Psychologists study human behaviour and counsel patients to help them make sense of either clinical problems like depression or non-diagnosable issues like marital woes or work-related worries

Psychologists study human behaviour and counsel patients to help them make sense of either clinical problems like depression or non-diagnosable issues like marital woes or work-related worries

In a nutshell, psychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes. It is often confused with psychiatry, which involves training at a medical school to assess, diagnose and treat mental problems. In India, psychologists do not have the power to prescribe medication. So students with an interest in medicine should opt for psychiatry, while those with an interest in counselling must opt for psychology. Depending on their interest, psychologists can specialise in clinical, social, counselling or industrial psychology. Clinical psychologists work with psychiatrists and hospitals to provide counselling and psychotherapy for serious, diagnosable problems; social psychologists work with NGOs to address social issues, counselling psychologists provide counselling to individuals with non-diagnosable problems such as marital issues, relationship problems, etc, and industrial psychologists work in the human resources department of corporate organisations to recruit appropriate employees and look out for their mental welfare.

GETTING THERE It is preferable to opt for arts or science and pick psychology as a subject after Class 10. Even if you have not opted for arts, you can switch after Class 12.
Complete your bachelor of arts with psychology as your major.
Go for a master of arts (MA) from a government or a government-certified university. You can choose from four branches of psychology: clinical, industrial, counselling and social, in the second year of your MA course.
You can start training under an established counsellor after your MA. Some counsellors prefer to follow the MA up with a PhD after a few years of practicing.

CLOCKWORK 9am: Reach the hospital.
9.15am to 1pm: Seeing patients.
Most psychologists prefer to conduct psychological tests (personality, IQ, EQ, behavioural, etc) on their patients during the first half of the day when they are well-rested and attentive.
1.30pm to 4pm: Therapy sessions with patients 4pm: Leave for private clinic 4.30pm to 7pm: Therapy sessions with private patients One hour a day could be dedicated to teaching MBBS/MA students, depending on the schedule of the classes.

SKILLS & TRAITS A very high emotional quotient. It is imperative that the psychologist be patient and understanding while dealing with their subjects to help them express themselves freely.
To articulate solutions in a way that the patient benefits from the therapy.
To leave personal biases and judgments behind while treating a patient.
Empathy, not sympathy is needed.

A psychologist helps the patient find answers, not give the answers on a platter or mollycoddle them.
For their own sanity, it is important for therapists to be able to emotionally detach themselves from their patients.

THE PAYOFF A just-out-of-school clinical psychologist generally gets a starting salary of R10,000. Industrial psychologists draw corporate salaries between R20,000 and R25,000 to begin with. The pay structure of social psychologists depends on the funding received for the project/ NGO they are attached with, but ranges between R12,000 and R15,000 on an average.
Counselling psychologists generally attach themselves to schools, and can make anywhere between R15,000 and R40,000, depending on the school.
In addition the organisations they are attached to, most psychologists offer private consultations as well.
Depending on the location of their clinic and the doctor that has referred them, a psychologist can charge anywhere between R300 and R1,000 per therapy session.
Every government hospital appoints one clinical psychologist with substantial experience. If you are lucky, you could make about R50,000 there.

PROS & CONS The satisfaction in helping people lead happy, fulfilled lives is immense The likelihood of emotional burnout is very high It is not a fast-paced job In the thick of treatment, patients tend to get overly dependent on their therapists

 INSTITUTIONS Mumbai University (www.mu.ac.in) SNDT Women's university (sndt.ac.in) St Xavier's College (www.xaviers.edu) Benaras Hindu University (www.bhu.ac.in) University of Kolkata (www.caluniv.ac.in)