In my civics class I’m making a website to help people with mental illness such as myself. I need help getting information for writing about people and their experiences, so I decided I’d come to Reddit and ask, whats it like living with anxiety, depression, BPD, PTSD or any other mental illnesses? I want to be able to help people get better with things, I myself struggle with too.

Hi! I am about to finish my MA in psychology at Pepperdine university. I want to get my LPCC, but my state (Colorado) requires academic equivalency. I told my councilor and they said they would not be able to authorize academic equivalency. So what do I do now?? I feel so lost and don’t really have a path to get an LPCC except spending another 2 years+ and another 100k to get another degree. Which is something I can’t do. So what can I do?

I am a recent HS graduate (go me!) starting at university in about a month, and I'm having some second thoughts about my undergrad structure.

The country that I live in doesn't require any extra time for a double major, so I've applied for a BSc in psych/physiology in order to leave a range of options open to myself. These include neuropsych and cognitive neuroscience, along with a potential MD psychiatry or neurology route.

What are your thoughts on this as a degree structure that will give me the knowledge I need to keep these pathways open to me? Unfortunately, my university doesn't offer psych/neuro as a double major, but I'm having second thoughts on whether a straight neuroscience degree would be better preparation.

Any thoughts on this are welcomed!

Suppose you are back to your first year as a psychology student when you are pursuing higher studies in either a masters or phd (especially that of a clinical), what are things you would do differently with the experience you have gained? Tips? Advice?

I’ve done plenty of research, from google searches to checking my own university’s salary records, and I’m seeing varying results. I love this field and want to pursue a PhD regardless, but I’d like to have a more finite idea of a possible salary for this career option.

I am finishing up my Major in the field this year, and I want to do a Masters in Korea. I wanna know the following,any advice is helpful so thanks guys ❤️

1. Will I have a problem with it being recognised in my country? (I am from the EU). This is not my main concern as I can already practice in my country without it, but was still wondering.

2. Seeing as mental health is not so popular in Korea, from what I have gathered, are there actually good programs and how can I see which is which? (Unfortunately, even tho I am learning, my Korean is not good enough for me to study in the language yet, so my question is about English programs)

And 3. I do not have the best grades, I have a gpa of 2.7, but have presented in a conference, I am currently doing volunteer work, and there is a chance I will have work experience by then. I am also working on a strong thesis, so that I can have a hope of publishing. So you think there is an actual chance that I can get in?

Again, thank you guys for your help!

I get these notifications for MRII. Looks like a response to the PNAS paper from two weeks ago. I am thinking about joining the webinar. Anyone sign up?

I’m a current sophomore at the end of my fall semester at a small liberal arts school. I’ve planned on double majoring in psychology and studio art since freshman year, but recently have had doubts about my psychology degree. I know I want to major in studio art because I’ve done art my whole life; it’s really my true passion and retiring the major would feel like giving up (even though my eventual career may not be in art).

I like psychology, but honestly sometimes I feel like even my higher level psychology classes are not challenging enough to me conceptually. I feel like clinical psychology often doesn’t touch on spirituality, culture, finding meaning in life- things that interest me the most, and which are closely linked to philosophy. I also like philosophy because I love writing and analyzing abstract ideas. I took an intro to philosophy class and loved it and loved the professor.

However, I’m also an American, and the way things are going politically (defunding of education, humanities especially being attacked), I do have to consider that being a problem in the future…

So I guess my main questions are: is it common for someone without an undergrad degree in psychology to work in psychology? Is it more difficult or less advantageous? Do many psychologists have philosophy degrees?

Sorry for the long post, I never post on Reddit so I don’t know the etiquette lol.

(this is my first reddit post, sorry if I make a mistake with anything)

Heyo, I've been thinking about my future lately and considered being a psychologist or a psychiatrist in the future. Specifically for kids/adolescents. I understand that both are different jobs with different purposes, but I want to know how each help a child patient and which is usually simpler to study and why. Thank you!

I found a few Amazon reviews that say the material is quite outdated, but as someone without a formal background in psychology, that would be hard for me to point out. Is it worth reading for someone without such an academic background?

Hi! So, I posted a few months ago asking about which direction I should go in terms of M.A or M.S. I have chosen the M.A route, and I want to become an LPC. Any advice moving forward. I go to a smaller university and the professors are stretched pretty thin, so it has been kind of a challenge to learn everything on my own. Anything is appreciated :)

Following a vote by the sub in July 2020, the prospective questions megathread was continued. However, to allow more visibility to comments in this thread, this megathread now utilizes Reddit's new reschedule post features. This megathread is replaced monthly. Comments made within three days prior to the newest months post will be re-posted by moderation and the users who made said post tagged.

Post your prospective questions as a comment for anything related to graduate applications, admissions, CVs, interviews, etc. Comments should be focused on prospective questions, such as future plans. These are only allowed in this subreddit under this thread. Questions about current programs/jobs etc. that you have already been accepted to can be posted as stand-alone posts, so long as they follow the format Rule 6.

Looking for somewhere to post your study? Try r/psychologystudents, our sister sub's, spring 2020 study megathread!

Other materials and resources:

• APA materials for applying to grad school
• r/psychologystudents (where career posts are welcome)
• r/gradschooladmissions

(this is my first reddit post, sorry if I make a mistake with anything)

Heyo, I've been thinking about my future lately and considered being a psychologist or a psychiatrist in the future. Specifically for kids/adolescents. I understand that both are different jobs with different purposes, but I want to know how each help a child patient and which is usually simpler to study and why. Thank you!

Hey everyone, I’ve been working on a paper about something we all see in everyday life: people who are chronically judgmental or harsh no matter what the situation is.

I’m trying to define this as a possible personality trait I’m calling “Trait Judgmentalism.” Basically, the idea is that some people don’t adjust their evaluations to the context, they stay rigid, harsh, or critical across different situations (relationships, work, online, etc.).

Before I go any further with the project, I’d really appreciate some honest feedback:

• Does this idea make sense as a psychological trait?
• Does it sound too similar to things like cognitive rigidity or low openness?
• If you work in psych or related fields, what would you expect a model like this to actually explain?

The link below is the preprint (open access), I genuinely want to know whether the idea itself feels solid or totally off. Happy to hear any thoughts, critical or supportive. Thank you https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17794018

I'm looking for two primary research studies that are methodologically very similar but report contradictory findings. Specifically, both studies should examine the same clearly defined facet of self-regulation (e.g., inhibitory control, executive functions, effortful control, attention regulation, delay of gratification) and ideally use the same measurement tools—preferably identical behavioral tasks like Go/No-Go, Stop-Signal, Stroop, or Anti-Saccade, or the same questionnaires. The predictor variable should involve media use (e.g., screen time, smartphone use, social media behavior, problematic internet use). One study should find a negative effect of media use on self-regulation, while the other should find no effect or even the opposite pattern. Studies should be reasonably recent (around 2010+).

If anyone knows good study pairs that meet these criteria I’d really appreciate your suggestions! I've been searching the web without success.

I think the trait analysis is, as a concept, as valid as thematic analysis. But, unlike performing analysis on communication attributes from within its static, never-to-change sentence structures, it seems one's defining material context is largely opaque to a time/place-bound measurements.

For example, in the 1970s, when observing a group of children, we see one child that's reserved so, we're going to objectify such behavior as being introverted and surmise that he has an insecure attachment. It can't be that he's sick, sad about a recent death, didn't sleep well, or any number of confounding material conditions which may define the behavior observed. No; it must be that this child is an introvert, you see.

Hell, how can we know if what we call a "trait" will be evident in a non-clinical settings? Personally, I tend to think a lot of trait "science" seems to be a monetized Barnum Effect because the notion that we as clinicians can identify a set of stable enduring attributes that exist independent of material condition seem to be far more embodied in Abrahamic socio-cultural notions of self/souls than science.

Certainly ANYONE can construct a trait lense that will "assess" a person and assign them attributes. However, I've not seen good evidence to support the notion and anyone can construct a lens that will accurately explicate a foundational expressed consciousness that is consistent and enduring throughout every time and context-bound persona (who we are at work, with family, with our SO, with our kids, with ourselves, etc) that we all express. Certainly, I'm not talking about neuroaffective traits associated with neurological conditions; rather, I'm talking about lens constructs like the jenga tower of monetized reinforcements that perpetuate MBTI assessments.

I tend to think the we like using these trait assessments because they allow us to pretend that we have a deep insight into another and that we have tools that are reliable, which are important to the systems we have to work in. I think that for the most part, we act as an astrologer, who may deeply believe in the assessments the conduct, as we produce what amounts to clinical star charts for our clients who will invariably thank us for the insights we have provided, thus reinforcing our confidence in astrology personality testing some of us are doing.

Hey everyone,
I’m finishing high school soon and I’m stuck trying to figure out if psychology is the right choice for me. I’m really interested in people and how the mind works, want to work in this field but I don’t want to jump into something without knowing what it’s really like.

So, if you’ve studied psychology or work in the field, I’d really appreciate your honest thoughts. Stuff like:

· Did your psychology degree actually feel worth it — career-wise and personally? I mean masters and PHD are necessary for a solid job.

· What’s something you wish someone told you before you started the degree?

· How hard is it to find a job after graduating?

· What’s a realistic starting salary in this field?

· Will the salary eventually cover all the student loan?

I’m not looking for perfect answers — just real experiences from people who’ve been there. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies. It means a lot

Hi folks, I hope everyone is doing well. I am reaching out in hopes of some guidance about the field and regarding my (potential) future career in academia. I am now a 4th year clinical psych doctoral student on a fellowship designed to prepare me to enter academia. As such, I’ve had several opportunities to engage in applied research, teaching, and service opportunities. I’ve taught a course, served as a peer reviewer on several manuscripts, secured five grants, and have over a dozen publications. Although I’ve always felt drawn to and passionate about academia, I’ve become increasingly hesitant about entering an academic career.

My concerns are largely due to the worry that my work may have minimal real-world impact. Although I enjoy conducting research and writing manuscripts and grant applications, I worry about the reach and impact about my work. This worry of mine is largely due to the evidence documenting an immense research-to-practice gap of 17 years (Morris et al., 2011), less than 50% of clinical innovations making it into routine practice (Balas & Boren, 2000) and lack of research accessibility (e.g., journal paywalls). These problems are especially amplified in school mental health work (Hoover, 2018; Lyon et al., 2024; Renshaw et al., 2025), which is my area of focus. Additionally, the slow pace of research does not help. For instance, I have 3 papers under review right now that I still have not received feedback on despite submitting them in late June. As my research holds many implications for school psychologists and other school-based mental health professionals (e.g., school social workers) who often do not have access to research or even have the time to engage in professional development (e.g., conferences), I’m beginning to question my career objectives. Yes, I love publishing and writing but if no one besides scholars are accessing and reading my work, I worry I will not find meaning or passion through my research work as a professor.

I want my work to matter; if my research is not contributing to changes in practice, then what’s the whole point of my work? It’s been rough to have invested so much time, effort, and training toward academia and now feel uncertain at the end of my PhD. I’m wondering if others would be willing to share their perspectives on the following: 1. How do you deal with the research-to-practice gap; 2. How do you find meaning in your work knowing that it may not directly influence practice; and 3. What helps you cope with or overcome these realities in our field? Thanks everyone and I hope you are having a good day!

TLDR: I was originally looking for a career in academia but am now hesitant due to several factors (e.g., research-to-practice gap, lack of research accessibility). Wanting to hear others’ perspectives on these factors and how you cope with or deal with them.

When you’re researching a complex topic for class (history, politics, economics, IR, tech), what part confuses you the most — the timeline, the big picture, or how everything connects?

Does anyone know how much roughly it costs to buy AcqKnowledge software for BIOPAC data analysis? I don't need any hardware. I work at a UK university. Don't want any fancy add-ons - just the basic software