What to study for specific psychology career goal?

Question

I want to be able to treat people, but I am really interested in cultural differences in perception and thought. I want to study different cultures first hand (in other countries) to research differences. I have my Bachelors in an unrelated field (art), but what should I ultimately study in my Masters/Doctorate level? I have wanderlust - should I be studying some other field?

Answer 1

No -- Research Psychology sounds like the perfect field for you. The subdivision you are talking about (studying cultural and regional differences) is part of Social Psychology.

It's tough to get into a research program -- they are quite competitive. Almost always, the Masters and PhD. degree programs are combined into one 5-year program (because you can't do anything with a Masters in Research Psychology.) You may have to take some additional courses to qualify for grad school. If you have the opportunity, volunteer to run experiments in the Psychology department as an undergrad -- that letter of recommendation will really help you to get into grad school.

You can get books at the library or a bookstore on getting into grad school for Psychology. One popular brand is the Bear Guides.

Here's the bad news. There are always a few exceptions, but in Social Psychology, you generally need to make a choice between treating patients and doing research, because the two have different types of educations. It's actually easier to get accepted into a program where you will primarily treat patients. You can get a Psy. D., a Masters, a PhD. in Clinical or Counseling Psychology, or even a Masters in Social Work and do therapy. Only PhDs. in Social Pschology do the type of research you are interested in.

BTW -- This type of research doesn't necessarily involve travel. Often, a professor of Social Psychology in the US will collaborate with a professor of Social Psychology in China, to do the same experiment on people from different countries. That's partly because...you probably don't speak very good Chinese, do you? And, even if you did, the subjects might act differently around you, since you're obviously a foreigner.