Perhaps you are a kind and caring person who helps others with no thought of compensation. Your joy comes from seeing lives improved. You like listening to people’s problems and are available when someone needed a friend. Yet beyond your intimate cluster of friends and family lies a world of people who can greatly benefit from you using your skills to pursue a career in psychology.One of these important beneficiaries is yourself. But maybe you feel it’s too late to pursue your own self-actualization because you already have family responsibilities, and you worry that attending college would make you less available to your children. At Argosy University, you can have the flexibility to craft the educational plan that’s best suited to your unique life situation.

 

As well as having 19 locations across the United States, Argosy University offers several online programs, taught by faculty who are specially-trained in providing online education. Argosy University’s online students receive a student advisor, a faculty mentor and interactive instruction  with many opportunities to participate in the online community. Students can also attend classes at any hour of the day or night, on any day of the week, from their own home or any place where they have internet access.A Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Argosy University equips graduates with a general, foundational ability to utilize the social sciences theory to solve problems in entry-level positions such as counseling, case management or human resources. Social sciences theory applies scientific method to the study of human relationships and behavior.Students in Argosy University’s psychology programs build their communication skills and study ethics, learn to understand and respect diversity, learn effective research methods, and fine-tune their critical thinking skills.Graduates can also pursue postgraduate studies with the following specializations: psychology, counseling, criminal justice and education, as well as some interesting sub-specializations, outlined below:Psychology: clinical psychology, sport psychology, health psychology, psychotherapy and counselingCounseling: marriage and family counseling, substance abuse counseling and staff therapyCriminal Justice: legal and organizational consultation, program analysis, forensic psychology and law enforcementEducation: school psychology, school counseling and administrationPsychopharmacology (for post-doctoral students)Argosy University also offers Accredited Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) programs at 10 different locations. These programs prepare graduates to assimilate what they’ve learned of theory, training, research and practice in order to utilize their skills to diagnose psychological disorders and provide therapy to individuals, families and groups.Argosy University’s distinctive psychology programs employ faculty members who teach from a wide array of different philosophical schools of thought, providing students with opportunities to study under teachers whose philosophies are closely-aligned with their own. Conversely, students also have the opportunity to study mental health issues from a multitude of diverse perspectives.An economic depression is actually a great time for going back to school. You can step away from the stressful competition for limited jobs and focus your energies on studies that will fascinate your mind and also make you indispensable to future employers.

Adolescent psychology is a subspecialty of general psychology that can open new vistas of career opportunities for students who have a natural interest in children and youth. Such a specialty can also be helpful for those who desire to work primarily with adults, because many of the adults who seek the services of a child psychologist will have problems with their own children or are seeking psychotherapy for childhood traumas. Because families are the basic building blocks of society, expertise in child and adolescent psychology becomes a constructive asset when looking for jobs in many sectors of the workplace.Career prospects for those who elect to study child and adolescent psychology are wide ranging and encompass individual, team and group environments at different levels of administration. The public tends to typecast child and adolescent psychologists as counselors, but counseling careers are only the visible tip of the opportunity iceberg.Professional psychologists often work in managed care or government settings at both residential and outpatient facilities. Hospitals and schools employ child psychologists for consultation services. Individuals who have a background in child psychology, but may not yet have board certification, are still valued as support staff. Juvenile court settings, rehabilitation centers and group homes associated with court-directed youth services also hire people trained in child and adolescent psychology.A different avenue for job prospects lies in the field of scientific research. The accumulation of knowledge is ongoing and new treatments for mental illnesses must be tested. Research may involve conducting clinical trials, or it may involve searching existing literature. Such jobs are most common in a university environment. When the results of a study are published in professional journals, the articles need editing by someone trained psychological termonology.In the political and public sectors, a background in child and adolescent psychology can lead to jobs as advocates and lobbyists for child mental health policies, regulations and laws. Community activists often work toward the prevention and treatment of negative issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, peer victimization, abortion, teen pregnancy and poverty.The employment prospect for someone who is skilled in child and adolescent psychology is fairly optimistic. According the US Department of Health and Human Services, the United States has experienced severe workforce shortages in the mental health professions. The shortages are especially acute in rural areas. Recent studies indicate that the need for these skills will continue to grow.The working environments for child psychologists are just as varied as the job opportunities, ranging from individual work to collaborative team efforts, from field assignments with travel to cloistered office cubicles, from rural to urban, from public to private, and from high to low pay. As of January, 2010, the average salary for a mental health counselor in the US was $31,000; a Behavioral Specialist Consultant, $56,000; and a Director of Clinical Services averaged $99,000. Child and adolescent psychology students have a virtual kaleidoscope of choices and opportunities available in the field of child and adolescent psychology.

Studying while working is hard, but possible. Many adults return to school at some time during their working lives to boost promotion prospects or fill in gaps in their education. Adult students are often more motivated than younger students; they work harder at their assignments, they do their homework and the life lessons and professional experience they have acquired at work add depth to their studies.The advantages work in the other direction, too. Students in a psychology graduate program are often able to apply their newly-acquired knowledge to gaining a better understanding of how their co-workers and bosses think, and find that negotiation and other crucial work skills improve.Recruiting supporters is key to successfully balancing work and school. Psychology students should be open with their employers, family and professors about their combined responsibilities. Employers and professors can be surprisingly flexible if solutions are negotiated in advance. For example, an employer may accept an employee leaving an hour early to get to class if the employee negotiates either a small pay cut or makes up lost hours beforehand.

Working students should be careful not to take on too many classes at once. It is often possible, and advisable, to spread out required classes over a longer period of time. Students are generally impatient to get their degree, but trying to do too much will result in burnout and failure to complete the degree program. Many schools offer flexible options such as online classes or intensive summer classes.Another important tip is to plan for crunch times. The student should try, as much as possible, to find out in advance when exams or major projects will be due, so that time off work can be scheduled if necessary. All students should plan to give themselves the occasional day off both work and study, in order to stay fresh and motivated. This will only be possible, however, if the student makes every effort to keep up with work and study during their work week. This means eliminating time-wasters such as social networking, computer games, TV and non-essential shopping during work and study times.Above all, students should be realistic. Being able to study and work at the same time is a wonderful achievement, but no one is perfect and there will be times when every student struggles with the workload. Being prepared to make changes in schedules, seeking the advice of professors, employers and family members, and knowing that the goal is worth waiting for will help students achieve their back-to-school goals.