Is a Career in Forensic Psychology Right for You?
If you like crime dramas like Law and Order or CSI, you know a thing or two about forensic psychology. Maybe you’re already thinking about becoming a forensic psychologist – a trained psychologist who specializes in understanding criminal thinking. It’s a fascinating profession. There are some very practical, sound reasons to consider becoming a forensic psychologist. The field offers a large and growing number of opportunities. With the right training, you could . . .
- Work as an expert witness who takes the stand to offer your opinion about child custody disputes, the mental competency of persons accused of crimes, insurance claims, and more.
- Start a consulting company and train police departments and other agencies that fight crime.
- Help companies conduct background checks and screen potential employees.
- Become a psychotherapist who specializes in treating crime victims.
- Help companies identify dishonest employees.
- Work with law offices to help prepare clients and witnesses to testify in court.
- Start a private investigating company of your own.
How Can You Become a Forensic Psychologist?
Before you can enter the profession, you need to earn a doctorate in psychology and take specialized courses about criminal psychology. That’s not an easy thing to do, granted. After you graduate college, you should plan to spend another five or six years completing your doctoral work. But as the old saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” That step could be to take a psychology course, see if it excites you, and then take logical steps that follow, such as earning an undergraduate degree in psychology. If the field fascinates you, why not check it out? Sitting there and doing nothing would be . . . criminal.
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