To break into the field of psychology, you need to hone many skills. But, just as in any other profession, certain skills are essential for success in your chosen career path and could also help you enjoy a hassle-free study experience at the university.
Perhaps, you are interested in a career in psychology but don't know where to start. This guide is for you. You will learn the right skills to develop for a successful career in psychology, the courses you should take, and much more.
Yes, there are many skilled jobs in Canada, and psychology is one of them. This means you must meet specific qualifications and gain some clinical experience to obtain a license for practice in the field. If you live outside Canada and are interested in a psychology degree program in any of its universities, now is the best time to get in.
What Should I Consider for Licensure in Psychology?
Psychologist jobs are not just in high demand in western countries but are also the highest paying. You could earn as much as $150,000 per year as a licensed psychologist. Fortunately, you can get licensed as a psychologist in Canada regardless of your country of origin as long as you meet the following licensing requirements.
- Provincial requirements
It's essential to check the licensing requirements of each province in Canada before you begin your psychology degree program. This will enable you to model your career to fit into the entry requirements of your preferred region.
To be eligible to work in more than one province, you must also meet these provinces' licensing requirements.
- Complete the supervised practical work experience
Aspiring psychologists are required to complete a one-year internship program after graduating. However, in most schools, the internship comes after the undergraduate program; in others, you must complete your doctorate.
After your internship, you must proceed for a supervised practical work experience. The time it takes spans from a few months to one year too. In all provinces, this is one of the requirements for obtaining a license for the practice.
- Complete a written Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)
The exam is necessary for all aspiring psychologists in Canada. You may have to answer questions relating to your area of specialty too. Failure to pass the exam may be seen as an inefficiency that may disqualify the student.
- Register with a regulatory body
To enable you to practice, it's necessary to register with a recognized body of trained psychologists in your province. Of course, you could also do this at the national level. But provincial bodies are usually preferable.
What Qualities Make a Good Psychologist?
Knowing the qualities of a good psychologist is invaluable before and during your study program at the university. Nevertheless, a trained psychologist should be a friend, teacher and mentor. Someone dependable can be trusted and doesn't give up on anyone.
A degree program in psychology will teach you the right skills you need to counsel clients and excel in your career. But the sky could be your starting point if you have these qualities.
Ethical Knowledge
Psychologists should know how to adhere to boundaries within their profession, so they don't cross the line of a professional relationship with a client. There are laws protecting actions such as developing a romantic relationship with clients or seeing clients during odd hours of the day.
Problem-Solving Abilities
Psychologists are trained to resist advising in the first instance. Instead, they patiently wait for the client to open up and discuss their life conditions. Then, the psychologist can identify discrepancies between life expectations and misaligned behavior. This step is necessary before discussing treatment plans and therapy procedures.
Patience
Trained psychologists realize the fact that misaligned behavior cannot be unlearned quickly. And certain mental disorders take time to fade out. That is why patience is one of the critical qualities aspiring psychologists must master to excel in the field.
Cross-Cultural Sensitivity
This is one of the qualities that make a psychologist stand out from a crowd of other experts. However, in this digital age, an aspiring psychologist must understand that a cookie-cutter diagnosis approach no longer works for myriads of patients. Therefore, the need to be socially conscious and understand how race, religion, societal beliefs, local customs and education influence the behavior of humans is necessary.
Skills Needed for a Psychologist Degree in Canada
Whether you hone an array of skillset or not, a psychology degree program in Canada will teach you a wide range of skills. In addition, the program's curriculum in many schools is designed to teach transferable and related psychological skills necessary for professional success.
Transferable Skill Set Needed for Psychology in Canada
Transferable skills are skills you can easily take with you from one job to the next. They are mostly soft skills that you do not have to learn all over again, even when you change your specialty within the industry or make a career change ultimately. Below are some of the skills that are transferable in and outside the profession.
- Critical writing and analytical skills
- Academic writing skills
- Presentation skills
- Leadership and organizational skills
- Time management skills
- Goal setting skills
Psychological Skills Needed for a Psychology Career in Canada
These skillsets are necessary for advancing in your career as a trained psychologist. Depending on your specialty in the industry, you may need to refine one or more of your psychological skills when you move from one job to another. This contrasts with soft skills that, once learned, stick with you for a lifetime.
Below are some of the necessary psychological skills to succeed in a psychology career.
- An understanding of the various disciplines in psychology, psychological research methods, data analysis and collection techniques.
- Knowledge of research ethics
- Knowledge of the various emotional, cognitive, psychological and social determinants of human behavior
- Specific knowledge related to your chosen field in the psychology profession in Canada.
What Courses Are Best for a Psychology Degree Program?
Have you ever wondered what courses go well with a psychology major? Perhaps, you want to strengthen your skillset and take courses online alongside your studies or even before you gain admission into the university.
Generally, courses focusing on human behavioral science work well for psych majors. But your goals shouldn't be to fulfill course requirements but to acquire the technical and psych skills and knowledge needed from these experts in the workplace.
As an undergraduate major, you may consider any of these courses below. However, your course work should be a priority if you minored in a specific branch or related area of psychology.
- Statistics
- History of Psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Experimental psychology
- Psychological psychology
- General Psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Abnormal psychology
- Personality psychology
- Social psychology
What Are Elective Courses for Psychology Majors?
Many students enrolled in a psychology degree program in Canada must take a few elective courses related to their specific interests or specialty in the field. For instance, if you want to focus on social psychology, you may consider elective courses in sociology, human relations, English studies, communication, health sciences and philosophy.
However, the most important thing to consider when choosing courses is to ensure they align perfectly with your career goals.
Do You Need Math Skills for Psychology?
Math is one of the courses psych majors must take during their degree programs in Canada. You may wonder what the study of the human mind and behavior got to do with math. But trained psychologists must possess critical thinking and analytical skills to excel in their profession.
Not just that, they must know how to collect and interpret data and perform various statistical calculations. That is why a basic knowledge of math is necessary. However, you may only take several math courses during the first year of your undergraduate program.
These math courses are an opportunity to sharpen your numeral skills and understand basic statistical methods, which may become handy when you launch your career and begin practice in Canada.
Is Psychology a Challenging Course?
It depends! Many trained psychologists in Canada would attest that the discipline is complex for students that venture into it unprepared. Also, high expectations and lack of focus could make even the most brilliant high school students struggle throughout their university days.
Psychological degree programs take an average of 10 years to complete from the graduate program to the doctorate level. Therefore, taking note of this length is essential before you kick-start your career. Also, the program is more straightforward for students who already possess the qualities psych experts need.
For instance, if you are good with math and English and possess analytical, communication and critical thinking abilities, you may find it easier to cope with the course requirements than another student who lacks these skills.
If you understand the skillset required from trained psychologists, you may excel in psychology degree study programs in Canada. So go ahead and explore the options available, sink yourself deep into skill acquisition and learning procedures and watch yourself crunching career goals like a piece of cake.
Learn everything about psychology degree programs in Canada.
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