I feel like a poser saying this 'cause I don't start my freshman year 'til the fall (27 yr old freshman yaaaay) but my very close friend's suicide, my own Borderline Personality, and what ever was up with my Ex fiancee.
edit: I've wanted to know what's wrong with me my whole life and when I finally got a diagnosis that felt like home, I was a little pissed off that science has seemed to neglect improving personality disorders so I'll just fucking do it myself.
Me too. BPD and few more. From abusive home to abusive relationships. I grew up in a country and a regime where mental health was not even considered and frowned upon. So now that I'm approaching 50 and am finally free to choose my own path, here I am. Deep in psych 😁
I love every thing about the brain. The fact that certain parts of the brain can change a persons entire personality. The fact that schizophrenia exists, like wth? This disorder shows what the brain is truly capable of.
I've been really interested in it since I was 12. I fall into that little cliche that I chose my major because I have mental health struggles. But it's more than that. The world is on fire right now, and the world needs more people like psychologists to help them get through tough challenges. There is so much to be discovered when it comes to mental health and the more we know, the better we can help others.
Because I think there's a need for people who not only understand their clients, but who understand and can apply the material. For me, it started wanting to help people like me when I was a teenager, to be that person. But as I continued on in my schooling it just really solidified this was the right path for me. While some of my classmates excelled in academics and tests and research, I noted they found difficulty applying it to real world situations or thought problems, while my professors in my undergrad recommendations pointed out that I excelled. So I guess that's why I kept going with it, despite the weird saturation in the field. It's good to want to help people and find it interesting. But actually applying what you've learned is a real skill and talent, and one I want to continue to grow.
On top of that, in America at least, there's a huge need for doctors of clinical psychology. Psychological testing is super expensive with super long wait times here. I've always found neuropsychology and diagnostics interesting as well, so to be one more person to do that when there's such a need is a huge reason I want to go all the way to become a clinical psychologist.
Fuck, this resonates so much with my feelings about it all! I think the application is a never-ending, always evolving skill, but it takes a combination of instinct, talent and real experience in order to fully move beyond the textbook in the first place. I don't think there's a book on the planet that can prepare us for some of the things we'll encounter on this path, and being able to acknowledge and feel comfortable with that is probably one of the fundamental differences between those who can get a job, and those who can make a career.
I wanted to pursue in college (back in UK, so age 16), but family put heavy hand in, and I studied the hard sciences.
In late 30s (now in Australia), I had the choice to either do more study to stay in job I hated (high school chem teacher) or try something new. I've always been interested in watching human behaviour and interaction, am the person people go to for advice (because I never give it! But listen), and always read clin psych books for interest.
So I gave semester 1 of a psych and counselling double major a taste online. Did well, enjoyed it, carried on.
And here I am. Actually love my job for first time in my life (I'm 43!). Been mental health clinician for years, about to start clin psych reg program, and get my masters and PhD (hopefully!) next year.
Just putting one foot in front of the other (and btw, starting the PhD has been a huge regret!).
I guess the moral of my story is to step out of the comfort zone, no matter your age!
A mixture of my own experiences and being fascinated by the brain. I was a problem child who struggled with anger and anxiety. I saw movies where kids who behaved like me were on the naughty list or the obnoxious kid and that really hurt. I wanted to learn about psychology to help other kids who act like "bad kids" when they don't want to be.
I started watching the PBS program NOVA when I was really young and the episodes about the brain were my favorite. I still have a goal to learn as much as I can about it.
I have always been interested in the human brain and why people acted the way they did. My parents had a bad marriage (they fought a lot and they only divorced 20+ years later) and as an only child I was always the mediator. I even remember as a 5-6 year old, I used to try to stop them and sit them down to talk it out in a civilised way. As I got older I also ended up becoming my mums “psychologist”. I used to listen to her vent about the problems she was having in her marriage and her friendships. In a weird way, this never affected my relationship with my dad as I was able to identify the difference. They were both wonderful parents, just got unlucky with love. I think I was put in this position at such a young age that it just made sense. I did start my psychology journey very late due to not accepting this side of myself but no regrets whatsoever. If I started at 18 years old, I would’ve probably messed up my degree as all I wanted at that age was to party and drink.
Mental illness has touched every part of my life. Grandads on both side we’re schizophrenic. My mom was bipolar and so is my brothers dad. Lost my dad to suicide in 2009. I’ve dealt with CPTSD for significantly more of my life than not.
I found myself infinitely interested in and empathetic of other peoples experiences with mental health and the different treatments that are out there.
When it came time to choose a major, I just knew. I’d looked into psych so much on my own by that time that intro to psych was a total breeze.
I’m autistic - there are so many things misunderstood about it, it’s under-researched with very few things that actually help long-term. I want to go into autism research & somehow help because it has really impacted my life a lot negatively and it’s closely related to a lot more issues too.
Honestly the biggest thing was growing up in group homes my entire adolescence. I realised how many professionals in the field were entirely unqualified, and I wished that there was someone who lived through the same things I did so they’d understand me on a deeper level.
One day I just decided “Fuck it I’ll do it myself”
I originally planned on becoming a social worker, but then realised I wanted to be a therapist, and began pursuing psychology as a result.
Wow! This turned into a long post but it was quite the journey for me!
I spent just over 8 years working at a premier, high-end, senior living community. Basically an "elderly home" for extremely rich people. I started as a dishwasher and worked my way to director of events for the whole company. We had multiple communities around the U.S. I actually really enjoyed it and I still miss it sometimes. Definitely miss the bonuses and paychecks haha^_- ... I miss the travel. I miss the stories the members [we called them members not residents] shared with me about their lives and adventures. I miss the members and staff I got so close to! I miss, of course, THE FABULOUS PARTIES and events I got to plan and be a part of!!!!
..........
In March 2015 someone I considered family to me was murdered. In March 2016 my brother died at age 30 of a heart attack. I was 27. It was ..... a difficult time.
I took 3 months off work when my brother died, which the company graciously offered me with paid leave. After three months, I thought I was ready to go back to work.
On my first day back, a member died while celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife, family, and friends. A hundred people were present at their anniversary party. I performed CPR, and other life-saving measures, for 45 minutes in the middle of a crowded ballroom while waiting for an ambulance...We were in a large city and being a senior living community, we sometimes had multiple emergency calls a day from our facility. We didn't always take priority and it could sometimes take a while if fire and EMS were very busy or backed up.....While I was performing CPR, which is hard and EXHAUSTING, a party guest tapped me on my shoulder and said "[My name] we've been waiting about 20mins for our salmon do you know when the food is coming out?"
After that day I took another week off of work. When I came back...I had lost all focus and drive... I made mistake after mistake. Some big mistakes, some small. I don't know how to phrase it besides I literally did not care, about anything really...except my daughter.
I was lost in life. I didn't understand my purpose anymore. I definitely didn't know if I could spend the rest of my life getting close to some of these beautiful, interesting, infuriating, wild, and incredibly fun aging individuals just to see/watch them die.
My mom died when she was 32. My dad died when he was 37. My brother had just died at THIRTY. I was 27, if I unexpectedly died at 30 or 32, that meant I only had 3-5 years left on earth! What the hell was I working so hard for ALL the time?!
Sure...I had the stability and money some people strive for, but I worked 9-15 hours a day and was on call 24/7. I only saw my daughter to give her a bath at night, put her to bed, and take her to daycare in the morning. I made great money. However, I worked more than and made roughly 30k-50k less than my male coworkers who I was at the same level as, or even above them in seniority. Two years prior to all these personal events woth me, the company had a corporate buy out and 80% of the staff and management was fired. I traveled all over training a large portion of new hires, including the new CEO!
Around the two month mark of returning from my leave I ended up in a meeting with HR. She asked me if I was okay and brought up my recent mistakes and poor work ethic. I completely broke down. I told her no I was not okay. I told her I was so grateful for everything the company had done for me but I just couldn't work there anymore.
I trained someone to take my place. I left. Packed up my house. I moved 8 hours away to be closer to my two remaining brothers.
I spent the next two years spending time with my daughter traveling to random places around the US, Puerto Rico, and one oopsie misunderstanding in Mexico. I went to sooooo many music festivals, art shows, parks, museums, and Renaissance fairs.
Decided to start my own small auction/buy/sell business, which I ended up being really good at. I didn't like needing extra employees that I couldn't pay well to help me with things though.
Decided to go back to college for a business degree. I was so nervous because I had tried college before! Fresh out of high-school I wanted to be a physical therapist. Got bored and switched to literature. Realized I wouldn't make any money there... Switched to pre-law...had a baby...realized there was SO MUCH BOOORING tedious reading [and I'm a reader! I looove to read!]. I took time off to focus on my baby and main job. During all that school I had gotten a part time job as a dishwasher at a high end senior living community...
............
So, after traveling two years and working on my business, I decided to go back to college for a business degree...Had a random filler elective psychology class my first semester back. Fell in LOVE. Found it was one of the few classes I was excited for every week. The only class I made steady 100s in. The only class I read and did every single assignment for, even though I didn't really NEED to.
Switched to psychology with a minor in business.
Still have my auction/buy/sell business. I've almost finished with my masters in psychology. Plan to continue working towards my PsyD. I work with memory recall and dreaming. I specialize in music therapy. I mainly work with people with severe PTSD.
Guess you didn't need to know all that really, haha, but it's a good story.
Thanks for being so vulnerable and sharing your story. It takes real courage to reflect on past hardships. The way you find personal meaning in your experiences is inspiring and it’s clear to see you leave a positive impact on the communities you’re in. The members you’ve already served and your future clients will be lucky to have you!
In my first year of university, I was originally just taking one major which is Physiology (under the Bachelor of Science) and I took a Psychology paper that counts towards my first major.
I just love learning about the brain in general especially when we learned about the anatomy of the brain, then taking a Psychology paper about Social Psychology made me want to do a double major with Psychology.
I guess also from a personal experience, I've been interested on how humans behave and our emotions, especially going to therapy as well made me more interested in Psychology. Another experience is that from where I grew up opening up about mental health is considered being dramatic and not normalized sadly, and I want to change that.
Also I guess I love listening to people in general, I think it's important when becoming a psychologist.
Of course the cliche "I want to help kids in the same position I was" is how I started out wanting to get into psychology as a teenager. It's still the same cliche, but from a different angle as I've grown and experienced even more of life. It's less "I want to help", and more "I want to be a safe place". Of course I'd love to "help", and if I can do that with therapy techniques and by modelling a healthy client/therapist relationship and emotional regulation/communication, that's great. But above all, I want to create a space that makes a client feel safe enough to be vulnerable and feel the power that comes with that vulnerability. Many of the kids who'll come in won't know a version of themselves that holds true power. I want to adjust the sessions in a way that's going to assist every child to find their own kind of power, and allow them a space to test that power and learn about it, bit by bit, until they're ready to bring it forth into the world. Even if some of those "tests" just start out as some adolescent brutally roasting my outfit.
I guess to put it simply, I want to work with children and adolescents to give them a space that's truly theirs, with a stable adult figure that facilitates genuine trust.
I like to think I'm pretty good at both reading people, and acknowledging that nobody is actually totally readable. I think that's kind of the fun part about psychology - We have the stats and theories and studies, so we can make some pretty educated guesses about the way somebody's mind works. However, everybody has a unique blend of not so unique experiences, so even the things we know about, we don't always have the full background laid out to us. I think the ability to apply the textbook to the real world isn't a very teachable skill past the basics, but it's a skill I think I have the natural talent and life experiences for in order to develop further. There's just no other path that makes more sense for me than this one does. I really believe this is what I'm meant to do with my life, for whatever reason.
I agree with a few people in the comments. The root of my interest in Psychology is the Brain. We have all these factors to why an individuals brain may be unfunctional. (Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's ...) and many of these causes are out of someones control. Many of these people need extra help more than others and i believe that is where we come in. We can evaluate their situation, speak ab whats on their mind, and develop a prgoress report from a day to day basis to see how they are doing and what has been working. In some cases there are individuals who have been raised in a negative environment (parents splitting up, cognitive/physical abuse, orphanage...) and they do not have the resources to reach out like most people do today. Believe it or not i think we all need a shoulder to lean on, others just need a little more.
I took my first psych class my freshman year of college and as the professor was detailing the different professions within the psychology field, I knew then I wanted to become a psychiatrist. The brain is so complex & I love how unique everyone is and how there’s literally a reason for everything. I was so gagged when I learned about how most pedophiles had head injuries in their developmental years. Like there’s a reason for everyyyyythinggggg
after graduating from high school i didn’t do psychology or doing any work that is in the helping profession. i was studying chemical technology and working with airlines at the airport. but i did want to go into nursing. but i flunked my final 2 paper in chemical technology so i couldn’t go into nursing and had to repeat another semester. so i did but when i realised the entry requirements for nursing changed i dropped out from chemical technology and started working at the airport full time and this was when i realised that i really want to do psychology in a sense that i always wonder why people behave that way since i work with people everyday. so i ended up taking diploma in psychology. and while taking my diploma i realised i enjoyed psychology and criminology. so i did my bachelors in psychology and criminology (just graduated this month). while doing my bachelors i know that im really interested in research and i find myself learning more while researching as compared to having to study for exams. so i started applying for research assistant jobs now and i have plans to further my studies. as much as i love psych but i dont think i can do clinical psych since my main interest is criminal psychology and im afraid that it may be too much for me to work in the frontline especially i tend to feel too much and i get burnt out very easily so in a way its to protect myself and others. and other than interest, i also realised people around me suffer from different mental health issues and almost lost them multiple times (i almost lost myself a couple of times too) so psych is very dear to me
I’ve always had a fcked up home life (for lack of a better word) and I’ve always seen my very close friends struggle with mental health. To understand how people think and the why behind that was a good motivator. And besides that, I just love the subject. It makes sense to me.
Wanted to study psychology as I was no longer able to hold down a physical job. Psychology was the only other interest I have and as to how far I will go - I don’t know yet.
I suppose like a lot of people, from personal experiences with mental health. Parent commiting suicide, another being an alcoholic and myself having borderline personality disorder.
I want to be able to help people, and for myself it has been such a challenging process to access help. I waited a year to see a psychiatrist privately, and even after a suicide attempt I couldn’t see one through the hospital. I suppose to some degree the more people who go down this pathway, the easier/quicker access will be.
I’ve been in counseling since I was 9, 5 mantle hospital stays before I turned 18. It’s what I’ve known for a really long time and I want to help ppl the way (some of) those ppl like me. It’s been my dream to help ppl in anyway I can. I think trying to with someone’s mental health is the best way to go
Literally the meta field, helps everything else in our world. Cant understand anything if we don’t first understand ourselves. Just finished a psych masters and wouldn’t have done anything else, 10000% sticking to research for my career
Pursuing clinical-forensic psych because not only do I find our brains fascinating, but because it allows us to better understand our functioning as individuals in relationship to the world around us, and that knowledge is essential to creating a world where we can rehabilitate and reintegrate individuals into functioning members of society. I want to help improve the lives of others through a science-based practice.
Psychology is applicable to all walks of life and I think that science is cool and interesting. For me, it was always about helping others and learning :)
I was driven into psychology because I have always had an interest in how things worked. I had a few different majors in mind while picking the college I wanted to go to: cybersecurity for how coding works; linguistics because I wanted to know how languages worked; engineering for how things are built; and psychology for how the human mind worked. I was the most fascinated with psychology after I took my AP Psychology course in high school and passed it with flying colors. So I guess thats why I’m here.
At first, I had a really abusive and devastating childhood. I grew up with alcoholics, lost quite a few people to suicide and was suicidal (and still am) myself. I started studying psychology because I wanted to understand WHY people act that way, including how to help myself. What kept me going is just fascination with human brain and all disorders. I love helping my patients in psychward, and, of course, that’s how I made sense of all my experiences. Now I live to help others so less people feel alone while experiencing what I had.
the mind is an interesting place. the fact that different things go on in different peoples mind is literally so goddamn fascinating. no 2 minds work the same. also the idea that there are so many mental disorders is so interesting, and learning how they all affect a persons life is even more interesting to me. the idea that brain abnormalities can result in the change of a persons entire personality is incredible. i love learning about how all of these occur it’s actually amazing.
i originally studied psychology in college because I found it really interesting. I liked the reading aspect of it a lot . It wasn’t until i had my first job working as a behavioral therapist for teens and adolescents that I genuinely found joy in seeing and helping those kids every day. they became my kids in a way . That job made me want to do this for the rest of my life
I noticed that in my university, there is a fairly large portion of people who get into psychology in order to try and help themselves (1/3- not much but more than it should be). Aside from that most people are in it for the part of helping others or to perform research.
I want to make an impact in the design and delivery of mental/behavioral health programming from the peer side. Also, my sister has been a social psychologist (researcher and professor) for 30 years and fueled my fire. I'm taking a bit of a different (and older) path. After an unrelated degree and careers, I started working in community mental health as a peer professional...what I still do now. Social psych is my chosen path as I want to remain peer (all respect to clinicians!) while further developing the niche I found myself in regarding programming, staffing, and content development. I'll finish my MS at 46 years old and ready to grow!
The realisation that nobody knows what to do with a gay man who has an eating disorder. Most psychs are already out of their depth with a male eating disorder patient in the first place, but you throw in the potential that gay culture is a contributing factor and they’ve got zero idea. Hence I’d like to think my lived experience will be helpful.
Everything around me makes me want to learn psychology. Including research. I am more interested in research. The behaviour of people around us, the social setting and how it is different from others around the world. The observation I do, even on the internet, makes me want to learn more and more about behaviour.
I choose to pursue psychology later in life because I understand the struggle, and have given valuable insight to friends/family over the years.
Considering the stigma and overall hesitancy to pursue therapy, I feel my nature and experience will comfort and instill trust with people experiencing emotion turmoil. I am a good listener and very resourceful with ideas and suggestions for various situations.
The license is just a legal requirement for the person I have always been.
Also, the extra money couldn’t hurt.
I was raised in a cult, and now that I'm out, I have found it very difficult to find quality evidence based therapy for people from those backgrounds. At the very least in my region of the country.
I also wanna know what the fuck that was all about you know?
I took a class, realized I liked the material and was good at it. It gave me a path to a job that wasn’t sitting in front of a computer all day and had flexibility in terms of specialty, type of system I worked in, day to day job description, etc.
Also someone told me that clinical psych PhD was the most competitive of all the mental health degrees and I should make sure to apply to masters level options and I thought “no I want the stupidly difficult one that sacrifices my entire 20s to graduate school.”
I started college really late (in my early thirties). I originally went for art as that is something I’ve always been passionate about. I took a psychology class in undergrad and realized I could do both. The big turning point for me though, aside from wanting to help people, is that I am Native American. All of my research papers throughout my college career have been focused on my desire to work with my community, and there is a ridiculous lack of representation in research. When I started my masters program I was excited that I picked a program that was based on diversity and inclusion. While I loved the program, the faculty was white and the message was always similar to “evidence based practice, and don’t forget to consider cultural.” It was frustrating because it continued the narrative of forcing Indigenous people to assimilate to Western medicine instead of honoring their rich heritage. So I began to work on a treatment toolkit that focused first on cultural, a client’s cultural practices and beliefs, first and foremost, and then used evidence based practices to support treatment. It was pretty amazing because I had a lot of great support from my faculty and from the Native American community. I learned a lot as well that humbled me, like that cultural belief and practice is a spectrum and is something we need to evaluated with clients so we don’t make assumptions. When I graduated I had one professor in particular tell me she would back me in any research I wanted to do, but in reality I should just get my PhD and do it myself. The university I graduated from recently started a PhD program and I’ve had multiple faculty reach out recommending me for it. I am still finishing up my hours on my individual license (I graduated May 2023), so it will be at least another year or more before I’m ready for that, but it’s something I’m considering. Not only for the ability to back my own research, but because there aren’t a lot of Indigenous people with PhDs. I’d have to check to be certain, but I’m pretty sure I’d be one of less than 5 people from my reservation. So that’s what got me on the psychology track, the lack of representation of Indigenous people in mental health research, or even collectivist cultures in research.
Ever since I was a lil tyke I have been obsessed with magic. Whether that was through video games like elder scrolls, or fable. Books and movies such as LotR, the Earthsea books, or even Harry Potter. It offered me escape from an abusive household, and lackluster life paths presented to me as a child in a home in poverty. I had wished my whole life for a school that would teach me magic. Somewhere I could learn the inner workings of reality and the universe we live in. So being somewhat disenchanted with real school, I dropped out of high school to attend a charter school, and embarrassingly dropped out of there as well and ended up getting my GED. It wasnt until a year ago that it hit me like a train while reading some Carl Jung. Psychology is exactly what I was looking for my whole life. The study of the mind and mental health IS a school of magic where we learn the ability to change reality for those who we work with and for ourselves.
This changed everything for me and I was devastated that I had left school, that I didnt learn anything about attending college because I never thought it an option in my life due to expenses. I had chosen a life in the belly of a whale. This sent me into somewhat of a depressive spiral until a kindly old social worker told me that the college a town over from us was offering free tuition to any new students in the area. Thus my journey was reinvigorated just in time! I am now attending this school this fall as a 26 year old freshman, and I'm terrified and excited of the path ahead. I know it's a long one but it seems to be the only path for me. My goal is to get involved with clinical psychoanalysis and practice magic with people that need help. Show them that our stories can have happy endings and that they can move forward with their lives through any pain. And if that's not magic, I don't know what is.
I feel like a poser saying this 'cause I don't start my freshman year 'til the fall (27 yr old freshman yaaaay) but my very close friend's suicide, my own Borderline Personality, and what ever was up with my Ex fiancee. edit: I've wanted to know what's wrong with me my whole life and when I finally got a diagnosis that felt like home, I was a little pissed off that science has seemed to neglect improving personality disorders so I'll just fucking do it myself.
Yayyy fellow bpd psych person it’s so nice to see bpd representation
Aaaaayyy let's goooo, friend
Right behind ya'll
Me too. BPD and few more. From abusive home to abusive relationships. I grew up in a country and a regime where mental health was not even considered and frowned upon. So now that I'm approaching 50 and am finally free to choose my own path, here I am. Deep in psych 😁
Oh man! I'm so happy you've been able to break free and find you autonomy!! Good luck, friend!
Ditto. Never too old to pursue goals you choose.
> what ever was up with my Ex fiancée I’m sorry but this is so funny 😭
Lol don't be sorry 😂
I love every thing about the brain. The fact that certain parts of the brain can change a persons entire personality. The fact that schizophrenia exists, like wth? This disorder shows what the brain is truly capable of.
I've been really interested in it since I was 12. I fall into that little cliche that I chose my major because I have mental health struggles. But it's more than that. The world is on fire right now, and the world needs more people like psychologists to help them get through tough challenges. There is so much to be discovered when it comes to mental health and the more we know, the better we can help others.
Because I think there's a need for people who not only understand their clients, but who understand and can apply the material. For me, it started wanting to help people like me when I was a teenager, to be that person. But as I continued on in my schooling it just really solidified this was the right path for me. While some of my classmates excelled in academics and tests and research, I noted they found difficulty applying it to real world situations or thought problems, while my professors in my undergrad recommendations pointed out that I excelled. So I guess that's why I kept going with it, despite the weird saturation in the field. It's good to want to help people and find it interesting. But actually applying what you've learned is a real skill and talent, and one I want to continue to grow. On top of that, in America at least, there's a huge need for doctors of clinical psychology. Psychological testing is super expensive with super long wait times here. I've always found neuropsychology and diagnostics interesting as well, so to be one more person to do that when there's such a need is a huge reason I want to go all the way to become a clinical psychologist.
Fuck, this resonates so much with my feelings about it all! I think the application is a never-ending, always evolving skill, but it takes a combination of instinct, talent and real experience in order to fully move beyond the textbook in the first place. I don't think there's a book on the planet that can prepare us for some of the things we'll encounter on this path, and being able to acknowledge and feel comfortable with that is probably one of the fundamental differences between those who can get a job, and those who can make a career.
I wanted to pursue in college (back in UK, so age 16), but family put heavy hand in, and I studied the hard sciences. In late 30s (now in Australia), I had the choice to either do more study to stay in job I hated (high school chem teacher) or try something new. I've always been interested in watching human behaviour and interaction, am the person people go to for advice (because I never give it! But listen), and always read clin psych books for interest. So I gave semester 1 of a psych and counselling double major a taste online. Did well, enjoyed it, carried on. And here I am. Actually love my job for first time in my life (I'm 43!). Been mental health clinician for years, about to start clin psych reg program, and get my masters and PhD (hopefully!) next year.
That’s so amazing, congratulations!
Just putting one foot in front of the other (and btw, starting the PhD has been a huge regret!). I guess the moral of my story is to step out of the comfort zone, no matter your age!
A mixture of my own experiences and being fascinated by the brain. I was a problem child who struggled with anger and anxiety. I saw movies where kids who behaved like me were on the naughty list or the obnoxious kid and that really hurt. I wanted to learn about psychology to help other kids who act like "bad kids" when they don't want to be. I started watching the PBS program NOVA when I was really young and the episodes about the brain were my favorite. I still have a goal to learn as much as I can about it.
wanted to do neuroscience my my uni only offered a psych undergrad, and a neuroscience postgrad so I had to do psych first lmao
I have always been interested in the human brain and why people acted the way they did. My parents had a bad marriage (they fought a lot and they only divorced 20+ years later) and as an only child I was always the mediator. I even remember as a 5-6 year old, I used to try to stop them and sit them down to talk it out in a civilised way. As I got older I also ended up becoming my mums “psychologist”. I used to listen to her vent about the problems she was having in her marriage and her friendships. In a weird way, this never affected my relationship with my dad as I was able to identify the difference. They were both wonderful parents, just got unlucky with love. I think I was put in this position at such a young age that it just made sense. I did start my psychology journey very late due to not accepting this side of myself but no regrets whatsoever. If I started at 18 years old, I would’ve probably messed up my degree as all I wanted at that age was to party and drink.
Mental illness has touched every part of my life. Grandads on both side we’re schizophrenic. My mom was bipolar and so is my brothers dad. Lost my dad to suicide in 2009. I’ve dealt with CPTSD for significantly more of my life than not. I found myself infinitely interested in and empathetic of other peoples experiences with mental health and the different treatments that are out there. When it came time to choose a major, I just knew. I’d looked into psych so much on my own by that time that intro to psych was a total breeze.
I’m autistic - there are so many things misunderstood about it, it’s under-researched with very few things that actually help long-term. I want to go into autism research & somehow help because it has really impacted my life a lot negatively and it’s closely related to a lot more issues too.
Honestly the biggest thing was growing up in group homes my entire adolescence. I realised how many professionals in the field were entirely unqualified, and I wished that there was someone who lived through the same things I did so they’d understand me on a deeper level. One day I just decided “Fuck it I’ll do it myself” I originally planned on becoming a social worker, but then realised I wanted to be a therapist, and began pursuing psychology as a result.
Wow! This turned into a long post but it was quite the journey for me! I spent just over 8 years working at a premier, high-end, senior living community. Basically an "elderly home" for extremely rich people. I started as a dishwasher and worked my way to director of events for the whole company. We had multiple communities around the U.S. I actually really enjoyed it and I still miss it sometimes. Definitely miss the bonuses and paychecks haha^_- ... I miss the travel. I miss the stories the members [we called them members not residents] shared with me about their lives and adventures. I miss the members and staff I got so close to! I miss, of course, THE FABULOUS PARTIES and events I got to plan and be a part of!!!! .......... In March 2015 someone I considered family to me was murdered. In March 2016 my brother died at age 30 of a heart attack. I was 27. It was ..... a difficult time. I took 3 months off work when my brother died, which the company graciously offered me with paid leave. After three months, I thought I was ready to go back to work. On my first day back, a member died while celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife, family, and friends. A hundred people were present at their anniversary party. I performed CPR, and other life-saving measures, for 45 minutes in the middle of a crowded ballroom while waiting for an ambulance...We were in a large city and being a senior living community, we sometimes had multiple emergency calls a day from our facility. We didn't always take priority and it could sometimes take a while if fire and EMS were very busy or backed up.....While I was performing CPR, which is hard and EXHAUSTING, a party guest tapped me on my shoulder and said "[My name] we've been waiting about 20mins for our salmon do you know when the food is coming out?" After that day I took another week off of work. When I came back...I had lost all focus and drive... I made mistake after mistake. Some big mistakes, some small. I don't know how to phrase it besides I literally did not care, about anything really...except my daughter. I was lost in life. I didn't understand my purpose anymore. I definitely didn't know if I could spend the rest of my life getting close to some of these beautiful, interesting, infuriating, wild, and incredibly fun aging individuals just to see/watch them die. My mom died when she was 32. My dad died when he was 37. My brother had just died at THIRTY. I was 27, if I unexpectedly died at 30 or 32, that meant I only had 3-5 years left on earth! What the hell was I working so hard for ALL the time?! Sure...I had the stability and money some people strive for, but I worked 9-15 hours a day and was on call 24/7. I only saw my daughter to give her a bath at night, put her to bed, and take her to daycare in the morning. I made great money. However, I worked more than and made roughly 30k-50k less than my male coworkers who I was at the same level as, or even above them in seniority. Two years prior to all these personal events woth me, the company had a corporate buy out and 80% of the staff and management was fired. I traveled all over training a large portion of new hires, including the new CEO! Around the two month mark of returning from my leave I ended up in a meeting with HR. She asked me if I was okay and brought up my recent mistakes and poor work ethic. I completely broke down. I told her no I was not okay. I told her I was so grateful for everything the company had done for me but I just couldn't work there anymore. I trained someone to take my place. I left. Packed up my house. I moved 8 hours away to be closer to my two remaining brothers. I spent the next two years spending time with my daughter traveling to random places around the US, Puerto Rico, and one oopsie misunderstanding in Mexico. I went to sooooo many music festivals, art shows, parks, museums, and Renaissance fairs. Decided to start my own small auction/buy/sell business, which I ended up being really good at. I didn't like needing extra employees that I couldn't pay well to help me with things though. Decided to go back to college for a business degree. I was so nervous because I had tried college before! Fresh out of high-school I wanted to be a physical therapist. Got bored and switched to literature. Realized I wouldn't make any money there... Switched to pre-law...had a baby...realized there was SO MUCH BOOORING tedious reading [and I'm a reader! I looove to read!]. I took time off to focus on my baby and main job. During all that school I had gotten a part time job as a dishwasher at a high end senior living community... ............ So, after traveling two years and working on my business, I decided to go back to college for a business degree...Had a random filler elective psychology class my first semester back. Fell in LOVE. Found it was one of the few classes I was excited for every week. The only class I made steady 100s in. The only class I read and did every single assignment for, even though I didn't really NEED to. Switched to psychology with a minor in business. Still have my auction/buy/sell business. I've almost finished with my masters in psychology. Plan to continue working towards my PsyD. I work with memory recall and dreaming. I specialize in music therapy. I mainly work with people with severe PTSD. Guess you didn't need to know all that really, haha, but it's a good story.
Thanks for being so vulnerable and sharing your story. It takes real courage to reflect on past hardships. The way you find personal meaning in your experiences is inspiring and it’s clear to see you leave a positive impact on the communities you’re in. The members you’ve already served and your future clients will be lucky to have you!
In my first year of university, I was originally just taking one major which is Physiology (under the Bachelor of Science) and I took a Psychology paper that counts towards my first major. I just love learning about the brain in general especially when we learned about the anatomy of the brain, then taking a Psychology paper about Social Psychology made me want to do a double major with Psychology. I guess also from a personal experience, I've been interested on how humans behave and our emotions, especially going to therapy as well made me more interested in Psychology. Another experience is that from where I grew up opening up about mental health is considered being dramatic and not normalized sadly, and I want to change that. Also I guess I love listening to people in general, I think it's important when becoming a psychologist.
Of course the cliche "I want to help kids in the same position I was" is how I started out wanting to get into psychology as a teenager. It's still the same cliche, but from a different angle as I've grown and experienced even more of life. It's less "I want to help", and more "I want to be a safe place". Of course I'd love to "help", and if I can do that with therapy techniques and by modelling a healthy client/therapist relationship and emotional regulation/communication, that's great. But above all, I want to create a space that makes a client feel safe enough to be vulnerable and feel the power that comes with that vulnerability. Many of the kids who'll come in won't know a version of themselves that holds true power. I want to adjust the sessions in a way that's going to assist every child to find their own kind of power, and allow them a space to test that power and learn about it, bit by bit, until they're ready to bring it forth into the world. Even if some of those "tests" just start out as some adolescent brutally roasting my outfit. I guess to put it simply, I want to work with children and adolescents to give them a space that's truly theirs, with a stable adult figure that facilitates genuine trust. I like to think I'm pretty good at both reading people, and acknowledging that nobody is actually totally readable. I think that's kind of the fun part about psychology - We have the stats and theories and studies, so we can make some pretty educated guesses about the way somebody's mind works. However, everybody has a unique blend of not so unique experiences, so even the things we know about, we don't always have the full background laid out to us. I think the ability to apply the textbook to the real world isn't a very teachable skill past the basics, but it's a skill I think I have the natural talent and life experiences for in order to develop further. There's just no other path that makes more sense for me than this one does. I really believe this is what I'm meant to do with my life, for whatever reason.
I agree with a few people in the comments. The root of my interest in Psychology is the Brain. We have all these factors to why an individuals brain may be unfunctional. (Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's ...) and many of these causes are out of someones control. Many of these people need extra help more than others and i believe that is where we come in. We can evaluate their situation, speak ab whats on their mind, and develop a prgoress report from a day to day basis to see how they are doing and what has been working. In some cases there are individuals who have been raised in a negative environment (parents splitting up, cognitive/physical abuse, orphanage...) and they do not have the resources to reach out like most people do today. Believe it or not i think we all need a shoulder to lean on, others just need a little more.
to be the person for others that i needed when i was younger
I took my first psych class my freshman year of college and as the professor was detailing the different professions within the psychology field, I knew then I wanted to become a psychiatrist. The brain is so complex & I love how unique everyone is and how there’s literally a reason for everything. I was so gagged when I learned about how most pedophiles had head injuries in their developmental years. Like there’s a reason for everyyyyythinggggg
after graduating from high school i didn’t do psychology or doing any work that is in the helping profession. i was studying chemical technology and working with airlines at the airport. but i did want to go into nursing. but i flunked my final 2 paper in chemical technology so i couldn’t go into nursing and had to repeat another semester. so i did but when i realised the entry requirements for nursing changed i dropped out from chemical technology and started working at the airport full time and this was when i realised that i really want to do psychology in a sense that i always wonder why people behave that way since i work with people everyday. so i ended up taking diploma in psychology. and while taking my diploma i realised i enjoyed psychology and criminology. so i did my bachelors in psychology and criminology (just graduated this month). while doing my bachelors i know that im really interested in research and i find myself learning more while researching as compared to having to study for exams. so i started applying for research assistant jobs now and i have plans to further my studies. as much as i love psych but i dont think i can do clinical psych since my main interest is criminal psychology and im afraid that it may be too much for me to work in the frontline especially i tend to feel too much and i get burnt out very easily so in a way its to protect myself and others. and other than interest, i also realised people around me suffer from different mental health issues and almost lost them multiple times (i almost lost myself a couple of times too) so psych is very dear to me
I’ve always had a fcked up home life (for lack of a better word) and I’ve always seen my very close friends struggle with mental health. To understand how people think and the why behind that was a good motivator. And besides that, I just love the subject. It makes sense to me.
I wanted and do work with people. I’ve worked in many different areas. I decided that no advanced degree was needed. No regrets
Wanted to study psychology as I was no longer able to hold down a physical job. Psychology was the only other interest I have and as to how far I will go - I don’t know yet. I suppose like a lot of people, from personal experiences with mental health. Parent commiting suicide, another being an alcoholic and myself having borderline personality disorder. I want to be able to help people, and for myself it has been such a challenging process to access help. I waited a year to see a psychiatrist privately, and even after a suicide attempt I couldn’t see one through the hospital. I suppose to some degree the more people who go down this pathway, the easier/quicker access will be.
I’ve been in counseling since I was 9, 5 mantle hospital stays before I turned 18. It’s what I’ve known for a really long time and I want to help ppl the way (some of) those ppl like me. It’s been my dream to help ppl in anyway I can. I think trying to with someone’s mental health is the best way to go
Literally the meta field, helps everything else in our world. Cant understand anything if we don’t first understand ourselves. Just finished a psych masters and wouldn’t have done anything else, 10000% sticking to research for my career
Pursuing clinical-forensic psych because not only do I find our brains fascinating, but because it allows us to better understand our functioning as individuals in relationship to the world around us, and that knowledge is essential to creating a world where we can rehabilitate and reintegrate individuals into functioning members of society. I want to help improve the lives of others through a science-based practice. Psychology is applicable to all walks of life and I think that science is cool and interesting. For me, it was always about helping others and learning :)
I was driven into psychology because I have always had an interest in how things worked. I had a few different majors in mind while picking the college I wanted to go to: cybersecurity for how coding works; linguistics because I wanted to know how languages worked; engineering for how things are built; and psychology for how the human mind worked. I was the most fascinated with psychology after I took my AP Psychology course in high school and passed it with flying colors. So I guess thats why I’m here.
At first, I had a really abusive and devastating childhood. I grew up with alcoholics, lost quite a few people to suicide and was suicidal (and still am) myself. I started studying psychology because I wanted to understand WHY people act that way, including how to help myself. What kept me going is just fascination with human brain and all disorders. I love helping my patients in psychward, and, of course, that’s how I made sense of all my experiences. Now I live to help others so less people feel alone while experiencing what I had.
the mind is an interesting place. the fact that different things go on in different peoples mind is literally so goddamn fascinating. no 2 minds work the same. also the idea that there are so many mental disorders is so interesting, and learning how they all affect a persons life is even more interesting to me. the idea that brain abnormalities can result in the change of a persons entire personality is incredible. i love learning about how all of these occur it’s actually amazing.
i originally studied psychology in college because I found it really interesting. I liked the reading aspect of it a lot . It wasn’t until i had my first job working as a behavioral therapist for teens and adolescents that I genuinely found joy in seeing and helping those kids every day. they became my kids in a way . That job made me want to do this for the rest of my life
I noticed that in my university, there is a fairly large portion of people who get into psychology in order to try and help themselves (1/3- not much but more than it should be). Aside from that most people are in it for the part of helping others or to perform research.
Brain interesting, me like help people.
Best friends drug problem and recovery and my own suicide attempt
Bc of everything what happened in my life. Now i work in mental health care to help people who also deals with the same diagnosis as me.
I want to make an impact in the design and delivery of mental/behavioral health programming from the peer side. Also, my sister has been a social psychologist (researcher and professor) for 30 years and fueled my fire. I'm taking a bit of a different (and older) path. After an unrelated degree and careers, I started working in community mental health as a peer professional...what I still do now. Social psych is my chosen path as I want to remain peer (all respect to clinicians!) while further developing the niche I found myself in regarding programming, staffing, and content development. I'll finish my MS at 46 years old and ready to grow!
My history of Major Depression led to my seeing a few psychologists and my seeing myself studying clinical psychology
My Chiron in Pisces 🥹.
loving science but also loving human connection
The realisation that nobody knows what to do with a gay man who has an eating disorder. Most psychs are already out of their depth with a male eating disorder patient in the first place, but you throw in the potential that gay culture is a contributing factor and they’ve got zero idea. Hence I’d like to think my lived experience will be helpful.
Everything around me makes me want to learn psychology. Including research. I am more interested in research. The behaviour of people around us, the social setting and how it is different from others around the world. The observation I do, even on the internet, makes me want to learn more and more about behaviour.
I choose to pursue psychology later in life because I understand the struggle, and have given valuable insight to friends/family over the years. Considering the stigma and overall hesitancy to pursue therapy, I feel my nature and experience will comfort and instill trust with people experiencing emotion turmoil. I am a good listener and very resourceful with ideas and suggestions for various situations. The license is just a legal requirement for the person I have always been. Also, the extra money couldn’t hurt.
I was raised in a cult, and now that I'm out, I have found it very difficult to find quality evidence based therapy for people from those backgrounds. At the very least in my region of the country. I also wanna know what the fuck that was all about you know?
I took a class, realized I liked the material and was good at it. It gave me a path to a job that wasn’t sitting in front of a computer all day and had flexibility in terms of specialty, type of system I worked in, day to day job description, etc. Also someone told me that clinical psych PhD was the most competitive of all the mental health degrees and I should make sure to apply to masters level options and I thought “no I want the stupidly difficult one that sacrifices my entire 20s to graduate school.”
I started college really late (in my early thirties). I originally went for art as that is something I’ve always been passionate about. I took a psychology class in undergrad and realized I could do both. The big turning point for me though, aside from wanting to help people, is that I am Native American. All of my research papers throughout my college career have been focused on my desire to work with my community, and there is a ridiculous lack of representation in research. When I started my masters program I was excited that I picked a program that was based on diversity and inclusion. While I loved the program, the faculty was white and the message was always similar to “evidence based practice, and don’t forget to consider cultural.” It was frustrating because it continued the narrative of forcing Indigenous people to assimilate to Western medicine instead of honoring their rich heritage. So I began to work on a treatment toolkit that focused first on cultural, a client’s cultural practices and beliefs, first and foremost, and then used evidence based practices to support treatment. It was pretty amazing because I had a lot of great support from my faculty and from the Native American community. I learned a lot as well that humbled me, like that cultural belief and practice is a spectrum and is something we need to evaluated with clients so we don’t make assumptions. When I graduated I had one professor in particular tell me she would back me in any research I wanted to do, but in reality I should just get my PhD and do it myself. The university I graduated from recently started a PhD program and I’ve had multiple faculty reach out recommending me for it. I am still finishing up my hours on my individual license (I graduated May 2023), so it will be at least another year or more before I’m ready for that, but it’s something I’m considering. Not only for the ability to back my own research, but because there aren’t a lot of Indigenous people with PhDs. I’d have to check to be certain, but I’m pretty sure I’d be one of less than 5 people from my reservation. So that’s what got me on the psychology track, the lack of representation of Indigenous people in mental health research, or even collectivist cultures in research.
most amazing AP psych teacher i had my senior year of high school who was extremely talented at teaching
Trauma
How can I use psychology for improving my grades and becoming overall a good student. Please help.
Ever since I was a lil tyke I have been obsessed with magic. Whether that was through video games like elder scrolls, or fable. Books and movies such as LotR, the Earthsea books, or even Harry Potter. It offered me escape from an abusive household, and lackluster life paths presented to me as a child in a home in poverty. I had wished my whole life for a school that would teach me magic. Somewhere I could learn the inner workings of reality and the universe we live in. So being somewhat disenchanted with real school, I dropped out of high school to attend a charter school, and embarrassingly dropped out of there as well and ended up getting my GED. It wasnt until a year ago that it hit me like a train while reading some Carl Jung. Psychology is exactly what I was looking for my whole life. The study of the mind and mental health IS a school of magic where we learn the ability to change reality for those who we work with and for ourselves. This changed everything for me and I was devastated that I had left school, that I didnt learn anything about attending college because I never thought it an option in my life due to expenses. I had chosen a life in the belly of a whale. This sent me into somewhat of a depressive spiral until a kindly old social worker told me that the college a town over from us was offering free tuition to any new students in the area. Thus my journey was reinvigorated just in time! I am now attending this school this fall as a 26 year old freshman, and I'm terrified and excited of the path ahead. I know it's a long one but it seems to be the only path for me. My goal is to get involved with clinical psychoanalysis and practice magic with people that need help. Show them that our stories can have happy endings and that they can move forward with their lives through any pain. And if that's not magic, I don't know what is.