How to Achieve a Meaningful Career in Psychology Without a Degree

It’s difficult to get into psychology without, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree, but doing a course can give you the stepping stone to a career that still allows you to work in mental health services, and may give you the experience you need to complete a degree at a later date.

Psychology is a broad term that refers to the study of the human brain. Working in psychology can cover a huge range of areas, but being a registered psychologist requires a long period of study, sometimes including a masters degree. For some people, the entry requirements to study psychology at a popular school like the University of AUckland or the University Of Waikato is not an attainable goal, and in that case, a short course or Diploma can be the perfect way to get started.

If you’re interested in becoming a recognised psychologist, such as a clinical psychologist, then you will have to eventually complete a university degree. But if you don’t meet the New Zealand or equivalent requirements, some universities offer pathways to uni through completing a formal certification in a complementary area of study.

Alternatively, you can choose to take one of the many other study options available that may not make you a psychologist, but will still allow you to work in mental health. For example, you can study something like drug and alcohol rehabilitation and work as a counsellor by completing diplomas or certificates. During these studies you can cover a range of different topics, like psychological disorders, legal requirements, like if you need to be a part of the NZ Psychologists board, and a deeper discussion of what psychology meaning the study of the mind really implies.

If you’re interested in a more specific area of work, like reverse psychology, humanistic psychology, counselling psychology or behavioural psychology, you can choose to do a shorter, more specialised course. These courses are perfect for people already qualified, looking to further their knowledge in one direct field, or for people who aren’t sure if psychology is for them, and can give you a good idea about whether or not you want to pursue further study in the specific psychological area, e.g. clinical psychology or gestalt psychology.

While you may not be a professional psychologist, there are still plenty of mental health and psychology jobs that you can get with a diploma or certificate. These qualifications and related jobs can also be perfect for getting you started in the field if you’re interested in doing further study at a later date.

Depending on what area you’ve studied, jobs could include:

Like most careers nowadays, it will change and develop over time. While you may start your career completing a diploma of psychology and working as a teacher’s in a specialty department, you may end that career with a masters degree, living in Wellington but working internationally for a company like the American Psychological Association, aiming to create new ways to influence psychological noise and lecturing part time at the University of Canterbury.

The school of psychology is vast, and covers a huge variety of areas and specialisations, each offering its own unique opportunities and challenges, and encourages it’s workers to engage in lifelong learning about human behaviour and undertake training programmes in order to better their ability to assist clients.

Regardless of how yo get there, psychology is a fantastic field that will welcome anyone with the passion and drive to continue learning and growing in relation to psychology.