Psychology

[HelloDizzy]

In the spring I will begin college (for the second time, I flunked out due to social anxiety) for psychology.
I intend to get my PhD by the time I'm 26.
My main problem is being able to handle the stress of going to school.

However, does anyone think that someone with Aspergers could make a good psychologist?
I am already very knowledgeable about psychology; it's one of my "fixations." Especially Personality Typology and I'm creating a thesis for a breakthrough Anti-Social-Personality-Disorder treatment.

Supposedly, a psychologist should have empathy. I really don't.
I look at the persons brain functions and figure out the best approach based on I vs E + S vs N + T vs F + J vs P, along with Socionics.
I think I would be very efficient at being a psychoanalyst and my own psychoanalyst has said the same thing. He also lacks empathy. Most of our sessions (which aren't necessarily helpful) consist of me figuring out whatever case study he brings up.

But when you research careers, people tend to point out that empathy is indeed something which makes a good therapist.
I could argue that it can cloud scientific judgement.

I don't know. Now I'm rambling.

Thoughts?

 

[kasmanaft08]

I've thought of this before, and I think it's fully possible considering the amount of directions you can go in psychology. I think personally, someone with Asperger's wouldn't make the best therapist or counselor in some situations due to body language/connecting problems...but someone who does more listening/analyzing, perscribes medicine, studies- I think we're rather good at picking up details and working out logic. That I think is a strength in psychology, since most people who go into it lean on the emotional side, but what people mostly need are logic and honesty I think.

I also think it depends on which direction you take with it. I think we wouldn't be good at things like relationship counseling, common forms of depression, group therapies, and that sort of thing obviously. That's where people expect empathy (and not just having it, being able to show it how they want you to)... But you can specialize, of course.

 

[King_Oni]

I'm a with Kas here where she states that it would be fine to do something in that field but the counselor/therapist kinda thing is a bit harder to pull of with aspergers I think.

But yeah, research, analyzing, stuff like that would seem like a good way to go if you want to do anything related to psychology.

 

[epath13]

I'm not sure about empathy making a good therapist. I personally don't think it's necessary to have one to be a good therapist. You can be supportive of your client and show him/ her direction but if a person comes to a therapist expecting hugs and kisses (not litteraly) than he/she's missing a point. Therapists are not parents, they supposed to help people to resolve their issues not just to give them some sort of emotional validation. That's just an opinion. I believe many people spent years with therapists complaining about their problems without any results and they don't even realize that they only come there and pay someone to listen to their complaints, not to solve the problems. My coach is pretty emotional and tells me how proud he is of my progress. But I don't really care. He's not a part of my family, I don't care if he's proud or not but I do believe a lot of NTs do need great amount of empathy but still therapist is not a parent...

 

[King_Oni]

I'm not sure about empathy making a good therapist. I personally don't think it's necessary to have one to be a good therapist. You can be supportive of your client and show him/ her direction but if a person comes to a therapist expecting hugs and kisses (not litteraly) than he/she's missing a point. Therapists are not parents, they supposed to help people to resolve their issues not just to give them some sort of emotional validation. That's just an opinion. I believe many people spent years with therapists complaining about their problems without any results and they don't even realize that they only come there and pay someone to listen to their complaints, not to solve the problems. My coach is pretty emotional and tells me how proud he is of my progress. But I don't really care. He's not a part of my family, I don't care if he's proud or not but I do believe a lot of NTs do need great amount of empathy but still therapist is not a parent...

I'm inclined to say "you're right", however given that NT's (or at least people with a more prevalent dose of empathy) are the norm, it's kind of an expected unwritten "rule" I guess. But in general I don't visit a therapist for his "emotional" side. I expect him/her to be rational about my problems and see if he could help me out there. I apparently have a problem and I need to have it laid out, eventually get that on paper and go from there. That's what a therapist should do for me. So a therapist who isn't involved on an emotional level would work for me. I would have problems with him/her if she came across impersonal I think... but yeah, that has to do with who and what kind of behaviour you feel comfy with. People with a really professional attitude who are there to just "do their job" are most likely not to get decent milleage out of me (or the other way around).

 

[HelloDizzy]

Well I definitely don't want to do marriage/family counseling - I would prefer to work with the criminally insane.
I guess serial killers and anti-social behavior is another fixation - thats what the novels I write are about.

So yeah, I agree with what everyones saying pretty much.

 

[ziggification]

My B.A. is actually in psychology. (I know that's worth as much as a snot rag over here, so it's good that you started off with the expectation to go for a higher degree.)

Have you considered entering an area of psych that isn't applied? There's much work to be done researching and refining our understanding of humanity. Which generally involves less time working directly with people. Although you may still have the opportunity to run some qualitative research -- e.g., interviews, intensive case studies)

You'd still get to work directly with people and you would be able to be a bit more logical about the work.

 

[HelloDizzy]

My main focus is Personality Typology used as a treatment in therapy especially for Anti-Social Personality Disorder. I'd actually love to work in a mental clinic.
Psychoanalysis is what I really like - it's just that I'll look at subjects as just that - subjects, not humans.

 

[ziggification]

I see that you have very focused interest in one area, which is great. But within that area there are a multitude of careers that have varying levels of patient interaction.

Being a practicing psychoanalyst would require greater amounts of empathy and personality than other areas. Even if you did not care, you would need to work to project the image that you did. (While you may be able to remain calm and look at the situation logically, you would have someone on the other end of the room who is falling apart at the seams. How can they open up and make progress if they think that you don't care about them as humans and individuals? Would you sit in a room to talk with someone who doesn't really care about you? Would you get much "emotional work" done that way?)

If you go more towards the research side you would be able to have more independent work time, do "case study" work which you already enjoy doing with your therapist, and work on the development of new treatment models. You'd still have to work with patients, but at the research end it's much more about the research than the individual.

Look at it this way: If you were applying your therapy model and noted it was having far more adverse effects than anticipated, would you be willing to cut the project short for the sake of the patients? Or would you ride it out a little and see if things worked themselves out -- after all, even if it doesn't work the information you gather is very helpful. In other words, which do you want to be most important the research or the patients?

Do you have any practical experience to guide this career choice? Experience working with people one-on-one in a situation where you are NOT sharing your own perspective and you are helping in a professional capacity? (Aside from research and the "case studies" during your sessions.)

I just noticed you're from NY. Is that city or state? I'm originally from Manhattan -- the lower east side over by Bowery. There are a TON of social service agencies in the city where you could get volunteer experience that would help clarify career choices. (Cause honestly you could get all the support and cheers and encouragement in the world, but it really comes down to how you feel and function in a practical setting...)

-Sylvia

 

[BruceCM]

The point of the research is supposed to be to benefit the patients, though, isn't it? It depends why the model isn't working; it may be a good model for some patients and not for others or it may work well for some practitioners but not others. Then, there's the combination of practitioner & patient to consider; is there an agreed way to analyze that, to determine what is working, why it is, what's going wrong & why that is, etc? I'm afraid I don't just accept anything, so I don't automatically accept whatever 'answers' anybody might offer to such questions, personally. Probably why I'd not be able to become a psychologist, of any description! No offense intended.

 

[HelloDizzy]

I am originally from Louisiana but moved to Staten Island 6 months ago.

My psychoanalyst therapist lacks empathy which may be why we get along so well. He is very successful.

I am capable of one-on-one conversing and potentially appearing to have empathy (my accent makes me seem MUCH friendlier) but I feel a more logistic and less emotional approach is simply more efficient. Once I get internships, and see how the field works, I'll be able to better decide which field in particular I'll go for. But, my main two things are the Anti-Social Treatment and behavioral therapy based on Typology. I have some kind of dream of winning a Nobel Prize.

 

[ziggification]

The point of the research is supposed to be to benefit the patients, though, isn't it? ..........................I'm afraid I don't just accept anything, so I don't automatically accept whatever 'answers' anybody might offer to such questions, personally. Probably why I'd not be able to become a psychologist, of any description! No offense intended.

The point of most humanities work is always to benefit "mankind". BUT from experience working in the psych research department at my school the people who tend to stay in the scholarly research end of things are way more interested in the "ideas, concepts" and intellectual discussion surrounding various conditions and phenomena. They empathize to a degree and often work with people or have a clinical background, but at the end of the day they are most happy when they can read case studies and ponder large problems in their lab without being interrupted.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is the difference between a physician and a research biologist. Good physicians are knowledgeable and have a good bedside manner. A research biologist doesn't have to have that bedside manner because they won't be working with many people, but they still deal with the same problems and they still help patients. So in many ways the "goal" of the two jobs overlap, even if the day to day tasks are different.

So when you think about becoming as psychoanalyst, CAN you picture yourself being happy at the research end?

 

[ziggification]

I am originally from Louisiana but moved to Staten Island 6 months ago. My psychoanalyst therapist lacks empathy which may be why we get along so well. He is very successful.

I am capable of one-on-one conversing and potentially appearing to have empathy (my accent makes me seem MUCH friendlier) but I feel a more logistic and less emotional approach is simply more efficient. Once I get internships, and see how the field works, I'll be able to better decide which field in particular I'll go for. But, my main two things are the Anti-Social Treatment and behavioral therapy based on Typology. I have some kind of dream of winning a Nobel Prize.

I think your dream is a beautiful one. More power to you.

That's quite a move. I hope the city agrees with you.

I wouldn't wait until you have enough experience to get an internship -- those tend not to come into the picture until sophomore year and they are often competitive. Which is why I suggest doing something as a volunteer where you'd work directly with people. It will give you a heads up as to your abilities in the field and will look pretty gosh darn nice when you DO apply to an internship.

I hear you saying how you get along with your therapist well, but you also said that he isn't helpful to you for the most part. Have you considered shadowing another psychoanalyst? Someone who you are not so familiar with, who isn't familiar with you. This might give you a more realistic view of a "professional" work setting.

What I am getting at with all my questioning is not really to cast doubts on your "focus" (the particular theories that guide your interest) but to get you to consider your "role/title/job/career" (the actual title you'd have when you finish your studies). From what you are saying it sounds like you are working under the impression that "therapist" is the only role to fill but it isn't....

For every interest, no matter what field you are talking about -- there are always different roles that deal with application, research and teaching. For example, if your field of interest is classical music you can be a classical pianist, a composer, a music theorist, a market researcher for a record label, or a music teacher...all different roles within the same field of interest that require different skills and strengths.

Hope that clarifies,
Sylvia

 

[HelloDizzy]

I don't think I would be ENTIRELY satisfied with doing only research - that's what I do now.
I want to work one-on-one to put my behavioral therapy prognosis which I doubt has been used much for treatment, which requires having a practice.
I also want to work one-on-one with the criminally insane.

 

[BruceCM]

It might, ironically, help that you don't have 'empathy' for dealing with such people. I suspect the main difficulty for most psychologists, etc, with the 'most mad' people is trying to 'empathise' when they probably can't really do that properly. I certainly wish you all the best in whatever you decide to do with your life.

 

[HelloDizzy]

Thank you.
I also see that it could be beneficial to have a low level of empathy (my score on the "Empathy Test" is a 10, half of what the average Autistic person has, which isn't taking Aspergers into account) because you can help people logistically rather than reacting on your emotional or nurturing instincts.

 

[Occasional_Demon]

Having a lack of empathy isn't a complete disqualification if you want to work in human services.

It depends on what therapy module you'd like to take. Some therapy modules, like CBT, don't really require [IMO] that much empathy, because you are talking about challenging a person's thought patterns. Same with something like DBT, where you need to be quite strict with boundaries with your clients.

 

[HelloDizzy]

I just have such a huge theory and putting it into practice is going to have to happen for me to ever be able to get it out to the world.
I guess this is why I'm so freaked out about college.
I don't do well in class settings.

I even have a math placement exam in an hour, I'm about to have a panic attack.

 

[DanielBruski]

Personally, I would live to go to medical school and become a Psychiatrist. But, I lack the patience and the endless funds to do this. I did pretty well in high school, with history and science being my strong areas. I am 27, so I'd be like over 40 before I'd even get my first gig as a Psychiatrist.

I'm always doing extensive reading and research on psychology. We were required to take psychology my senior year in high school, and I passed the course with a B. For our final exam, we had to write a paper and give a presentation on something we learned during the course, and I did mine on Sigmund Freud's book, The Interpretation of Dreams. Ever since that time, psychology has been an extreme interest of mine, and tied with my interest in politics.

I'd also like to work with the criminally insane, as well as with those with Asperger's and other mental and developmental disorders. I love talking to people one-on-one, and it would be something I'd love doing until my last breath. Whoever wants to make psychology their life's work, I say to them: Go of the gold!

 

[kg4fxg]

HelloDizzy,

I think if you can focus and become somewhat obsessed but this you will make a great Psychologist. Especially if you want to work with people who are (different) as mentioned above. I started at a very small community college and transferred to a very small University. Thus I had only 20 people in my class and at University it was more like 12 to 15 in my class.

May I say that you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Sorry, I can't help but compliment you on them. They are amazing. Please no offense intended.

For me, I started as a Sociology and I ended up in accounting. Do well with it. Follow your dreams, really!

Bill