Pursuing a Career in Clinical or Forensic Psychology

When you are looking into all of the options for getting a career in psychology, you may be amazed at all of the options that are available as you look for a career. One option that you can choose is to go into clinical or forensic psychology. This is a rewarding career that will allow you to have a lot of fun and many challenges along the way. 

Pursuing a career in clinical or forensic psychology can be a great choice, but you may wonder what steps you need to take to get started. From choosing your degree all the way to picking the right job, there are a lot of great decisions to make. Some of the steps that you can choose when pursuing a career in forensic psychology include:

Getting the Right Education

To start, you need to go to college and get the right degree. Start by working on your bachelor’s degree. There are a number of options you can choose for your degree here including general psychology, criminology, or criminal justice. These will provide you with a solid foundation to get started, though some schools offer a degree in forensic psychology. 

Once you are done with your bachelor’s degree, there is more that you need to complete. Someone who wants to work as a forensic psychologist should also continue their education and consider getting a master’s degree to set them apart from some of the other applicants in the market. 

There are a few different paths that you can take as you work on your master’s degree. You can go with psychology that has a concentration in law, forensic psychology, or general psychology based on what works best for you. You can then move on to the doctoral program after completing a GRE with the right score. 

Keep in mind that there are a few doctoral programs that will allow you to go straight from the bachelor’s degree to your doctoral degree, without having to go to graduate school. This can be tempting to use because it saves money and time, but it could mean that you miss out on important time to work on your skills and get prepared for your career. 

Licensure for the Career

You will not need to get a special license outside of what is required for clinical psychologists in order to become a forensic psychologist. The clinical psychologist part of this will require that you complete and pass the EPPP. Keep in mind that these will vary based on the state you plan to practice in, so check before you jump right in. 

There can also be some board certifications for these professionals. The American Board of Professional Psychology does offer a specialty board certification in this career choice. This is not a requirement for you to obtain, but it does help put you above the rest of the applicants and shows that you have a strong understanding of all the standards of the profession of clinical or forensic psychology. 

To get this certification to put on your resume, you will need to visit the ABPP website to see more of their requirements. Then there will be an oral examination that takes 3 hours to complete and a written exam as well. 

Getting the Pre-Professional Experience

Most employers are going to want to see some of your experience when you write a resume for them. You will be able to work on a variety of pre-professional experiences so that you can work on your skills and be ready to take on the professional role when you are done with school.

The time that you spend doing different activities like supervised experience, fellowship, or internships following the doctoral degree is what will make you different from a general psychologist and will help you to take on forensic psychology positions. You will typically need to spend one to two years working on this kind of experience. 

While you spend time in these experiences, you will get some hands-on experience that will help you to be prepared for your own career in the future. Some of the tasks that you will do at the right internship and work experience include:

• Administer assessments
• Violence risk assessments
• Attend seminars
• Participate in mock trials
• Do research
• Evaluate the competency of a defendant to stand trial

The more experience that you can have during this time, the more prepared you will be to take on a professional role when you are done. Try to get a variety of experiences to help you be prepared for everything. 

Looking for Your Career

Working through the right education, licenses, and experience can take a number of years. But when you are all done, it is time for you to move into your own career and see all that this career choice of going into clinical or forensic psychology is going to be able to provide for you. 

There are many employers who are looking to hire one of these professionals to do work for them. You will be able to discuss all of your experience and skills on your resume to impress the hiring manager and gain employment anywhere that you choose once you are done with this path. 

Many professionals will start out working for someone else at the beginning. This allows them to find some of the clients that they need and gain more experience that will serve them better as time goes on. Then they can choose to go and do their own business later on if they wish, providing services on more of a consulting basis as needed. 

Choosing a Career in Clinical or Forensic Psychology

Those who choose to get a career in forensic psychology will find that there are always things for them to learn and exciting challenges to enjoy from one day to the next. When you decide that this is the right career path for your needs, take a look at some of the steps above to make sure you are doing it the right way.