How To Survive In The Working World Of Psychologists
Due in part to awareness about the importance of mental health and emotional well-being in all its facets, psychology is currently one of the professions that is rapidly diversifying and creating new areas of work. Not only in the clinical context, but also in the world of Human Resources, in sports, in education, in supporting personal development processes, and even in communication and marketing.
However, this does not mean by any means that any psychologist will have a very easy time prospering professionally once they finish their university degree; Global and social trends are one thing, and the experience of each individual person is another. If we do not know how to take advantage of the opportunities that the labor market offers us, having a university graduate or a bachelor’s degree is of no use.
Therefore, in this article we will review the keys to surviving in the working world of psychologists based on the idea that our professional profile is a project towards which we must maintain a proactive attitude and that opportunities do not come if we do not look for them.
Tips to survive in the working world of psychologists
These are the guidelines and strategies to follow to achieve your goals when facing the world of work in the field of psychology.
1. Continuous training is essential, not an option
Continuing education is essential for any behavioral science professional; We must not forget that although it is very positive that a lot of interesting research is published every year, this means that it is very easy to become outdated if we do not update ourselves.
Furthermore, as we learn more about the human mind and the different areas of life, we are able to develop more specific and concrete intervention techniques and strategies adapted to each situation.
Continuing to train after finishing the degree and carrying out any type of specialization will help us not only to better understand the working reality of psychologists, it is also essential to ensure that our clients and/or patients find quality services in our office and that adapt to your needs, instead of being based on general and too abstract principles
There are many ways to specialize once we have graduated from university, and there are many training options available to us: from specialization master’s degrees, training courses of all kinds, workshops, congresses, conferences, etc. Furthermore, training can currently be a very flexible process and easy to combine with work, thanks to the online training proposals offered by organizations such as the Mediterranean School of Psychology.
2. Maintain contact with other professionals
Psychology is a discipline that almost always involves collaboration between various professionals from the same sector or from other areas, all with the aim of serving any client with whom we are working in the best possible way. This involves both having relatively informal conversations with other psychologists on a frequent basis, and being able to resort to supervision services for psychologists when the case we are working on requires it.
Keep in touch with other professionals in our same sector or specialization It is one of the main keys that psychologists have to continue learning spontaneously, practically without trying. This is not limited to us coming into contact with techniques that can be very useful in our daily practice; It also means that interesting business ideas and collaborations may even arise. We must not forget that social capital is a very important resource to achieve professional goals.
3. Create a brand image
The creation of a personal brand image, a process known as “personal branding”, is of great importance if we want to become relevant professionals for the public and also if we want to make it as easy as possible for our potential clients to contact us. It will even help us have a stronger position when negotiating with companies (since we will not depend so much on being employed).
Currently, there are many professionals who can help us create our brand image, as well as position ourselves effectively on the Internet, one of the tasks to which we must dedicate more attention if we want to reach the largest number of people possible.
In the field of psychology, as in any other profession, it is essential to have good positioning on the Internet and not depend exclusively on word of mouth to attract clients to our practice. And to do this, once again, it is essential to train ourselves in communication aspects that go beyond techniques to deal with third-party problems.
4. Self-knowledge to learn what truly motivates us
Any psychologist who wants to achieve success in his profession should specialize and train in the areas that he really likes or that attract his attention, that is, in those areas of intervention that constitute his true vocation. Not only because this has clear implications for our level of well-being and ease of being happy; In addition, it represents a competitive advantage. We learn in a much more efficient way from those topics that we like, that connect with our way of being
Nowadays, and thanks to online training, there is a very varied offer of options to specialize from home, so that the offer of courses, postgraduate courses and Master’s degrees is no longer limited to what is available near where we live.
This means that we should not be satisfied only with what the universities and psychology schools in our area offer us, but rather that we should carry out an exhaustive search for any type of training offered online that fits our desires and needs.
5. Learn about things related to our main occupation
To survive in the psychology labor market, it is always recommended to offer those services related to the area in which we have specialized, which is why it is very useful to train specifically in topics that are not too disconnected from the main type of services that we already have. we offer.
This means, for example, that generally if a psychologist has specialized in child therapy, it is better that he dedicate his “extra” efforts to developing courses and workshops for groups of parents of young children, than to offering group therapy. for people with addictions. The labor market privileges those who have a clear professional profile that is easy to understand quickly
Although social and communication skills are essential in any workplace, in the profession of psychologist these elements are even more essential to successfully carry out our work. At the end of the day, the human touch that we apply to our work will make a difference, and we must be able to communicate it and translate it through fluid social interactions that make people feel comfortable with us.
There are many social skills that we have to interact with the people in our environment or with our clients, and among the most important we can highlight active listening, the ability to provide support without prejudging and the ability to synthesize to know how to “read between the lines” of what we are told.
You may be interested: “Active listening: the key to communicating with others”
7. Self-confidence
Although in the first stages of work things do not go as well as we would like, due to the low flow of clients we have at the beginning of our professional journey, it is vitally important that we continue believing in ourselves, in our possibilities and that we do not let us get discouraged at no time. And that It goes hand in hand with accepting our limitations and testing ourselves through constant learning
Hard and constant work, as in any other profession, will sooner or later pay off if we are able to see opportunities to learn in our imperfections.
In conclusion…
Hard and constant work, as in any other profession, will sooner or later pay off if we are able to see opportunities to learn in our imperfections. If you are currently interested in improving your professional career to have greater job opportunities, we recommend continuing your training.
The Mediterranean School of Psychology It has Masters, Postgraduate and Higher Courses that will allow you to specialize in the areas of psychology that you like most such as Neuropsychology, Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology, or Human Resources.
