Psy Forum and IQAC collaborated in organizing a Career Counseling Session for 41 final year BA students of Psychology on the 28th of February, 2024 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm in Room no. 6.
The session was conducted by Dr B. S. Mahesh, the Proprietor and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at GSS Psychotherapy Center (The Inner Peace Lifestyle Hub), Mangalore.
Asst. Prof. Roshini Monica Goveas introduced and welcomed the resource person.
The entire session evolved around the question of “How does one go on with their career in psychology after their Bachelors?”. Dr. Mahesh provided the students with a detailed walkthrough of the routines and capabilities of a clinical psychologist. He divided the concept into three domains, 1) Knowing yourself, 2) Awareness and exploration of careers, 3) Actions to go ahead.
To encourage the students in knowing themselves better, he asked them to list out 5 of their interests, hobbies, personal strengths, areas for improvement and qualities identified by their family and friends. He also addressed the difference between interests and hobbies and urged the students to do what interests them.
Furthermore, he highlighted the values essential for a psychologist namely those of honesty, compassion and empathy, respect, responsibility, humility, courage and so on.
Dr. Mahesh also spoke about career choices in psychology related to personality types (namely A,B,C and D type). To do so, he listed out traits of each personality type and asked the students to associate themselves with one particular type, after which he explained ideal lines of work for each personality type.
In relation to awareness and exploration of career, knowing how the nature of work plays an important role, he mentioned that one needs to grab opportunities, and make efforts to move out of one's comfort zone; “Explore, Dream and Discover”.
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He also covered the various career options after BA, for students who want to pursue Psychology and other options. In doing so he eventually explained the difference between Ph.D and Psy.D degrees. The students were presented with statistics which measured the career growth about various fields in Psychology during the year of 2019.
Concerning the work environment, he emphasized on checking authentic reviews from organizations and having a plan B for one’s career in the face of uncertainties. He elaborated this with the example of the Covid 19 pandemic which forced people to adapt to new styles of environment to earn a livelihood.
Besides all this, it is also important to self-introspect and explore with the help of experts. He suggested internships as a means for the students to assess the work environment.
The discussion was followed by the values and skills that serve as a prerequisite for a psychologist. He also addressed the various challenges faced in the profession and the fruit of the labor as well as the positive impact on others, personal growth, positive status in society, sense of purpose, etc.
He threw light on various trends arising in psychology, namely the existence of apps that cater to mental health, the emergence of positive psychology, trauma- informed approaches and many more. He also provided the students with various colleges to avail further education in psychology and discussed the pay scales for psychologists in India.
Towards the end of the session, he clarified questions posed by the students. The session was concluded with the vote of thanks delivered by Ms Sharanya M S, and Dr Sandra Sunitha Lobo expressing her words of gratitude as well.
Reported by Shravya (III BA) & Joan Bobby Mammen (III BA)
