Is Psychology a good career choice in India?

Hi Garima,

It is a great career choice as the demand for Psychologists is increasing day by day. You can work in hospitals, organizations, schools NGO's etc.... wherever you like that also depend on the specialization you have. If you are confused between Psychology and counseling then you can opt for counseling psychology as the field of specialization in Psychology.

Dear Aspirant,

Thanks for writing to www.careerguide.com!

Psychology is a good career choice in india. Gradually demand for trained psychologist is increasing in India. In India, branches of psychology are well-known are Clinical, Counseling, Industrial, Educational (school) and Forensic Psychology.

Clinical Psychology is one of the established field of psychology in india. Clinical Psychologists are recognized by Rehabilitation Council of India and can do private practice as well.

I would recommend you to take psychology for graduation. You can take general psychology so that the study will cover broad areas of psychology and its specialization. Specialization need to be selected during post-graduation study. Based on your learning from graduate course, you can decide taking up preferred specialization.

You may take Clinical Psychology as a specialization in post-graduation if you are interested to deal with mental health issues of people. It is tough but well-recognized in India. Clinical Psychology students can get into counseling, and other psychology field.

Career Pathways to become a Psychologist:
BA/BSc
MA/MSc
MPhil (recommended if you choose clinical psychology. Otherwise you can do PhD directly)
PhD

Most State and Central Universities do offer course in psychology. I recommend you to do course from State or Central University. I am providing list of few universities for your reference.

Universities offering psychology (counseling and clinical psychology):

Delhi University
Jamia Millia Islamia
Panjabi University
Gautam Buddha University
Allahabad University
IIT Bombay
SNDT University
Mumbai University
Pune University
Bangalore University
M S University of Baroda

Hope this is helpful in taking decision about choosing right field within psychology.

Best Wishes for your bright career,
Apurva Kumar Pandya, PhD

Hi There,

The scope and a good career choice solely depends on the person who is into the field professionally. It is an individualistic choice and opinion.

The only answer to your question is that due to the widespread alertness in the society, people are aware of this field, but mind you people or rather society is still skeptical about visiting doctors for mental health related issues.
The more well established you are and more people are aware of your services, the more they would be likely to visit you.

Please note, not only College degree but also other certificates is the need of the hour. A counselor needs to be a comprehensive package.

The other point here is that Psychology and counseling are the same. The degree you get is "Psychology", and the therapies you use while working are called " Counseling".

As such due to awareness, School Counseling is booming. Never the less, Organizations too these days are opting for counselors in terms of employee recruitment and handling grievances etc.

But to function as a counselor, after Graduation, you need to pursue a masters degree.

The lists of University / Colleges have been mentioned, not repeating them here.
Just wish to add one name:
NIMHANS ( Bangalore).

Hope this helps.
Wish you good luck..........

Dear Aspirant,

Glad to know your interest in Psychology.

Psychology includes counselling and both are not different but inherent.

Psychology definitely has a good scope as explained by Dr. Pandya and Ms. Meghna. Especially, I can vouch this since I belong to education sector, psychological counselling is the need of the youth today since there are increased confusions, diversions and complexities in life and career.

Definitely you should take up this as a career.

Best wishes

Hello Dear Friend,
Welcome to career guide.com
Thanks for approaching us and writing us with your career query.

Its good to hear you have been giving a deep thought for pursuing your future career right from your 11th std. The good part is you have been able to identify your area of interest. Its always good to gather the proper information about the career in which we wish to make our career.

Psychology is the study of Humans mind,its formation,Human behaviour and the minds processes. Psychology is a branch of Philosophy. Psychology is one of the interesting career. In India their is a wide scope in the field of Psychology . Their is not much awareness about the Counselling in India. While there has been many cases of Mental Health Issues. If we see the ratio of Psychology Students for every 10,000 patients there is 1 Psychologist i.e 1000:1. Now there has been many other new options open in the field of Psychology like Child Psychology,Clinical Psychology, Industrial Psychology, Education Psychology etc. are the different options available for one to make a career. One can go for degree in psychology either by pursuing BA from Arts or Bsc from Science. After successfully completing degree one can go for masters and study the subject as per his area of interest.

Psychologist can work in different sectors like NGO,Community Support Groups,Rehabilitation Centres,Industries,can have their own Clinical Settings,Psychiatrist, Hospitals,Schools and Colleges.Now a days there has been a great need of the Psychologists.

Here are some of the institutes for psychology studies -
Christ University,Bangalore
Banaras Hindu University
Indian Institute of Psychology and Research
TATA Institute of Socail Sciences,Mumbai.

I hope you find this information relevant to your career query.

Feel free to get in touch again.

Wish you Good Luck

Thank You

Warm Regards,
Prathamesh Kapote