Alright, so I’ve been digging into this whole “Is psychology a human services degree?” thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a bit of a rabbit hole. I started out pretty clueless, to be honest.
My Initial Confusion
First, I was like, “Okay, psychology…that’s about people, right? And human services…that’s also about people?” I felt like I was going in circles. It seemed like they should be related, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on how.
Digging Deeper
So, I started hitting up the internet, of course. Typed in a bunch of searches, read through some articles, and basically tried to soak up as much info as I could. It was a bit overwhelming at first, with all these different websites and definitions.
I began to organize the research in my mind.
- Psychology programs tend to focus a lot on research, theory, and the science behind how people think and behave. I saw a lot of stuff about “cognitive processes,” “behavioral analysis,” and things like that.
- Human services, is more hands on, helping people.
- Psychology can be a good foundation.
Figuring It Out (Slowly)
I realized that psychology gives you this broad understanding of why people do what they do. But it doesn’t always teach you the practical skills of, say, counseling someone through a crisis or connecting them with the resources they need.
My Takeaway
So, here’s what I’ve concluded: Psychology can be a pathway to human services, but it’s not the same thing as a human services degree. It’s like, psychology is the “theory” and human services is more the “practice,”.
I definitely feel like I have a better grasp on it now. It’s not as confusing as it seemed at the start. Still, I’m sure there are plenty of nuances I haven’t uncovered, but this is a solid starting point!
