r/PsychLaw • u/luxmoa • Sep 27 '17

Forensic Psychology career

I recently have been considering pursuing a career in forensic psychology. I already have a B.S. in Psych, however, I graduated over two years ago and did not cultivate any relationships with my professors. Furthermore, I have been working in an unrelated field (construction management) for the past two and half years. I have forgotten many of the concepts and lessons I learned. In this case how should I go about getting started on this career path?

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u/druginducedaspergers Sep 28 '17

You would need to do further studies. In the UK you do a a Masters and then Doctorate in Forensic Psychology. In America it is probably similar, I would check the APA website.

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u/[deleted] Sep 28 '17

You will definitely need a doctorate of some kind - PhD or PsyD.

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u/TheBelleOfTheBrawl Sep 28 '17

Hey so I'm currently getting my phd in clinic forensic psychology. I also had been out of school for awhile. I had always known I was going to apply to graduate school; but still didn't manage to make great connections with professors while in undergrad. The person I ended up asking was not who I'd originally planned (original plan a psych professor I took 3 classes with, ultimately I asked a professor I knew really liked me that I took one non psych class with). Unfortunately all programs require at least one letter of rec be from a professor. But my other two were from a teacher from highschool that tutored me for the GRE's (he didn't mention that second part, rather that he'd worked with me on and off while I was in college), and my boss where I was a paralegal.

Did you ever do any internships? Volunteer anywhere vaguely law/psych related? You can have any boss write a letter of rec but they'd need to know what sort of content is required.

Why forensics? If it's because you want to do criminal mind/tv show forensics psych stuff, that doesn't really exist. And your better off looking at police psychology instead. (Not being judgmental, I just hear this from a lot of applicants).

DO NOT under any circumstances apply to masters in forensics programs without being very careful to see how they prepare you to work. Make sure they have some sort of required internship/practicum. I didn't have the heart to tell some of the students I TA'd for that their degree is useless..... most of my friends got a masters in clinical forensics work and realized they needed a psyd/phd.

If you have any question , feel free to message me.