Can I be a psychologist/therapist even though I have Bipolar, depression, and I cry easily?

[Johan Liebert]

I have a lot of questions, including the topic title (Also, I'm only about 15, so this isn't for right now.):

1. Look at the topic title.
2. What's the difference of educational requirements for a therapist as apposed to a psychologist?
3. What are a few good schools in Indiana to go to in order to a get these educational requirements?
4. How hard is it to be a psychologist or a therapist?
5. Who are some famous therapists or psychologists?
6. Would being either a therapist or a psychologist be difficult due to my emotions?
7. Is it okay to cry, if I become a therapist/psychologist, during or after a meeting?
8. Are there any other jobs that include listening and providing input to other people's problems?
9. Is there a way to practice this before I'm 18?
10. Is there a job that could prepare me for being a therapist/psychologist that I could try before I'm 18?

[Simping For Hina]

Why not do the research yourself? You would get better answers and know it for yourself. You're asking this forum, which is not a very good idea in most.
 
Yes, you can get a dregree in Psychology and Therapy even with that, but you have to be able to deal with it and maintain it. It is going to be harder.
 
School requirements. The same basis as most things. Learn the requirements for them by research.
 
Probably, there should at least be 1 or 2.
 
It is a practice thing and it is going to be harder for particular situations. If you cannot control yourself, you're going to have one of the most struggling times with becoming either.
 
There are too many. Some off of the top of my head are: Sigmund Frued, Jean Piaget, Pavlov, and Erik Erikson.
 
You cannot get emotional involved with your clients at all. You can feel emotions, though. You just have to deal with them and show no signs. When working with a client, you have to be completely rational.
 
It would only be okay to cry afterwards, when there is no sign of your client. Many therapists take on several clients back to back to back to back, so crying has to be held through that and you can't show signs when another session is going on. Make Up helps a lot, just for the record.
 
You could become a gypsy if you want. Better yet, a prostitute. They get to become emotional involved and cry.
 
Only studying is the best form, there is no correct way to practice for it after that.
 
Nope, not at all. Shadowing them would be helpful, though.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

I'll answer each of them in the order listed, but you can pretty much find most of the answers online if you search (I may answer some of the questions with "Search Google or some other search engine"). This isn't really the best place to ask this, but we'll do what we can to help you out.

 

1. I haven't heard of anything that would bar you from doing do, but just keep in mind that it might be a little more challenging to maintain neutrality and such.

 

2. Check the requirements (again, using Google to find out the exact ones will be helpful). It'll also depend on the school you go to and what their standards are.

 

3. Can't give exact names off the top of my head, since I live in another state within the USA, but should be a few where you live (or in neighboring states if that's not the case)

 

4. Depends on what you specialize in, but it'll be hard regardless. Keep in mind that you'll deal with all sorts of people, maybe a few that don't particularly click well with you.

 

5. Freud should be quite famous. Otherwise, Wundt, Francis Sumner, John Watson, Pavlov have similar degrees of fame.

 

6. By virtue of your susceptibility to cry and other conditions, it'll be harder than someone who doesn't. But you should be able to pull through, provided you keep your composure in one piece.

 

7. You can sympathize with the patient, but can't let emotions get the best of you.

 

8. Aside being a counselor for career guidance or something at school, not much comes to mind here.

 

9. If your school offers these as a junior/senior elective/required class (I know mine did), you can take those to get a feel for it. Or take some intro courses to Psych/Therapy when you get into college. Otherwise, there's no real way to get experience before coming of age.

 

10. There aren't any jobs you can try this before reaching 18. You can try job shadowing, as Cat Woman noted above; or you can ask a practicing therapist/psychologist about this kind of stuff.

 

 

To sum everything up, you should start doing research when you get into your upper-class years (or even now); that way, you'll know what's expected of you, should this be the path you take.

[Merci]

You know, I found this thread really interesting because I'm 15 as well, and also wanna become a psychologist. I've been wondering about it for a little while and thought that it would really suit me, since I've had a lot of experience dealing with other people, even though as a consequence I'm a little off in the head. At times I feel suicidal, and at times I feel repressed by people. I constantly feel lonely, and I'm not quite as perfectly sane as I'd like to be.
 
Honestly, I think none of that matters, but I also think it's very important to learn how to stop crying. When I was younger, I had a lot, and I mean LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of issues and I cried all the time. Even the tiniest thing set me off crying, I'd cry over just about anything. Then one day, or perhaps over a period of a few months, I just ran out of tears. I just stopped.
 
Since then, I've heard many depressing stories from others. Be it my friend, my girlfriend, a random stranger I met on SoEmo, Omegle, or whatever, be it about loneliness, family abuse, self-hurt, sickness, death, even rape, many have had terribly horrible experiences, and every time I've had to work hard to cheer them up. Not once have I cried, I just take it straight and try my best to do the right thing.
 
Even like this, it can get extremely tiring, but seeing that person happy - with hope in their eyes - is a reward unlike any other in this world. Knowing that I did something right, that I possibly saved someone's life? It's a pleasure greater than anything. That's why I want to become a psychologist.
 
In my experiences, it's important not to leave yourself vulnerable to vulnerable people. A psychologist isn't someone who cuddles up to their patient crying, he or she is someone who stands strong and encourages their patient to stop crying and stand up with them. If you cry, you'll only make others feel hurt. You'd only be encouraging them to feel depressed by crying. It doesn't matter what they've been through, whether they're a victim of intense human trafficking or a war veteran, you can't afford to cry. 
 
You must stay positive at all times! At! All! Times! POSITIVE, YEAH!!! 
 
...The thing is, I think that if you want to become a therapist, you need to learn to stop crying. You need to be aware of the amount of suffering a human being can go through, and you need to be aware of it while still preserving your ability to remain happy. If you can't handle it on your own, you might need to take therapy first before you give it.
 
It's just my opinion. ^_^ I mean, if you're going to keep crying between therapy sessions, then you probably won't stop anytime soon, and sooner or later you'll burst out in the midst of one. How can you make others happy if you can't make yourself happy?

[CinnamonStar]

 have my own share of disorders and have been under psychiatric and therapeutic care since forever.

That's a work path I had been thinking about too, but then took something else.

 

What many people don't know is that the therapy field is big and offers a lot of opportunities besides being a psychologist or psychological therapist. Examples would be psychomotrician, special needs education, ergotherapist, nutrition therapist (and basically anything that ends with -therapist because there are different methods). Other works where you can get involved would be social jobs like helping at youth prisons or social assistant.
 

I think it is possible, but like everyone said so far, a lot harder. You have to be stable. Of course most jobs require you to separate the personal and professional parts, but dealing with other people's issues for a living in addition to your own can drain you out. So yeah, that's something you need to keep in mind. I'm on strong medication all day so if that helps you, take it. It wouldn't surprise me if a good number of therapists go see other therapists somtimes to deal with their own issues, but the key is staying focussed on your work during the sessions.

 

EDIT:

Oh one thing I remembered is that some symptoms like the crying for little reason can weaken a bit with age. They're still there, but maybe less present. Not saying you can't develop other things though.

[Cocodomoco]

First of let me start by saying i am a psychology major in college. And while i am switching majors i have a decent amount of knowledge on this topic as i have done the research myself and spoken to many of my professors.

 

2. What's the difference of educational requirements for a therapist as apposed to a psychologist?

3. What are a few good schools in Indiana to go to in order to a get these educational requirements? 
4. How hard is it to be a psychologist or a therapist?
5. Who are some famous therapists or psychologists?
6. Would being either a therapist or a psychologist be difficult due to my emotions? 
7. Is it okay to cry, if I become a therapist/psychologist, during or after a meeting?
8. Are there any other jobs that include listening and providing input to other people's problems?
9. Is there a way to practice this before I'm 18?
10. Is there a job that could prepare me for being a therapist/psychologist that I could try before I'm 18?

 

 

1: There is not really a difference in education requirements. A therapist is actually more like a sub category under psychologist. See when you go into psychology there are many different specializations you can chose to go into. You don't usually just major in psychology well you do at first but later in the schooling you chose a specialization to study. I will list the main specializations and give you a brief description.

 

Clinical Psychology: This is basically focus on helping treat patients with emotional problems and mental illnesses. This focuses less on research and more on treatment.

Cognitive Psychology: This is very research based. This focuses on the study of the brains mental process. Things like sensation, perception, and memory.

Industrial-Occupational Psychology: This focuses on the psychology of the workplace and its environment. 

Social Psychology: This is the study of how people act in groups psychologically. This is not to be confused with sociologically which is the study of how groups affect people.

Counseling Psychology: This is the classic counselor or therapist you may think of when you think of therapy.

Forensic Psychology: This is the study of crime, criminals, and victims. They do things like testify in a courtroom as an expert witness, do studies on criminals and prisons, evaluate prisoners to see if they are ready for parole, help prisoner rehabilitation, and help the victims cope.

School psychology: Pretty self explanatory... 

 

3: as for schools in Indiana i don't really know. however i know many schools that have good programs all over the country. I dont know how smart you are so i will list the top schools then some more realistic schools that are easy to get into. If you can get into the top schools then i commend you.

 

Right now the top school is probably Stanford. Other schools that have great programs are Yale, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Northwestern.

 

Some schools that are easier to get into and have great programs would be York college of Pennsylvania, Manhattan College, University of Maryland, and any of the University of California schools. 

 

4: I dont know if i would say its hard but rather requires work. No job is easy and all require a lot of work. To practice psychology legally you are required to have your masters degree. But to get a good job or start your own say therapy business or work for a well known hospital a Doctorate degree is recommended. Which takes a lot of work. You will have to write dissertations and publish studies. But once you get into you college years you will realize its doable. 

 

5: Famous old ones would be Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Karen Horney, Carl Jung(my favorite), Abraham Manslow, and Jean Piaget. Those are off the top of my head there are plenty more.

 

The only famous psychologist that everyone knows today is Dr. Phil. However there are many professors at my school and many other schools who are well renown in the psychology community. Professor Strange (yes his title is actually Dr. Strange)  is a well known psychologist at my school.

 

6: You emotions will definitely add an element of challenge. If someone is going to you for help you cant really break down crying. But youre young give yourself some time. If youre motivated you can try to help yourself and then eventually help others!

 

7: It is most definitely not ok to cry DURING a session with a patient. After it is fine, however there is a chance you will hear a lot of sad things and if it is going to take a emotional tole on you it may not be healthy. However if this is something you really want to do i think you can work through it and help yourself.

 

8: Yes there are many therapy jobs out there like that.

 

9: You cant practice legally until you have a degree however once you get to college you can go for internships to help with patients and research in hospitals if you would want. For now maybe listen to your friends problems, try to help them out.

 

10: I really don't think so. It is a pretty unique job and believe it or not it takes a lot more knowledge than just being able to listen to someones problems. Especially when someone has deep rooted depression mixed with another disorder such as narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or something else. There are many techniques and strategies used. Such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

 

For my last point let me clarify something Psychologists get a doctorate degree however they are not an MD they can not prescribe medicine. Where psychiatrists are similar to psychologists however they prescribe medicine. 

[Johan Liebert]

First of let me start by saying i am a psychology major in college. And while i am switching majors i have a decent amount of knowledge on this topic as i have done the research myself and spoken to many of my professors.

 

 

 

 

1: There is not really a difference in education requirements. A therapist is actually more like a sub category under psychologist. See when you go into psychology there are many different specializations you can chose to go into. You don't usually just major in psychology well you do at first but later in the schooling you chose a specialization to study. I will list the main specializations and give you a brief description.

 

Clinical Psychology: This is basically focus on helping treat patients with emotional problems and mental illnesses. This focuses less on research and more on treatment.

Cognitive Psychology: This is very research based. This focuses on the study of the brains mental process. Things like sensation, perception, and memory.

Industrial-Occupational Psychology: This focuses on the psychology of the workplace and its environment. 

Social Psychology: This is the study of how people act in groups psychologically. This is not to be confused with sociologically which is the study of how groups affect people.

Counseling Psychology: This is the classic counselor or therapist you may think of when you think of therapy.

Forensic Psychology: This is the study of crime, criminals, and victims. They do things like testify in a courtroom as an expert witness, do studies on criminals and prisons, evaluate prisoners to see if they are ready for parole, help prisoner rehabilitation, and help the victims cope.

School psychology: Pretty self explanatory... 

 

3: as for schools in Indiana i don't really know. however i know many schools that have good programs all over the country. I dont know how smart you are so i will list the top schools then some more realistic schools that are easy to get into. If you can get into the top schools then i commend you.

 

Right now the top school is probably Stanford. Other schools that have great programs are Yale, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Northwestern.

 

Some schools that are easier to get into and have great programs would be York college of Pennsylvania, Manhattan College, University of Maryland, and any of the University of California schools. 

 

4: I dont know if i would say its hard but rather requires work. No job is easy and all require a lot of work. To practice psychology legally you are required to have your masters degree. But to get a good job or start your own say therapy business or work for a well known hospital a Doctorate degree is recommended. Which takes a lot of work. You will have to write dissertations and publish studies. But once you get into you college years you will realize its doable. 

 

5: Famous old ones would be Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Karen Horney, Carl Jung(my favorite), Abraham Manslow, and Jean Piaget. Those are off the top of my head there are plenty more.

 

The only famous psychologist that everyone knows today is Dr. Phil. However there are many professors at my school and many other schools who are well renown in the psychology community. Professor Strange (yes his title is actually Dr. Strange)  is a well known psychologist at my school.

 

6: You emotions will definitely add an element of challenge. If someone is going to you for help you cant really break down crying. But youre young give yourself some time. If youre motivated you can try to help yourself and then eventually help others!

 

7: It is most definitely not ok to cry DURING a session with a patient. After it is fine, however there is a chance you will hear a lot of sad things and if it is going to take a emotional tole on you it may not be healthy. However if this is something you really want to do i think you can work through it and help yourself.

 

8: Yes there are many therapy jobs out there like that.

 

9: You cant practice legally until you have a degree however once you get to college you can go for internships to help with patients and research in hospitals if you would want. For now maybe listen to your friends problems, try to help them out.

 

10: I really don't think so. It is a pretty unique job and believe it or not it takes a lot more knowledge than just being able to listen to someones problems. Especially when someone has deep rooted depression mixed with another disorder such as narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or something else. There are many techniques and strategies used. Such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

 

For my last point let me clarify something Psychologists get a doctorate degree however they are not an MD they can not prescribe medicine. Where psychiatrists are similar to psychologists however they prescribe medicine. 

Wow, that's very helpful, thanks. Everyone is being very helpful, and i really appreciate it. :) I wasn't so sure about Indiana having specifically good schools for this kind of thing, but I'll look into it. Also, I had a feeling that someone on this website is a psychologist/therapist... A few more things: I'll try job shadowing, I do have a Junior/Senior class for Psychology, and I'll research Sigmund Freud. Also, the main reason I chose to post this on Yugioh Card Maker is because I need the opinions of people that don't have a degree in this, as well as people who do, and I think that most of the people on here are pretty cool/understanding, so yeah.

[Cocodomoco]

Sigmund Freud was a coke addict who was obsessed with sex. So just a warning you're going to read some weird stuff.

[Kyng]

I hope you read this post, because while I'm not answering your questions I am telling you something even more important: don't worry about this kind of thing yet.

 

You're 15, sure - but you're still young, and still able to enjoy what this world has to offer you.

 

Heck, I'm doing a Law degree and I may not even become a solicitor or barrister.

 

If you're deadset on this career choice, good for you. However, do not feel pressured in any way to make a career choice right now, alright?

 

Just enjoy your life for everything it is worth.

[Johan Liebert]

I hope you read this post, because while I'm not answering your questions I am telling you something even more important: don't worry about this kind of thing yet.
 
You're 15, sure - but you're still young, and still able to enjoy what this world has to offer you.
 
Heck, I'm doing a Law degree and I may not even become a solicitor or barrister.
 
If you're deadset on this career choice, good for you. However, do not feel pressured in any way to make a career choice right now, alright?
 
Just enjoy your life for everything it is worth.

You make a good point, but I guess I just think if my future a bit too much. Also, I might be set on this depending on job shadowing and taking the class in two or three years, but the job shadowing will probably happen within two years.

[Tentacruel]

Putting aside my personal bias/dislike for the field of psychology, I'll say you should be fine being bipolar in that I don't think they can discriminate against you because of it, but it might make the actual job a bit harder for you to pull off.  If you're easily shaken it might make it harder to deal with someone who themself needs help. 

 

 

Also, that field is VERY saturated.  Tons of people want to be psychologists so it's relatively hard to find a good paying job out of college.

 

I wouldn't give up though, hell being bipolar might make it easier to identify people with similar disorders.  Do some research and talk to people about it. 

[Goose]

I hope you read this post, because while I'm not answering your questions I am telling you something even more important: don't worry about this kind of thing yet.

 

You're 15, sure - but you're still young, and still able to enjoy what this world has to offer you.

 

Heck, I'm doing a Law degree and I may not even become a solicitor or barrister.

 

If you're deadset on this career choice, good for you. However, do not feel pressured in any way to make a career choice right now, alright?

 

Just enjoy your life for everything it is worth.

 

Seeing as this is a thread of psychology, why don't we bring some psychology up in this bitch?

 

Erikson came up with idea about identity and particularly identity development.  The progression of identity is an interesting topic and I don't have time to go into detail about this (because I'm supposed to be studying exactly this for a midterm tomorrow).  Basically when you are really young you see yourself in terms of concrete, observable characteristics.  When you get a bit older (8-11ish), your identity becomes more comparative and based on other people.  As you grow even older and into your teens, you start to develop a more abstract identity, but also one that is contradictory and different depending on the scenario.

 

So now you are getting older, later teens, and what is really important at this time is to consolidate those identities into one real "you".  This is where Erikson comes in.  Erikson describes three things that can happen to your identity: identity achievement, identity foreclosure, and negative identity.  The potential issue at hand is identity foreclosure (when one commits "prematurely to an identity without adequately considering alternative possibilities").  This is generally associated with a parent forcing a child into a specific field, but it can also be created by other things.  

 

In this case, we don't know how thoroughly The Titan Alchemist has considered his alternatives, but here is the suggestion that Erikson gives to prevent something like this: a psychosocial moratorium.  This is a period of time in which an adolescent is not expected to take on adult roles and is free to pursue activities that lead to self-discovery.  If The Titan Alchemist is in the position to take a period of time to do this, then they should take advantage of this and do as you say, however not everyone has that opportunity.

 

TL;DR I feel more ready for my midterm after writing this.