Niche of Interest

[psychometric]

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What is your niche of interest, and how did you get there?

Did it start through classes you took, because you read about it, etc.?

 

[sicologia]

I am currently a student in a school psychology doctoral program and I've known since a little over 10 years ago that this was the field I wanted to go into. I met my first school psychologist at a meeting while I was working as an advocate for kids who had been incarcerated. I felt that she had the most power to help change the direction of my client's life.

Three years later and after more positions in peripheral areas of child and adolescent psychology, I started in on my graduate degrees. First I obtained a masters in psychology and then a specialist degree in school psychology. The moral of my story is to pay attention to that which you are already interested in. Think about where you end up in a bookstore. It can be a good start!

 

[psychometric]

I am currently a student in a school psychology doctoral program and I've known since a little over 10 years ago that this was the field I wanted to go into. I met my first school psychologist at a meeting while I was working as an advocate for kids who had been incarcerated. I felt that she had the most power to help change the direction of my client's life.

Three years later and after more positions in peripheral areas of child and adolescent psychology, I started in on my graduate degrees. First I obtained a masters in psychology and then a specialist degree in school psychology. The moral of my story is to pay attention to that which you are already interested in. Think about where you end up in a bookstore. It can be a good start!

Great 😉

What a nice explanation, for what you are interested in, and what a great advise, to pay more attention to what we already like. It sounds so simple, yet, it is often the last thing we truly take a hard look at, because we often believe it might be a too easy of a choice.

Thanks for your nice contribution. This thread might help me, and others to specialize🙄

Good for you; sounds like you truly love your choice.👍

 

[psychometric]

Boy, no niches of interest?🙁

 

[moonflwr]

I became interested in psychology when I was in 7th grade after reading "I Never Promised You A Rose Garden" by Hannah Green (still one of my fave books). I think I decided when I was a sophomore in high school that I wanted my PhD but at that time I was interested in schizophrenia. In UG my research focus was with the college population and psychopathology (probably mostly out of convenience). So when I applied to programs the first time around I looked only at schools that were close to me and found stuff that kinda sounded interesting. In other words, the exact wrong way to go about finding a PhD program thats a good fit. Needless to say, I didn't get in. Plan B was to get a job at a local children's hospital, which luckily for me, is in the top 10 in the nation. I ended up getting a job in pediatric dentistry (VERY BORING by the way, but at least I ruled out a DMD). The project I coordinate here focuses on young children with severe cavities. Anyway, while working wtih these families I became fascinated by the interaction between family members, particularly in these young children. I realized that I've always loved working with kids of preschool age and found a way to tie in my interest in developmental psychopathology and parent-child interactions. Now I've found my way into a lab that does just that (and I'm SO EXCITED).

I just though I'd go through my round-about way of finding my niche. I realized that I had always sworn off child psychology because it seemed like everyone wanted to work with kids. But if thats where I'm happiest then I'm just glad to have figured it out sooner rather than later!

 

[islandgirl1]

when I was younger, people always fascinated me. I'd wonder what passersby's life stories were.
I started reading Torey Hayden's books when I was about 12 and that sealed the deal for me. I knew I wanted to be a clinical psychologist and work with children.
I'm still exploring my specific concentration area. Right now I have too many ideas across the board!

 

[PinkSoil]

It all started with a whole lot of psychology classes in community college-- but actually what fueled that was really my own (still existing) struggle with bipolar disorder and various anxiety disorders. I had a great fascination with my own therapeutic process and at the time I could only think to myself-- I want to do that someday. And so here I am.

 

[MsPsychDoc2014]

My area of interest is primarily forensic psychology, juveniles, rape victims...all of that pink rosy type stuff. When I was in HS I changed what I wanted to do like every week so my parents were a little worried that I was one of the kids that would come to college and change my major a million times..but I dont know..one day I realized that I really like talking to people and finding out about their lives, I'm really good at analyzing situations and I always have these "theories" on why ppl do things lol so from that day on I just knew what I wanted to do. Once i figured out what my interest was (the light came on) i was really excited for some reason..its like I found my purpose in life lol. My interest in the forensic part was kind of random as well. When I got to college they told me I had to pick a minor, criminal justice seemed the most interesting (and easy) so i picked it lol, unbeknownest to me that I would LOVE all my CJ classes..plus I love all the law and order shows and I just enjoy anything that has to do with criminals (scary huh?) so yea....I guess thats how I found my ultimate purpose 😀

 

[deleted190534]

I decided to major in psych because of my own journey. (I started college several years late -- due to trying to straighten out my life first.) [*insert lots of personal disclosure*] 😉 I intially (first 2 years) thought I'd just be a general family therapist. However, during my undergrad, I became a foster parent. Eventually, I upgraded my license to specialize in kids with severe behavioral &/or emotional problems. (My undergrad took 6 years, due to foster parenting, family deaths, being married, etc. etc. etc.) Those few years as a foster parent changed EVERYTHING about my interests in psych. In grad school, I'll be studying the treatment of aggression in foster children, & in my professional life, I'd like to examine the trajectory that leads to ASPD (perhaps with an specific focus on the foster population). (P.S. I was a foster child too, so I've seen foster care from both sides. I suppose it was inevitable that my interests would somehow be linked to it!)