In my recent interview with David Copeland, we spoke about helping psych undergrads set a direction for their careers. Part of the interview that didn’t make it air was about his experiences working with students in UNLV’s Research and Memory Lab:
I’ll get students involved with cognitive psychology research and they start asking, “Well, what can I do that’s somewhat related to the skills I’m developing here?”
And I’ll ask about their interests. And you’re going to find a lot of students who just don’t want to go into those traditional helping fields of social work, clinical psych, or counseling.
By the time they get to college, a young person has probably seen hundreds of portrayals of psychotherapists on TV and in the movies, so it’s no surprise that when they enroll in a Psych 101 course, they immediately think of counseling or clinical psychology. Mental health, however, isn’t for everyone.
Back to David.
And they’re more interested in just the general idea of psychology and how it can be applied. And one of the things I try to tell my students is, “Hey, open your eyes to the possibility of I-O psychology … if you’re interested in applying psychology to the real world, one of the areas you might explore is I-O psychology.“
Check out David’s book, Success as a Psychology Major, and read more of my interview with him on the GIT SIOP blog.
