Letter Explaining What Psychology Is All About

Running head: LETTER TO MY

Letter to my niece explaining what psychology is all about

Jack Frost

Grant McEwen College

Dear Candice,

It has been a long time since I have sent you a mail, how is life treating you? I have heard recently from your father that you are planning on taking psychology as your major at university next fall after your graduation, and since I am majoring in the same course at the moment, I thought I can give you a brief idea as to what psychology is all about.

One of the most stereotypical misconceptions about majoring in psychology is that graduates with only a bachelor’s degree i.e. without a master’s degree, is unemployable. It is true that advanced training is necessary to practice as a professional psychologist. However, many jobs out there require only a bachelor’s degree, such jobs include public relation, probation and parole officer, employment interviewer, sales etc. More importantly, according to the American Psychological Association (APA brochure, 2003), in 1999, only 5% of the 1997 and 1998 psychology BA recipient went into fields that are related to psychology. Truth is that psychology is more than just a mere textbook subject but is actually a good way to prepare yourself for the future. Studying in psychology will help a person develop its analyzing, problem solving, research as well as evaluation skill, which is essential for any job or business.

Another thing that people tend to get confused about is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, I know I certainly did back then when I was still in high school deciding what I wanted to take as my major. To explain the difference, I will start off with the most common question: What is psychology? To put it in a simple term, psychology is basically a study of people: how they think, how they act, react and interact. It is concerned with all aspects of behavior and the thoughts, feelings and motivation underlying such behavior. To become a psychologist, one must obtain at least a master’s degree in psychology as a standard minimum requirement. In Alberta for example, on top of achieving a master’s degree, a graduated student will need to work for 1600 hours under the supervision of a registered psychologist, and pass a written and oral exam before he can enter the profession (“What is”, 2002). The role of a psychologist is to deal with the way the mind works. They provide psychotherapy to those in need, normally without the use of medication. Some people treat their personal psychologist as a sort of intimate friend, someone you share secrets and personal thoughts with that would be otherwise embarrassing to tell. Others seek help to solve problems such as relationship difficulty, or depression caused by numerous different reasons. These type of psychologist are often referred to as clinical psychologist or counseling psychologist.

Psychiatrists on the other hand are medically trained doctors who specialize treating patients with mental illness or emotional disorder, such as schizophrenia, that is often associated with the person’s biological well-being. Unlike a psychologist, psychiatrists undergo medical school training and are qualified as Doctor of Medicine. A graduate is then required to participate in a post-graduate residency-training program to specialize in psychiatry (“What is”, 2002). Other than therapeutic treatments, psychiatrists can prescribe medicine to its patients to further enhance the treatment.

Although psychologist is the most commonly known psychology-related profession, many of the graduates are actually involved in psychological research and clinical study, which further enhance our understanding of the functionality of the brain. One of the most fascinating researches is the study of brain-behavior relation. Although many research has been conducted in an attempt to map out every area of the brain, we are still, even till this day, lack understanding as to what some parts of our brain really does. Researches conducted by Karl Lashley had inspired