The problem of the psychology degree: a lot of theory but little practice.

Some solutions to enter the job market without the handicap we all know.

Psychology generates a lot of interest nowadays, and studying for a degree in psychology, on a personal level, can be one of the best experiences in life.

But despite how enriching it is to learn about the science of behavior and how interesting some of the subjects that are part of its academic program are, this degree is not very practical, this career is impractical.

The problem of newly graduated psychologists

This becomes a serious problem when you have to deal with people and, on many occasions, their emotional conflicts, because when you have to get in front of a patient for therapy and you do not know what to do or how to do it, something is wrong (and I am not saying this alone, it is what you hear in the corridors of the faculty and it is what recent graduates say).

Four years invested in the Bachelor's Degree, almost two years in the Master's Degree in General Health Psychology and a lot of money and time spent on training to not be able to put into practice everything you have learned.

The dilemma of getting practical experience

Even more frustrating is when you try to look for a job and nobody gives you the chance to practice as a psychotherapist. Because no matter how much you want to prove your worth and show everyone that you are good at what you are passionate about, no one gives you the opportunity to pursue your vocation because you don't have enough professional experience.

It's a fish that bites its own tail: you can't grow professionally because you don't have enough experience, but no one gives you the chance to get experience so you can continue to grow and develop professionally.

Being prepared for the world of work

As Natalia Pimentel, a recently qualified general health psychologist, says: "What worried me the most when I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and the Master's Degree in General Health Psychologist was that I had studied so hard and spent so much time and money and felt that I was halfway to achieving what I had set out to do: to be a psychologist. I felt that I wasn't fully competent and that I couldn't help my patients improve their well-being."

To be competent in your job is not to know how to do a graduate thesis, or to read hundreds of research papers, or to pass theoretical exams, or to listen to many professionals in the field tell you what psychological therapy is.nor to pass theoretical exams, nor to listen to many professionals in the field tell you what psychological therapy is. Being competent goes beyond that: it is seeing a lot of case studies, participating in therapeutic practice, having your own schedule of patients and doing therapy with them. In other words, it is not just studying a syllabus, but it is knowing how to mobilize all that learning and knowledge and put into practice your skills and all the internal and external resources you have at your disposal to do your job well.

Lack of practice is a reality in university careers.

All those who have studied psychology know what I am talking about, so surely many of you can identify with this text and with what Natalia says below: "In these years of study, our heads have been filled with data, articles, theories and concepts that we are often not even going to use. And what really matters, which is practice, has a residual value in university education".

Natalia adds: "It's not a very pleasant feeling to finish your degree without having any idea of what you should do in the job for which you have been trained. Because this makes you feel demotivated and insecure when it comes to applying everything you have studied. Which is a lot. Undoubtedly, a very worrying reality, shared by thousands of recently graduated psychologists..

Something must change in the current training model

Something must change in the way university institutions educate us. It cannot be that after studying for 5 or 6 years (this includes the Degree and the Master if you pass the first one), you have to learn how to work. What is the point of having so much general knowledge if no one teaches you how to really perform your job as a psychologist?

There are many graduates who, when they finish the Bachelor's Degree in Psychology or the Master's Degree in General Health, say that they are not prepared to put into practice all the learning they have acquired throughout their years of study, which is why this postgraduate course was designed to compensate for this reality that so many psychologists experience.