What is it like being a Psychologist in California?

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While many people may go into the field of psychology to help, the likelihood of being hired to do so in California is getting slim for psychologists both with PhD’s and without. This is mostly due to Psychology being such a specialized field and versatility not being a highlight of studies or services.

Overview

Psychology is the study of the mind and psychologists are mind detectives. It is their job to figure out how the brain is working in individuals and systems. The popular perception is that a psychologist provides clinical therapy and this most often is not the case. Most psychologists who work outside of the laboratory setting provides testing and analysis to find out what sorts of clinical therapies would be most useful for individuals.

Psychologists in California are mostly employed to administer tests such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) or the Interpersonal Relations Questionnaire (IRQ).

Psychologists mostly find themselves employed by schools and they generally specialize in school Psychology. They are there to administer intelligence and behavioral standardized testing and to oversee special programs. Often, people mistakenly believe a school psychologist provides counseling to students, but this is mostly done by the school counselor or if necessary, outside agencies contracted with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the school district.

School Psychologists will find themselves sitting in on Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) to ensure along with teachers, school administrators, parents, social workers and other people that a child’s needs are being met.

Duties of Psychologists in California

Psychologist also perform many of the same functions, testing and interpreting of individual outcomes for County agencies, Courts, Psych Hospitals as well as other Health Care providers. From time to time, lawyers for cases such as homicide or family law employ them.

As stated previously, not all psychologists choose to work in the public sector; many stay in academia. As scientists, they study people in all situations. In short, they are detectives of the brain and people, as well as animals. In the academic setting, they will be creating and implementing studies as well as teaching and writing papers. This hopefully results in more grant money coming in to colleges. The animal studies are important to helping with responsible conservation and treatment of animals.

The job outlook for California is largely impacted by the fact that in the public and private sector there are many people with less education that are proficient at administering the same services as provided by Psychologists, even with PhD’s. An MSW, LCSW or a Marriage and Family Therapist can administer tests created by Psychologists and they have the added benefit of practical application with on-going therapy to clients.

In addition, the market is flooded. Last year, California graduated around five thousand psychology students in all areas of psychology, according to the American Psychology Association’s Center for Workplace Studies.

This however, does not mean that those who have a passion for psychology should throw in the towel. We are already beginning to see new systemic issues in the aging Baby Boomer generation that need study. In addition, clear issues have been raised by our constant military involvement around the world. We need people to study the effects, outcomes and most importantly, what works in helping people.

Lately, as a society, we have put a strong emphasis on using medications to treat brain maladies from depression and anxiety to Asperser’s. This is in a lot of ways, a good thing. However, without psychologists to test, compile and interpret outcomes, we are left with either information we cannot use or anecdotal information, which cannot be quantified.

It is the Psychologists’ job to quantify. In all their various jobs, we need good ones.