About the role
Psychologists are science based professions who study how people think, how they act, react and interact. Practitioners are concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and motivation underlying such behaviour. Studying human psychology contributes to our understanding of many of the problems faced by the modern world as many of these problems are often rooted in human behaviour, so psychological knowledge can help us to find solutions. Similarly, there is an increasing recognition that mental health and mental well-being have an impact on physical health, and that psychological insights can help us in our personal and professional relationships and activities.
EMPLOYABILITY
Two of the primary abilities required by a career minded psychologist are lots of patience and endurance as you might have to cope up with irregular working hours and repeat sessions in many cases. However the immense sense of accomplishment every time a psychologist brings back a broken and depressed person into normalcy would make it a cut above the rest. Other skill sets required for psychology are typically those of other scientific modalities
- Highly developed writing skills
- Problem-solving abilities
- Managerial and organisational to collate information and data properly
- Excellent inter personal skills to bring out of the patient those issues that are truly bothering them.
CAREER ENTRY
The NHS career entry point for all psychology disciplines is good honours degree and subsequent registration with the Health Professionals Council or HPC. This registration differs slightly depending which discipline of psychology you wish to go into.
There is a basic requirement in each of the areas to have completed the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC, previously known as GBR) before undertaking further accredited masters-level post graduate training.
EMPLOYERS AND SALARIES
Whilst significant numbers of psychologists work for the NHS, there is a wide ranging list of alternative career choices. Other typical employers of psychologists tend to be either large organisations in the private or public sectors, including government departments and management training centres, plus smaller consulting companies. In general, most occupational psychologists are employed in the business sector, mainly in private consultancies, though these consultancies are usually small, employing no more than a handful of psychologists. At the opposite end of the scale, the largest UK consultancies employ over 50.
Graduate trainee clinical psychologists joining the NHS start on Band 6 (£25,472) which, after qualification, will move to the substantive grade for the role, Band 7 (£30,460). When departmental positions become vacant, experienced psychologists can expect to move to Band 8, from £38,851 to £80,810. These Band 8 roles apply to senior experienced psychologists, possibly managing departments or large specialist sections with responsibility for the psychology service and its staff.
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