Work experience for Psychology

Hii
So I have recently started year 12 and am taking: Biology, Psychology and Media for my A-levels.
I am certain that I want to go into a field in psychology most likely as a CBT therapist.
I have been researching and haven't found any work experience for psychology or mental health related.
Someone, please help me!!

Reply 1

TSR Jessica

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Are you sure you've posted in the right place? :smile:

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses if you post there. :redface:

Reply 2

zalaxyn

Hi! I graduated from Psychology in uni this year! If you want the experience to help you get into a psychology degree, what matters the most is that you really need to express your interest and motivation for choosing psychology in your personal statement. I heard others say the same and many people on my course had 0 experience when they started. (Might be because of covid at the time for me but I don't think that should affect your chances)

However, if you really want to gain experience, it would be good to do some volunteering, like from charities that support mental health, special needs or vulnerable people. Since you want to become a therapist you will need to have the ability to interact with diverse people, something to show that you care for the community, and communication skills too.

I was also really lucky because I knew someone who worked in a special needs school and was able to arrange for me to work shadow them (I ended up assisting a bit bc they were short staffed one time). I am also aware NHS does some work experience weeks for y12-13, heard they are competitive but I think it will be great experience since its exposure to the NHS.

They don't have to be very obviously related to psychology or mental health, but really give it a think about how your skills and different experiences are going to help you as a psychologist. Hope that helps!

Reply 3

McGinger

You dont need work experience for Psychology.
Its an academic degree and that is what you need to focus on - extra reading, and moocs to give you examples of academic topics within Psych to discuss in your PS.

Suggestions :
Oxford - PPL suggested reading list (ox.ac.uk) (good for all Unis)
KCL - Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Reading List | King's College Cambridge (good for all Unis)

Free short online courses (Moocs) -
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology - Psychology Course - FutureLearn
Introduction to Psychology Course (Yale) | Coursera
Social Psychology Course (Wesleyan) | Coursera

Good BBC podcasts -
BBC Radio 4 - All in the Mind - Available now

Reply 4

dvszcx

Original post by ammy.xuu

Hi! For Psychology Undergraduate there is no need to find work experience! But if you want to enrich your CV then you should start with volunteering before looking for jobs. In health sectors there is lots of requirement that is based on experience, which you can only acquire through volunteering. Hope that helps!