I need a Catholic advice! Please!

[DaughterofaKING]

I really need an advice, I don’t know what career to chose.
I am studying psychology at the moment, but what I really like is fashion design (I like anything related to art and design) I’ve talk to my sisters about it and they tell me that I’m going to be poor my whole life. To be honest I don’t care about the money (although it is very important) I just want to do something that I love. I’ve come to realize that a lot of the theories psychologist teach go against my faith. I thought I like it, but now I’m very confuse. What does the church say about Psychology? Are they against it?
When I was younger I went through a lot if trauma (I won’t talk about that) and I felt that I wanted to help kids like me. But, I think I choose a career based on something that I wanted to do and not based on something I actually like. One side of my family is very creative. We have chefs, musicians, graphic designers…etc. I’ve always love watching my mom make clothes and I want to do the same, but I want to make clothes for other Catholics and Christians girls. As some of you may know its very hard to find modest clothes, so, I want to make them. Also I don’t want to be in school for 7 or 8 years…What do you guys think? Should I change majors? Or continue studying psychology?
Please help me!!!

 

[MJJean]

Why not have both? Be a Catholic psychologist who counsels people from the Catholic perspective and use your clothing and design talents to make clothes that look nice for those less fortunate so that they can feel comfortable job hunting or going to Mass.

And, yes, the Church approves of psychology. Both my pastor and the sister who works with RCIA have psychology degrees. It is a much more stable and steady field than design.

 

[DaughterofaKING]

I’ve never thought about it that way…
But I’m not happy studying psychology to be honest… I don’t know if it’s because i feel that what they teach contradicts some of my catholic beliefs or if it’s because I’ve had this thought in my head for a long time about what it would be like to design and make clothes…

 

[1ke]

If you are not happy in your major, don’t continue.

Talk to a career counselor at your college, or your parents, about options. Perhaps get a general business degree if you want to go into sewing your own clothing. You could use those skills in building a clothing business and as a back up plan.

 

[runningdude]

I really need an advice, I don’t know what career to chose.
…
What does the church say about Psychology? Are they against it?

The church does not oppose any scientifically-based medicine, including psychology.

When I was younger I went through a lot if trauma (I won’t talk about that) and I felt that I wanted to help kids like me.

My uncle, who worked as a therapist at a public psychiatric hospital says that a lot psychologists are often draw into the industry because they are working through their own mental illness. Be careful, and work on healing yourself first before going into a career trying to heal others.

I want to do the same, but I want to make clothes for other Catholics and Christians girls. As some of you may know its very hard to find modest clothes, so, I want to make them.

Perhaps take up fashion design as a hobby. Learn to sew and design modest clothing in your spare time; share templates online for others to replicate your fashions. Don’t be afraid to charge a modest fee for the template - creative work deserves compensation!

Also I don’t want to be in school for 7 or 8 years…What do you guys think? Should I change majors? Or continue studying psychology?
Please help me!!!

Choose a degree that teaches many transferable skills. While psychology as a career may be morally taxing for you, perhaps look into being a guidance counselor or human resources administrator, where you can help students or employees without as much risk of compromising your beliefs.

 

[Inquiringperson]

You are correct that there are psychological theories that go against the Faith. However, as someone else said, you can be a psychologist that counsels people with a Catholic perspective. As a plus, you could do psychological examinations for men applying to seminaries. My brother had to go get a psychological examination before he entered the seminary. He just had to go to people that the vocations director approved of. I hope this helps.

 

[KimberlyCat]

I know your interest is psychology and clothing design so you may not like my advice…

I would suggest going to a community college and getting an RN license. It takes three years and the cost is under $10K for books, scrubs, etc. The costs includes the one year of pre-requisites plus RN school. If you already have some of your basic classes like psychology, math, English, speech, chemistry, microbiology, etc…you might only have to do the 2 years of RN school. Community colleges have payment plans so you can “pay as you go” with no interest. You will NEVER have to worry about finding a job. Hospitals actually recruit you when you are still in school. With our new healthcare plan there will be an even higher demand for RNs for the higher volume of patients.

I went to college back in the early 80s and got a degree in psychology with a minor in business. If I could do it all over I would become an RN in a HEARTBEAT. In psychology if you ONLY have a bachelors degree you might as well plan on teaching or working at Dairy Queen. You need a PhD or at least a master’s to get a decent job or to start your own practice…which costs a TON of money. And then it might take forever to build up a clientele.

Go to nursing school!!! You can work in a Catholic hospital. It will be such a rewarding career. You will always be very comfortable financially and will always have job security.

My sister has been an RN for 26 years and does not regret one minute of it. At first she didn’t want to go because she was intimidated by the workload of school and she was grossed out by changing bedpans, showering, and feeding patients, etc. But she made it through and I know you can too. In most hospitals they have RN techs who do those things. But now she actually likes doing them and does if she has time. Plus there are so many specialties you can work in: Med surg, ICU, ER, OR, pediatrics, NICU, geriatrics, oncology, OBGYN, etc. If you get tired of one or don’t like it you can always switch around. Just be prepared to work like an ox on every shift and to be yelled at by doctors, patients and patient’s families. But also be prepared to receive notes from former patients telling you how they could not have gotten through their ordeal without you and to hold someones hand when they are scared and comfort them, or to sit with a sick child and play a game with them.

You can design clothes as a hobby. You will have plenty of time off if you work 12 hour shifts. 3 days on and 4 days off.

Just my humble opinion. Something to think about. Good Luck!

 

[St_Francis]

You need a life plan. For example, you do not want to graduate in a field where you can’t make much money and you have a lot of debt. If you are in your last year of studying psych, you need to figure out what to do that allows you to pay off any college debt and change fields, or if you are early in your studies, you need to plan out what you are toing to do.

I would get out of the field you are not happy with if possible, but be careful entering the fashion design field where there are not so many openings and heavy competition from people from big-name design institutes like Pratt (?).

What you need to do is to sort out what you want to do, and then the best way to accomplish that. But when you think about what you want to do, think about all of what you want to do. Do you want to marry and have children? Do you want to live an independent self-sufficient life style or one that is more stable–are you more likely to want to own your own business or work for someone else?

If you have an idea of some of what you want to do in your life, then you can figure out how to accomplish it. If you want to marry, be extra-careful about student debt. If you want to own your own business, be sure to study business, the practical side. if you think you’d hate to have your own business, think about ways other than actual design you could use your studies, like teaching, in which case maybe double-major in ed and fashion design.

See what I mean? You need tk think about all this from the point of view of your *entire life, *not just from the point of view of what do I want to study/what do I want as a job.

If you do anything artsy, study business as well because there is not a lot of overlap and that can help you get a foot in the door

The guidance counselors and financial aid folks at your college should be able to help you a lot with this–go and see them. Their job is to help you, so don’t be shy, and if one is not responsive, ask another one for help.

 

[mdgspencer]

If I were you I would pray every day to know what course to take. You could also go to daily mass and ask the Father when you are there to show you what course to take. There is also the ancient practice, which Jesus also proposed, to fast so that your prayer will be answered, so you might consider doing this on occasion.

 

[HouseArrest]

If you are close to finishing the degree I would not advise switching majors, unless you have an unlimited supply of money to pay tuition, room, and board. I would not go seriously into debt to change majors. If you have some room to take some business classes to help with making and selling clothes when you are done with school. You don’t need a degree to sew and sell your own clothes.

Now if you want a job in the fashion industry, a degree will be helpful. I am guessing though that in trying to make a name for yourself you will run into situations that will challenge your Catholic faith.

 

[SinnersAnonymus]

I am studying to be a Catholic Psychologist and yes I can tell you they teach a boat load of stuff against the Church. But there is a huge need in our society for professionals that understand their faith and are able to help guide a person to healing. Modern Psychology was more or less founded by people trying to find substitutes for faith (Freud for example). Good psychology was practiced by desert monastics hundreds of years ago. A good read about this is Anselm Gruen’s Heaven Begins Within You.

However, if you want to go on this path you need to be able to handle not only the mentally ill, but those who are suffering with spiritual disorders as well. In my experience they can and do overlap and the first person you meet who is on the path to possession can be unnerving (for the unprepared nonbeliever like myself at the time). I am not saying that there are not many disorders caused by strictly psychological and biological problems but in our society we (the medical field) have utterly dismissed the possibility of spiritual disorders. On one hand, this means you will be marginalized in your field and have to be very careful who you talk to. On the other hand, I have meet and helped people who were suffering very serious spiritual issues that were relegated to a lifetime regime of medication and a generous lack of compassion from their healthcare providers. I have meet people who had voices that went away in prayer, saw demonic figures (which disappeared during deliverance prayers), suffered religious aversions and more. If you want more elaboration or examples you can read some of my other posts.

I would recommend reading:

Dr. Richmond’s websites chastitysf.com/ and guidetopsychology.com/
Dr. Richmond is a good Catholic Psychologist. He errs on side of very conservative but his online program is sound and it has helped people I know. I am going over his material slowly with my spiritual director and would like to meet him one day.

There are also a couple of volumes from the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism which deal with Psychiatry and the Christian and True and False Possession written by Catholic Medical Professionals (A Neurologist and Psychologist) in the 1960’s. Hard books to find but enlightening that there was a time that Psychology and Christianity were not at odds.

Fr. Gabriele Amorth also wrote two books on Exorcisms An Exorcist tells His Story and An Exorcist More Stories. Good insight on warning signs and how this can happen to people.

Francis McNutt’s books Healing and Deliverance from Evil Spirits
Good insight into the reality of the Ministry/Charism of Healing in the Church and how to heal people when an exorcist is not needed or not around.

Deborah Lipsky’s book A Message of Hope, Confessions of an Ex-Satanist: How to Protect Yourself From Evil
Invaluable insight into how this stuff works in people lives and how to protect yourself. Written with the assistance of a priest.

There is a lot more material out there, but these will give you a good insight into how real this stuff is (trust me on this one, I was a huge skeptic before I started working with the mentally ill). Also you will gain some insight into bridging the Faith with modern psychology. These will also give a lot of warning signs you can look for in your patients who might be faking it (I know of a couple examples personally) or legit. I know it is a lot to throw at you but I want you to know what you are getting into. A lot of good doctors refuse to believe this stuff exists because they (the Evil-one and his lackeys) are so good at hiding and the patients end up to be the ones suffering for their doctor’s arrogance.

God Bless and I wish you luck on your Journey
Please feel free to ask me any questions:tiphat:

 

[CradleJourney]

I really need an advice, I don’t know what career to chose.
I am studying psychology at the moment, but what I really like is fashion design (I like anything related to art and design) I’ve talk to my sisters about it and they tell me that I’m going to be poor my whole life. To be honest I don’t care about the money (although it is very important) I just want to do something that I love.

I originally was against my daughter studying psychology because I was afraid she’d end up with just a bachelor’s degree and not be able to make any money. God had much greater plans for her and she stuck with His call and got her master’s in applied behavioral analysis and enjoys her work with autistic kids very much. (And makes a good living wage).

So based on my experience, go with what you believe God is calling you to do … and don’t let the future earnings potential be a deciding factor (except in the matter of not taking out student loans you won’t be able to earn the money to pay back).

If you are close to getting you bachelor’s degree, I’d finish that - then pursue your fashion training/career on the side until you’ve paid off any debts you have. Then, go ahead and start investing in the fashion design career if that’s where you really feel called to go.

On the other hand, my daughter found her undergraduate work very tedious and struggled to stick with it, but found her graduate work much more relevant and rewarding. So maybe also consider whether this is a temporary dislike of your current “psych” situation - or a dislike of what it will be like down the road.