Any ENFPs in psychology - Help please!

[spinin]

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So I just finished my second year of pharmacy school and I'm not sure why I ever thought this was a good idea. I'm 32 and an ENFP. I'm considering switching to something in psychology. I see myself in counseling, but can't really assess everything that is out there very well.

Could any ENFPs share any stories of what they are pursuing/doing in psychology and how they like it?

 

[JustNoticing]

Telling us a little more about your interests, strengths and maybe reasons for switching may get you better information and advice than your meyers-briggs type.

 

[Ollie123]

Agreed. People frequently make far, faaaaarrr too much of Myers-Briggs. Its fairly reliable and I suppose many find it "fun" which is why it is likely so popular. While it certainly tells us something, it provides a very small piece of the picture and should NEVER be used in isolation for major decisions. Yet that seems to be a frequent occurrence. Why that measure in particular took off to the extent it has, I will never understand.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Agreed. People frequently make far, faaaaarrr too much of Myers-Briggs. Its fairly reliable and I suppose many find it "fun" which is why it is likely so popular. While it certainly tells us something, it provides a very small piece of the picture and should NEVER be used in isolation for major decisions. Yet that seems to be a frequent occurrence. Why that measure in particular took off to the extent it has, I will never understand.

Quoted for truth! IIRC, doesn't it have low validity compared even to other personality inventories?

 

[Veit]

Agreed. People frequently make far, faaaaarrr too much of Myers-Briggs. Its fairly reliable and I suppose many find it "fun" which is why it is likely so popular. While it certainly tells us something, it provides a very small piece of the picture and should NEVER be used in isolation for major decisions. Yet that seems to be a frequent occurrence. Why that measure in particular took off to the extent it has, I will never understand.

QFT. The idea of saying "can any other PXJTs help me?" is a bit absurd, and gives the test far too much power.

 

[spinin]

I totally agree and that's why I'm not really looking for advice. I'm looking for other ENFPs to share their stories. One of the problems I have, which I think is shared by many ENFPs is that I get bored very easily. I'm just wondering how they have found their pursuits in psychology. It may sound ridiculous, but I was just curious. I shouldn't have made it sound like such an emergency.

The reasons I dislike pharmacy are that there isn't enough interaction with people and there is way too much routine. I feel like it is suffocating. I'm trying to find some niche for myself within pharmacy, but I'm having a tough time and am doubting that all of my effort will be worth it in the end.

I have always been casually interested in psychology. I became a lot more interested when I hit a major slump in my personal life (during pharmacy school). I had a mental break down, became depressed and nearly dropped out. Counseling helped me, so I believe in it. There is nothing wrong with pharmacy, but as I've returned to normal and started thinking more positively, I realized that I didn't want to waste my time studying something that will result in a boring job for me. Looking back at my life I understand myself a lot better and feel like I'm starting over. Why not study something that I'm interested in and that has personal significance to me.

However, this is exactly why I didn't really want to share information about myself because it makes it look like I should make the switch. I was interested how people with similar personalities found it.

 

[leahyhl]

There is an amazing forum on this topic at http://enfp.tribe.net/. It really helped me make some career choices. You must check it out.

 

[snowcherries]

You probably won't get any relevant advice until you broaden the scope of your question, as many psychologists don't put much stock in the Myers-Briggs Test for reasons of validity that are cited earlier in the thread. Would you be interested in hearing from people who are generally extroverted and seek variety, for example?

 

[Ollie123]

Quoted for truth! IIRC, doesn't it have low validity compared even to other personality inventories?

Like most things, it probably depends on what type of validity and what it is being used for (how I wish things could be that consistent). That said, others may be better equipped to answer that than I am as I in no way claim to be an expert on that, or any other personality assessment.

OP: I think part of the problem with the measure is exactly what you are doing. These are fairly arbitrary categories. Personality does not naturally break down that way...in fact, quite the opposite. Many people get bored easily....ENFP or not. The fact that you and someone else are both an ENFP likely means incredibly little in terms of how similar your experiences and feelings about the profession are likely to be. The experience of someone else who is also an ENFP is unlikely to tell you much more than if they were also male (or female), had a background in pharmacy, liked the movie Braveheart, or had two arms and a nose. The test just doesn't work that way. That's all we were trying to say.

Sharing your experiences on the other hand, IS helpful if you are considering a switch and not just doing research on the experiences of ENFPs for fun😉 The fact that you are currently unhappy in pharmacy is informative, but doesn't mean psychology is the answer. Believe me, we have lots of mundane routine too. Yes, every patient is different...but it only took me about a year of seeing them to realize they were also all the same in a great many ways.

How much have you explored options within pharmacy? I'm only mildly familiar (college friend is in the field) but my impression is that the life of a retail pharmacist is quite different from that of a research pharmacist, and there may be paths within that you haven't considered. Psychology might be able to offer more interpersonal interactions (or substantially less, depending on your particular path)...but so can selling lawnmowers. The question of what to do is a complicated one, with no easy answers.

 

[tkuhug]

Ollie's right. Personality tests can only say so much, and trust me....

The grass is always greener on the other side. How about building up rapport with clients and co-workers? I know I'm suggesting the obvious, and I don't know if your days are too busy...but I've thought about this, too - there are other ways of practicing therapy than going straight into the therapy field.

 

[docma]

Before you change career tracks I'd say look much harder (and on a forum of phamacists) to find the nice in the field that offers what you want. As others say below, it is not the field that is the fit, it is the job itself and you are often far from that in the classroom. I know pharmacists who do very interesting consulting with psychiatrists and who work in clinics with NPs and MDs and psychologists and case managers, all working to get the meds right when there are complex multidx issues at work....Rather than change out of a career that is hard to get into and where there are jobs available....look to find work satisfaction within the field. The same counseling that helped you through transition/depression may be useful again. But way too many folk enter this field because they found their own therapy useful and satisfying...but they are not happy or well suited to what the field and jobs are actually like....

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Mod Note: Merging this thread with the one in the Ph.D./Psy.D. forum

 

[PsychPhDone]

I'm an ENFP, at least last I tested.

I think the MBTI is a bunch of hooey so that's my experience. 🙂 As an ENFP, I'd like more information about your situation.

 

[spinin]

You probably won't get any relevant advice until you broaden the scope of your question, as many psychologists don't put much stock in the Myers-Briggs Test for reasons of validity that are cited earlier in the thread. Would you be interested in hearing from people who are generally extroverted and seek variety, for example?

OK. I can see that. Any extroverts out there that seek variety and change their mind frequently - how have you found psychology? What are you studying and how do you like it? I am a male if that helps.

To everyone else, thank you for the replies, but most are not really answering my question. I'm not looking for advice for myself. I might come back and write another thread when I will be able to do that better and will be looking for advice for myself in particular. At this time, I was just looking for some of you to share some of YOUR stories on why you chose psychology, what field you're interested in, how the studying or career is going and so on. I would especially like to hear from extroverts that feel like they have ADD sometimes.

 

[roubs]

I'm an extrovert guy who went through 4 majors in college, gets bored easily. You probably aren't going to like this but as I went through 4 fields and found that I got bored once digging into them I concluded maybe the "issue" wasn't with the fields but with me.

I developed more discipline (personality test results ≠ destiny) and realized I needed to get my variety from both my career and other parts of my life, because nearly all careers devolve into monotony for a substantial portion of time/your day.

I've been working on my thesis project for two years and I want to stab it. At first I was like "ooo interesting" now sometimes I think it's boring/maddening/and still a little interesting. But I've stopped letting my squirm-like reaction to tedious work rule me and I've accepted that in a scholarly field you're going to end up spending some random 8 hour days managing a database. At least until you get minions.

I didn't find clinical psych was some magic bullet to my tendency to get bored easily. Maybe it gave me the insight to look into the issue to begin with, but I began the process well before I started grad school so who knows.

edit: And for the record I was ENFP in undergrad(6 years ago), now I'm ENTP. It can happen 😛

 

[Ollie123]

I'm somewhere in the middle on introversion/extraversion, but definitely like variety!

Psychology definitely offers that....I can't imagine doing "one" thing the rest of my life (be it therapy, be it anything else) and I would argue that the path I'm on offers more variety than pretty much any other one that exists. Teaching, clinical work, or research. I can do intervention research to test new therapeutic treatments. I just spent the weekend learning how to derive objective properties from jpeg files using Matlab. Its tough to do it all at once so will almost assuredly have to focus in more as I move on (likely focusing in on research) but it is very nice to have options.

 

[Pragma]

I never took the MBTI, so I am not sure if I meet your threshold for extraversion. But, I do get bored easily.

I second what roubs says about a lot of these issues.

However, I will say that it really depends on how you approach the field itself. This is a degree that has the potential for variety, but of course with that comes a lot of a struggle between time demands and other areas of your life. I'm sure most people who went to graduate school (in clinical) would agree that wearing different hats (clinician, researcher, student) is exciting but also somewhat overwhelming at times. I think the field does lend itself to variety through different research topics and populations of interest.

Personally, I think that you are usually going to end up doing something monotonous in the long run and that most people end up looking for that to some extent, because it is predictable, allows you to get more and more efficient, and in turn allows you to maximize your time at work and have a life. I found clinical work to be like this in some ways - sure having different types of patients and learning opportunities is exciting and a good learning experience, but I got tired of doing almost all clinical work (internship/postdoc). To obtain variety in many of these positions (e.g., do research, evaluation, be involved in community partnerships), you have to sacrifice your personal time.

Ultimately this is what led me to seek an academic job. If my 9-5 involves teaching and research, that provides more variety (to me) than a clinical job. The tenure process helps ensure that you are active in multiple areas. There is also no reason that I can't do some private practice if I miss the clinical interaction. Oh and if you get bored, you have the summer off and most places still let you take sabbaticals 👍

 

[futureapppsy2]

If my 9-5 involves teaching and research, that provides more variety (to me) than a clinical job.

Surely you mean 9-9? (only half kidding--one my hesitancies about the academic job market is the expectation that, while on tenure track, you pretty much never stop working.)

 

[Pragma]

Surely you mean 9-9? (only half kidding--one my hesitancies about the academic job market is the expectation that, while on tenure track, you pretty much never stop working.)

You're right, there will certainly be work outside of 9-5. I think the extent and nature of that work depends on what type of institution you go to and the culture of the department you end up in. I have heard horror stories from some people about those early TT years being worse than graduate school, but most of the faculty I have actually spoken with suggest that quality of life is improved. Many have even suggested that they don't put in more than 50 hours in a week. I expect to be working a lot, but I certainly wouldn't imagine working more hours than I do now (60-80 per week). I'd also imagine that I'll be doing some work during the summertime, but it will be at my own discretion/pace.

I'll have to let you know how it goes after I start the position.

 

[Aminex]

roubs' post resonates with my own experience. I switched it up constantly in college and while I did well in my coursework, being a Renaissance man in college does not translate well into adulthood. I regret dividing my attention between psychology and pre-med because each require 100%. You definitely cannot split the difference. I knocked around in psychiatric case management and tech.'ing on acute units but $25K a year for the rest of your life just doesn't cut it. The mental health field is a complex beast and cannot be approached casually or on a "hunch".

I would kill to be in your position but that gets back to the green grass conundrum. Just keep this in mind: once you get a PharmD, you can do a PGY-2 residency in psychopharm. and certainly break out of the CVS/Wally World grind. Not to step on the talking cure's toes but a psychiatric pharmacist would blow any NP/MD out of the water imo. You just cannot match the knowledge a pharmacist amasses and let me tell you: the world desperately needs competent psychopharmacologists. I cannot even count the poorly qualified psychiatrists I've worked with who picked the field for ease of entry and destroyed people's lives with terrible prescribing habits. I saw so much horrible lithium toxicity and pointless polypharmacy that was leaving the patients far worse than when they were admitted. Trust me when I say that there is a crisis in acute mental health care that's not being addressed. You could bring relief to a huge cohort of suffering.

Nothing can dissuade you if you want to switch to an extroverted, people-intensive field but I would add again that the validity or reliability of any psychometric instrument means nothing when set against lifetime regret.

 

[spinin]

I have a shadowing experience at a psychiatric clinic in a couple of weeks and I'll be talking to pharmacists there. Maybe MDs too. However, I do feel that I prefer people to drugs or paperwork (I know, I know, there's paperwork in everything - I just prefer that the split be 70/30 rather than 30/70). I'm studying for the MCAT and I'm thinking psychiatry. All the drug knowledge that I already have should help me be a more competent psychiatrist. And I don't really believe in throwing drugs at people. One of the reasons I like psychology is because it can intervene before drugs are necessary or be complementary to it. Overprescribing is a major issue. Whether I'm the one patrolling it or the one that chooses not to practice it is a wash. I'd rather be the one in control than the fact checker. I think I could accomplish more that way.

 

[Pragma]

The reasons I dislike pharmacy are that there isn't enough interaction with people and there is way too much routine. I feel like it is suffocating.

Why not study something that I'm interested in and that has personal significance to me.

If you are now saying psychiatry is the way you want to go, I would consider a couple of things. First, you WILL get more interaction wtih people, but probably less than what will satisfy you. Most of the residents I know wish they had more time with patients but are held to very strict time constraints.

Second, routine routine routine will be your mantra with medical school and probably in whatever practice you end up it. It probably won't be nearly as monotonous as pharmacy, but it won't be exactly an extreme switch. Your initial thought of going into psychology I think is a little more extreme in that regard, at least in terms of possibilities.

But I certainly wouldn't suggest that it would be a bad move. You would have control over some things and your job prospects will be better. I just rarely find psychiatrists that actually do any counseling/therapy because it makes no financial sense for them. Shadowing is an excellent idea to get a sense for what life would be like.

 

[paramour]

I'm an extrovert guy who went through 4 majors in college, gets bored easily. You probably aren't going to like this but as I went through 4 fields and found that I got bored once digging into them I concluded maybe the "issue" wasn't with the fields but with me.

I developed more discipline (personality test results ≠ destiny) and realized I needed to get my variety from both my career and other parts of my life, because nearly all careers devolve into monotony for a substantial portion of time/your day.

I've been working on my thesis project for two years and I want to stab it. At first I was like "ooo interesting" now sometimes I think it's boring/maddening/and still a little interesting. But I've stopped letting my squirm-like reaction to tedious work rule me and I've accepted that in a scholarly field you're going to end up spending some random 8 hour days managing a database. At least until you get minions.

I didn't find clinical psych was some magic bullet to my tendency to get bored easily. Maybe it gave me the insight to look into the issue to begin with, but I began the process well before I started grad school so who knows.

edit: And for the record I was ENFP in undergrad(6 years ago), now I'm ENTP. It can happen 😛

This post is eerily familiar to a T.

And I am not the slightest, little bit an extrovert on that lovely type indicator (i.e., introvert here through and through). We get bored. too, y'know! 🙄