Majoring in Psychology: Achieving Your Educational and Career Goals

Praise for the first edition:

A worthy addition to the growing literature on the keys to success for undergraduate psychology majors, the Helms and Rogers text is likely to be one of those books that conscientious psychology students refer to again and again.
William Addison, Eastern Illinois University

The Helms and Rogers text truly focuses on helping students achieve their educational and career goals. The authors go beyond the typical career books by presenting a realistic, robust, and diverse picture of possible careers in psychology. Bringing a variety of careers to life, the professional spotlights and profiles of real psychologists represent the true diversity of careers in the field. I look forward to discussing it with my students.
Tracy Zinn, James Madison University

Already widely considered the most comprehensive and accessible text for psychology majors, this second edition of Majoring in Psychology: Achieving Your Educational and Career Goals is thoroughly updated to reflect the latest research data in the field, as well as important information on recent changes to the GRE. Readers are first introduced to information, strategies, and resources that support success in psychology educational and career pursuits issues such as the nature and utility of a psychology degree, career decision making, college success, and preparation for graduate school and employment. A series of exercises, resources, and suggested readings provided in each chapter further enhance clarity. Later chapters introduce readers to the diverse areas of study available within the broader field of psychology, with special attention given to the nature of these subfields and their variances in educational requirements, training, and career options critical information to help support a student s efforts in developing more specific educational and career goals that are in line with particular interests and skills. Further insights in this section are provided via An Insider s Perspective and Professional Spotlight boxes that showcase the career and viewpoint of a pair of internationally recognized psychologists working in their respective subfields.

List of Boxes xviii

List of Tables xxi

Preface xxii

Acknowledgments xxiv

About the Website xxvi

Part I Majoring in Psychology 1

1 Why Major in Psychology? 3

2 Succeeding in College: Transitions, Strategies, and Resources 15

3 Succeeding in the Psychology Major: Adjustments, Common Difficulties, and Strategies 38

4 Assessing and Developing Career Goals 57

5 Using your Bachelor s Degree: Preparing for the Job Market 76

6 The Preprofessional Degree: Preparing for Graduate School 102

7 The Preprofessional Degree: Applying to Graduate School 122

Part II The Subfields of Psychology 169

8 Careers in Research: Experimental, Developmental, Social, Cognitive, and Biopsychology 171

9 Careers in Industrial and Organizational Psychology 194

10 Careers in Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology 217

11 Careers in Educational and School Psychology 248

12 Careers in Exercise and Sport Psychology 266

13 Careers in Health Psychology 283

14 Careers in Neuropsychology 298

15 Careers in Forensic Psychology 315

16 Careers in Academe 339

17 Assessing the Career Outlook for the Psychology Major 361

Index 371

Jeffrey L. Helms is Professor of Psychology at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Helms, a licensed psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association, currently maintains a small private consulting practice that focuses on executive coaching and organizational, academic, and forensic consultation.

Daniel T. Rogers is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Kennesaw State University. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Rogers is also a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality Assessment.