Entry Level Qualification 

12

Career Fields 

Medical Services

For Specially Abled 

Career Entrance Exam 

NEET PG

About Career 

1. Psychologists specialize in understanding and explaining human thoughts, mental processes, attitudes, values, perception, beliefs, feelings, emotions and behaviours. There are several techniques and methods like observation, conversation, assessment, experiments etc. used by them to understand feelings and emotions that influence human behavior.

2. Clinical Psychology is the practice of assessing, diagnosing, treating and preventing mental and emotional disorders, ranging from depression, anxiety and eating disorders to severe psychiatric disorders such as bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, in human beings.

3. The primary job of a Clinical Psychologist is to assess patients, diagnose the mental, emotional or behavioral disorder and recommend a treatment. The treatment ranges from cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, group therapy, and hypnotherapy.

4. As a Clinical Psychologist, you will be trained to use different kind of approaches to deal with different kind of individuals. You might be interviewing a few patients, give diagnostic tests for a few others, or even provide psychotherapy to them or counsel their family members. You will also design programmes to modify behaviours, and help your patients implement these programmers. As a Clinical Psychologist, you could be focussing on a particular group of patients like child, workers, elderly, or focus on certain specialities like neuropsychology. However, you can also be treating patients from all background.

5. Sometimes, you might also need to consult other physicians while treating patients especially related to medication (Often Psychiatrists). Thus, Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists often work together.

Key Roles And Responsibilities

As a clinical psychologist, you might be working in different kinds of organizations and settings having different role and responsibilities. However, a few of the common responsibilities are:

1. You will interact with your clients to help them in gaining insights, defining goals, planning actions to achieve the results.

2. You will work to identify all kinds of psychological, emotional, behavioural issues and disorders. You will diagnose your clients with different kinds of assessments like a conversation, interviews, tests, etc.

3. You will use valid treatment methods like psychotherapy, hypnosis, behaviour modification etc. to treat your patients.

4. You will share the treatment with your clients.

5. You will diagnose and develop treatment plans in collaboration with other physicians and psychiatrist when necessary. Also, no medication will be given to them without any consultations.

6. You will maintain all clinical reports of each patient and will be responsible for capturing conditions whenever you are diagnosing patients.

7. You will provide with information related to the psychological management of the patient to their relatives or caretakers.

Career Entry Pathway 

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies – UG in Psychology / ClinicalPsychology / similar subject – PG in Clinical Psychology

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies and then study for an undergraduate degree in Psychology / Clinical Psychology / similar subject (Honours or specialisation is an advantage) followed by a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies – UG in Psychology / Clinical Psychology / similar subject – PG in Clinical Psychology – M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies and then study for an undergraduate degree in Psychology / Clinical Psychology / similar subject (Honours or specialisation is an advantage) followed by a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Now you can opt for M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies – UG in Psychology / Clinical Psychology / similar subject – PG in Clinical Psychology – PhD in Clinical Psychology

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies and then study for an undergraduate degree in Psychology / Clinical Psychology / similar subject (Honours or specialisation is an advantage) followed by a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. After the Master’s, you may proceed to study for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Required Qualification & Competencies 

Undergraduate Studies After School

1. To become a Clinical Psychologist, you can take Psychology/ Clinical Psychology with any other subjects at college (Honours will be an advantage)

2. Alternatively, you can take any discipline in college.

Post Graduate And Doctoral Studies

1. After finishing your graduation, you can take Clinical Psychology at the Master’s level. You can take following specializations: Applied Psychology Behavioural Neuroscience Child Psychology Computational Psychology Criminology (Psychology) Cyber psychology Developmental Psychology Experimental Psychology Forensic Psychology Health Psychology Industrial and Organizational Psychology Rehabilitation Psychology.

Post-Doctoral Studies:

1. Clinical Psychology is a career with most of the opportunities coming after Ph.D. So, after your master’s degree, you can take a Ph.D. course in Clinical Psychology with specialisations in Applied Psychology Behavioural Neuroscience Child Psychology Computational Psychology Criminology (Psychology) Cyberpsychology Developmental Psychology Experimental Psychology Forensic Psychology Health Psychology Industrial and Organizational Psychology Rehabilitation Psychology.

Competencies Required

You should have the following occupational interests:

1. Investigative: You should have interests for Investigative Occupations. Investigative occupations involve working with ideas and quite a lot of thinking, often abstract or conceptual thinking. These involve learning about facts and figures; involve the use of data analysis, assessment of situations, decision making and problem solving.

2. Social: You should have interests for Social Occupations. Social occupations involve helping or assisting others; these involve working with and communicating with people to provide various services; these may involve educating and advising others.

Following personality attributes are required:

1. You are always or mostly disciplined in your action and behaviour.

2. You are always or mostly care about your actions and behaviour.

3. You are always or mostly helpful to others.

4. You are always or mostly caring, supportive, sympathetic and kind to others.

You should have the following skills and knowledge:

1. Active listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, understanding the points being made by others, asking questions, etc.

2. Critical Thinking: Skills in the analysis of complex situations, using logic and reasoning to understand the situations and take appropriate actions or make interpretations and inferences.

3. Problem Solving: Skills in analysis and understanding of problems, evaluating various options to solve the problems and using the best option to solve the problems.

4. Personal care service: Knowledge of how to provide various assistance and services to others. This includes looking after the needs of individuals, understanding what they need and provide all assistance at home or elsewhere.

5. English Language: Knowledge about English grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, using English to communicate with others, reading in English, etc.

6. Education & Training: Knowledge of various principles and methods of developing training or teaching curriculum, the design of instructional methods, developing course materials, teaching and giving instruction individuals and groups.

7. Counselling: Knowledge of how to assess, evaluate and otherwise understand human behaviour, personality, abilities, skills, knowledge, motivation, attitudes, values etc. and offer guidance and advice to people in order to help them deal with mental challenges and crisis as well as for deciding future courses of actions to make people happy.

8. Therapy: Knowledge of the principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions or disorders in humans.

9. Psychology: Knowledge of why and how humans behave the ways they behave. This includes an understanding of mental processes and Knowledge of perception, beliefs, motives, attitudes, personality, values, interests, learning styles and abilities as well as methods to do research and understand causes of behavioral disorders and treating them.

You should have the following aptitudes and abilities:

1. Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

2. Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

3. Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules and common logic to specific problems to produce answers that are logical and make sense. For example, understanding the reasons behind an event or a situation using general rules and common logic.

4. Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

5. Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Career - Job Opportunities & Profiles 

1. You can join a health centre, day-care or a hospital as an Assistant Psychologist.

2. You can join general hospitals as a Clinical Psychologist or Child Psychologist (Grade A).

3. You can join speciality hospitals for treatment of mental diseases and disorders as a Clinical Psychologist.

4. You can begin your career in research as a Research Associate after Post Graduation or as a Doctoral Research Fellow (Junior Research Fellow and then Senior Research Fellow in India). After your Ph.D., you can get opportunities as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow.

5. Most of the universities and college will hire you as a professor at the position of Junior Professor or Assistant Professor.

6. You may join various centres offering counseling and psychotherapy to children (up to 14 years of age), youth (14-25) and adults (25+ years), which are run by senior psychologists.

7. You may also set up your own independent practice as a Clinical Psychologist. However, this is advisable after having a few years of experience in an organisation.

Depending on the profile and specialization, you will have job opportunities at the following organizations:

1. Government forensic labs like Central Forensic Science Laboratory in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh & Kolkata, and state forensic science laboratories like forensic science laboratory Jaipur, Mumbai, etc.

2. Colleges and universities as professor.

3. Day-care and health care centres like Sarvam Global Healthcare, CIPHER Healthcare, etc.

4. HR Departments of MNCs. Like Facebook, Hindustan Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, etc.

5. Rehab Centres for drug addicts, mentally ill patients, etc.

6. Government and Private Hospitals like AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Rishikesh, AIIMS Jodhpur, etc.

7. Hospitals for treatment of mental diseases and disorders like NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) and Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi.

Work Environment

The job of a clinical psychologist involves listening to people and understand them. As a clinical psychologist, you will have regular working hours with most of your time spent with people and their interactions. You would be required to handle different kinds of situations filled with different emotions patiently.

Specialisation Tracks In This Career

1. Child Psychologist

A child psychologist is a specialist who studies the behaviour and change of behaviour during the course of a child from being born till adolescence. As a child psychologist, you will explain how children think, behave, feel, learn, understand etc. through their childhood and teenage. As a child psychologist, you will use psychotherapy to examine physical development, cognitive development, and socioemotional development of a child while he/she is growing.

2. Neuropsychologist

A neuropsychologist is a specialist who studies the change in behaviour due to neurological trauma or condition. A neuropsychologist is a type of clinical psychologist who aims to understand the brain functioning can affect the behaviour and cognition of a human being. As a neuropsychologist, you will also diagnose and treat people with behavioural and cognitive effects of the neurological disorder. A neurological disorder is any disorder of the nervous system. As a neuropsychologist, you will study the neurological patient and understand how their brain correlated with the mind.

3. Health Psychologist

Health psychologists are the specialist who studies the psychological and behavioral process in health, illness and healthcare. As a health psychologist, you will study how psychological, behavioral and cultural factors might be affecting a person’s physical health and illness. Some of the examples of how psychological factors can affect health are regular working in an environment with stress can affect the hypothalamic- pituitary adrenal axis and this downgrading health. Similarly, several behavioural factors can also affect health. Certain examples of behavioural factors include working overtime, smoking a cigarette in excess or consuming alcohol in excess, excessive exercise. All these behavioural factors can affect health. As a health psychologist, you will need to understand that health is a product of not only biological processes but also psychological, behavioural and cultural process. You will understand these psychological factors to improve the health of the patient. You will be working with patients directly or working in public health programmers. You will also assist other professionals like doctors and nurse with your expertise.

4. Criminologist

Criminologist is a specialist who studies the nature, extent, management, causes, control, prevention of criminal behaviour. A Criminologist studies these behaviours at both the individual level and social level. Criminologists bring the knowledge of sociology, philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and biologist together with the knowledge of the law.

Career Growth 

1. If you start the career as an associate psychologist, then you will become a psychologist, then Consultant Psychologist and then Head of Department.  

2. If you start as a Senior Scientist Officer (Grade II) in the forensic department, you would soon be Senior Scientist officer (Grade I) and then Principal Scientific Officer and finally Director of the Laboratory.

3. The career growth in university and college begins from Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor, Professor and Professor Emeritus. Professors can also get administrative positions such as Director/Dean/Vice Chancellor, etc.

4. If you are hired as a research associate, then you will go on to become a Doctoral Research Fellow, then Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and then Scientist in Progressive Grades. 

5. If you join as a Clinical Psychologist in a hospital, then you will go on to Senior Psychologist and Head of Department. Though your Pay Scale grades with go upward faster than your profile.

Salary Offered  

1. If you join a government hospital as a clinical psychologist, then you will be earning between Rs. 56,100 to 1,77,500 (Grade 10 of 7^th pay commission). If you join as an assistant professor, you would be earning anything between Rs. 60,000 to 70,000. If you join as a Senior Scientific Officer (Grade II) at the forensic department, then you will earn between Rs. 56,100 to 1,77,500 per month. As an associate psychologist with healthcare, rehab centres or MNCs, you will be earning anything between Rs 20,000 to 1,00,000.

2. At the junior level with a work experience of 2-5 years, you would be earning anything between Rs. 25,000 to 75,000 per month.

3. At the middle level with an experience of 5-10 years, you would be earning anything between Rs. 50,000 to 2,00,000 per month.

4. At the senior level of over ten years of work experience in government jobs, you would be earning anything between Rs. 1,00,000 to 2,50,000 and in private sector you might earn up to 2,50,000 or even more per month.

Monthly Earnings In Indian Rupee 

1. Entry level: 0 - 2 years of work experience

2. Junior Level: From 1 to 12 years of work experience

3. Mid Level: From 5 to 20+ years of work experience

4. Senior Level: From 10 to 25+ years of work experience (there could be exceptions in some high-end technical, financial, engineering, creative, management, sports, and other careers; also in the near future, people will reach these levels much faster in many careers and in some careers, these levels will have no meaning as those careers will be completely tech skill driven such as even now, there is almost no level in a Cyber Security Expert’s job)

Famous Personalities 

Not Availabe.

Work Activities 

As a clinical psychologist, you will have different work activities; few of the common work activities are:

1. Developing & maintaining inter-personal relationships: Developing professional relationships with co-workers and others outside organizations and maintaining good relationships.

2. Assisting & caring for people: Assisting people in availing of services; taking care of people in different situations; offering help and services to others.

3. Getting information & learning: Observing, hearing, reading, using computers, or otherwise obtaining information and learning from it.