Would Psychology be worth considering for me?

[Silver Lining]

Hi, I'm a new member here (just joined today) and I'm looking for information about the field of psychology.

Here is my situation: I am a 24 year old with a bachelor's degree but no clearly defined career path. I am passionate about very few careers in life which has stymied my desire and progress in finding a career and future that I would be satisfied with. One of the few things I am passionate about, however, is talking to people about things that are important to them; I enjoy talking and listening to people when they're talking about what's most important to them. I also always want to help out, but I'm so young and inexperienced with life that I don't think I'm terribly successful at doing so.

I have visited psychologists and psychiatrists in the past and given my admittedly sparing knowledge and experience with what they do, I could see myself very happy by helping people and "going to work" at the same time.

However, I am totally unsure about what I would need to do to possibly enter this field. I'm confident in my academic abilities (though not overconfident I hope) and am willing to work hard and dutifully if the results are worth the effort. I made a 3.61 at a fairly selective liberal arts college (and that was after my first two years were "blah"), but my major was in a totally unrelated field (Economics) and I've never taken a psychology course; the closest thing I've taken is Philosophy of Mind. I know I'm only in the beginning stages of investigating this and if I were to
decide to do this I'm sure I would have quite a bit of pre-reqs to complete.

If anybody has any knowledge, experience, or advice on this matter, I would much appreciate it. Thank you in advance for welcoming me to your community.

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[psich]

You would need to take psychology courses to show that you are familiar with the academic side of psychology. Many schools require that you take at least 18 credits of psychology credits spread across statistics, developmental, abnormal, developmental, experimental psychology, etc. You would also need research experience and clinical experience (especially if you want a PsyD or PhD). You can find research opportunities at a university or hospital. You can find clinical experience in a hospital or program that caters to mental health needs in the community.

I think it would be important to know exactly what you want to get out of a degree in psychology. Do you want a master’s or doctorate? Do you want to conduct research or would you rather just focus on clinical work? Do you want to do both? You will probably learn more about yourself as you take psychology courses and get more experience, so it may help to just keep these questions in the back of your mind as you go along.