Psychology is a branch of science that examines mental functioning and behaviours covering biological, social and psychological processes at both individual and group level, investigates the underlying causes, tries to understand and make sense of them, and puts the results obtained into practice. At the same time, psychology is an independent professional field in which applications are made to change human behaviour and solve problems by integrating the knowledge obtained within a field of expertise with certain abilities and skills.
Psychology scientifically investigates human characteristics such as happiness, achievement and self-esteem and their underlying causes. For example, through this research, it can reveal the factors affecting "life satisfaction", but not happiness, which is a highly subjective emotion. However, psychology as a social science, taking into account the multifaceted and complex nature of human beings and human-environment interaction, does not present scientific data on any subject as definite, generally valid and dogmatic knowledge. At this point, it rejects the existence of magic formulae such as "the secret of happiness".
First of all, in order to become a psychologist, you must complete a 4-year bachelor's degree in psychology. In order to practice the profession as an expert in any field of psychology, it is necessary to have at least a master's degree or a doctorate in that field. In order to become a competent psychologist, you should support the theoretical knowledge acquired during undergraduate education with observations and practices in the field in order to get to know the subfields of psychology better and to decide on the field you want to progress in, participate in psychology congresses, conferences or workshops, follow scientific developments, and act in accordance with ethical rules in research or professional practices.
Psychologists graduate from the psychology departments of the faculties of science and sciences or social sciences at universities. Psychiatrists are people who specialise in psychiatry after graduating from medical school. Psychiatry, as a sub-field of medicine, is predominantly based on a medical or biological model. Therefore, psychiatrists, who carry the higher identity of "physician", rely more on this point of view when analysing human beings, trying to understand individual problems and treating them. On the other hand, psychologists, who come from the social sciences background, try to evaluate and understand human beings as a psychosocial being; they focus on psychosocial factors in understanding and solving individual problems. There is a parallel rather than a hierarchical relationship between these two fields. With the different perspectives they bring to understanding human behaviour, they have aspects that nourish and complement each other. With the increase in interdisciplinary cooperation in the contemporary scientific world, the biopsychosocial approach, that is, the approach based on evaluating the human being as a whole with its biological, psychological and social aspects, is increasingly being adopted in both fields.
Clinical psychology is the sub-field of psychology that is most often confused with psychiatry.
One of the main reasons for this is that people in both specialities mostly work in clinics and in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental problems.Despite this commonality, their working areas and methods differ.While psychiatrists use pharmacotherapy (drug treatment) as their main approach, clinical psychologists adopt a psychotherapy approach.Please note that not every psychologist can work as a psychotherapist.In order to become a clinical psychologist, it is necessary to have a master's degree and/or a doctorate in clinical psychology after a bachelor's degree in psychology.Psychology has a very wide field of study and can work in many different professional environments defined under Career Opportunities.
When you graduate from the 4-year Psychology Department, there are many job fields you can work in. This is a wide range from state institutions to the private sector. A master's degree will provide you with the opportunity to specialise in a field of your choice and will be a stepping stone to work in the academic field. In addition, if you want to progress in the application areas of psychology such as clinical psychology, industrial/organisational psychology and traffic psychology, a master's degree will be a necessity.
No, it is not. On the contrary, it will give you an advantage in following the literature and improving your international communication, as your English reading, writing and speaking skills will be further developed in this way. For those who want to study for a master's degree abroad, it will be a privilege to be educated in English.
Psychology is one of the first among the rapidly developing professional fields today. Since almost all social processes and problems experienced in society are related to human behaviour, psychology has many fields of study.
Graduates of the Department of Psychology can work as educators / academicians who teach the discipline of psychology in high schools, colleges and universities; as researchers who conduct basic and applied research on human behaviour in universities and research units of governmental and non-governmental institutions; as professional staff, managers, consultants and experts in various institutions according to their degree of expertise.
Within the framework of the laws in force in our country, graduates of psychology undergraduate programme can work as psychologists in public institutions. The employment areas of graduates of psychology departments in Turkey can be listed as follows
Academic staff (research assistant)
Health services (hospitals, clinics, counselling centres)
Services for children (pre-school education institutions, kindergartens and orphanages, etc.)
Counselling, guidance services; special groups (forensic psychology practices, nursing homes, mentally disabled, etc.)
Industry (human resources, public relations, etc.)
Other (psychotechnical assessment, advertising, private research companies, local governments, press/broadcasting, etc.) The standard situation in the modern world is that graduates of a four-year psychology undergraduate programme specialise in a particular field and work in that field after obtaining at least a master's degree (or in some cases a doctorate). Some of the specialised areas of psychology and their fields of study are summarised below:
Clinical psychology: Clinical psychologists evaluate individuals with mental, behavioural and emotional problems or disorders and help them overcome these problems through different methods such as psychotherapy, psychoeducation, preventive mental health practices.
Developmental psychology: Developmental psychologists work on the stages of human development during the life span from pre-birth to death.Developmental psychologists are concerned with the identification, explanation and measurement of age-related changes in behaviour.They work on universal characteristics, cultural and individual differences in development.
Social Psychology: Social psychologists are interested in how people interact with each other and how they are influenced by their social environment.They study individuals, groups and group behaviour, attitudes, prejudices and their formation and change.
They conduct research on topics such as friendship, dyadic relationships, attraction and aggression.
Cognitive/Experimental Psychology:
Cognitive psychology is the specialisation that studies mental processes such as perception, attention, language, memory and thinking. Cognitive psychologists are interested in how people understand, store and retrieve information.
Industrial/Organisational Psychology: They apply psychological principles to business life in order to improve business life and increase production.They assist various organisations in organising and training staff in areas such as planning, quality management and organisational change.Their interests include issues such as organisational structure, work efficiency, job satisfaction, consumer behaviour, personnel selection and personnel development.
Forensic Psychology: A field arising from the relationship between law and psychology to apply the principles of psychology to legal issues and problems.
Neuropsychology:Neuropsychologists study the relationship between biological systems and the function of the mind and behaviour.They investigate the biochemical mechanisms of the brain, the functions of brain structures, and the effects of chemical and physical changes on behaviour and emotions.Health Psychology:
They are interested in biological, psychological and social factors affecting health and illness.
Health Psychology:
They deal with biological, psychological and social factors affecting health and illness.
Traffic Psychology: Traffic psychology is the application of the principles of psychology to the field of traffic and road safety (psychotechnical assessment of driver abilities, driving styles and risk-taking behaviour in traffic, driver training and rehabilitation, raising awareness for traffic safety, consultancy to those who make and enforce traffic laws, developing tools to measure traffic-related behaviour, attitudes, abilities and skills).
Psychometrics:Psychometrists work on techniques and methods to be used during the acquisition and application of psychological information.Intelligence, personality, aptitude and other areas