Teach kids or adults with autism, PDD, ADHD, OCD. You don't need a graduate psychology or education degree to do that. Just need to be working on your B.A. psychology, education, or other therapy degree.
The field to get started in as an undergrad is called Applied Behavior Analysis. This is based on your basic Pavlovian & Skinnerian psychological theories of behavior modification.
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), you can learn how to do psychological testing & intakes, work with therapists & other psychologists/psychiatrists, learn how to do teaching & behavior modification & behavior therapy, learn how to manage clients' cases, and learn how to interact with clients & their family members. You can do all this in Applied Behavior Analysis before even graduating from college with a B.A. psychology degree.
You don't have to be a jobless undergrad bum. You can do this part-time as an undergrad. And if you like it, there are full-time postions after you graduate. There are even master's-level programs in Applied Behavior Analysis that overlap with School Psychology, Marriage Therapy, & Family Therapy.
There is also research in this field. Start with looking into the "Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis." A lot of research has to do with improving school education & behavior modification techniques. However, behavior modification research is also being done for industries, management/leadership development, & human resources.
Later, if you find out that Applied Behavior Analysis is for you... there are many people with Autism, PDD, ADHD, OCD, & other behavior problems that need help through behavior modification & behavior therapy. If you find out that Applied Behavior Analysis is not for you, then at least you were able to get lots of clinical psychological exeperience as and undergraduate psychology major and use that information when applying to other graduate psychology degrees.
Hi, I'm finishing my first year of college as a hopeful pre-med/psych major. I'm really interested in seeing what it would be like to work in the field, if even in the smallest capacity, but I'm not really sure how to go about doing this. I've searched the web for some institutes in my area (San Francisco Bay Area), but most of the programs seem to be for post-grad or doctoral students, and I'm definitely not there yet.
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This is what I hope to get out of the experience, if possible:
- I want to see what people in the career are actually doing.
- I hope to learn a thing or two about how to function in the field.
- I hope to increase my understanding of psychology/psychiatry and its application.
- I want a headstart on work/research experience.
- I want to not feel like a jobless bum.
I'm willing to do ANY sort of work if there's a possibility that I could learn something or it would further my education/career goals. How do I get them to let me?
Any help appreciated
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