsc-hons-psychology

UEL holds Open Events for applicants to speak to Academics, current students and other UEL staff. These events can be booked using the following link: https://uel.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-open-days

You can also speak to Student Ambassadors studying your course. They can be reached using the following website:
Chat to our students | University of East London (uel.ac.uk)

For further information, please feel free to contact Applicant Engagement via telephone on 0208 223 3333.

-Anisha

Psychology degree

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