College of Arts & Sciences
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology

Where do you want to go?

Mental health field

See also: Clinical psychology, Sport, exercise, and performance psychology, and Forensic psychology

If you are interested in the practice of psychotherapy, there are many paths toward becoming a clinician. Professional roles that fall under the umbrella of “therapist” include clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists. 

Doctoral degrees within this field include the Ph.D., which typically would be in clinical or counseling psychology in order to become a practitioner. Some family studies programs offer clinical degree options (e.g., couple and family therapy).  Ph.D.s also include a research component and original data collection for a doctoral dissertation, and also are the path for those desiring to go into a tenure-track academic or research position within the field. The Psy.D. degree is a practice-oriented doctoral degree meant for those who do not desire a research or academic career path. There are important differences within these degrees in terms of selectivity, funding, and other characteristics.  Ph.D. programs are much more competitive than Psy.D. programs, but are more likely to provide funding support.  It is typical for there to be some time between graduating with the bachelor’s and entry into a Ph.D. program.  

Masters-level degrees that can also lead to becoming a psychotherapist include masters in social work, clinical mental health counseling, and marriage and family counseling. These can include different areas of specialization, including the potential for focusing on children, families, couples, or adult individuals.

Other practitioners focus on assessment and evaluation rather than psychotherapy, though some do both. Psychological testing is involved in a broad range of contexts, from learning disorders to ADHD, neurocognitive disorders, to IQ and personality assessments.

For the Ph.D., research experience is vital before applying. For masters-level degrees and the Psy.D., it is not as crucial, but still very beneficial. A background in activism or social justice can be helpful for entry into many counseling programs. Across all disciplines of practice, volunteer and paid positions that involve one-on-one helping such as staffing a crisis hotline or text line, behavioral interventions with children, youth mentoring programs, support services in community mental health centers, and peer support roles.

Career pathways and graduate school Becoming a licensed Clinical Psychologist requires a doctoral degree (PhD or PsyD). A PhD program places a heavy emphasis on research production and data analysis, while a PsyD places more emphasis on clinical practice. These programs tend to differ in cost and duration as well as research emphasis, with PsyDs tending to be more expensive and shorter, whereas PhDs tend to provide a stipend and take 6+years to complete.

Career opportunities with a Bachelor’s Degree While you cannot practice as a psychologist with a B.A., there are plenty of industry positions available in consulting or tech, and there are many jobs that provide crucial experience to improve graduate school applications:

Preparation: Research and practical steps Because Clinical Psychology Ph.D. programs are among the most competitive graduate programs in the country, undergraduate preparation is vital if you are planning to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

Note that licensure requirements are specific to region (state and country), so it is important to research the specifics of licensure if you wish to study or practice in a specific region.

Professional organizations:

Relevant courses in Psychology: To be competitive for this field, students should demonstrate strength in statistics and methodology, as well as core clinical content. Relevant Georgetown courses include:

Cognate courses in the Biology department (Neurobiology) or Statistics department can also be helpful. A background in computer science (coding for data analysis) is also increasingly attractive to research-heavy clinical programs.

Want to find out more?  Chat with Profs. Andrea Bonior, Casey Brown, and Yulia Chentsova-Dutton.

Sport, exercise, and performance psychology

See also:  Mental health field, Clinical psychology, and Health psychology

Sport, exercise and performance psychologists focus on the psychology of physical activity, sport, and human performance, with the goal of optimizing performance through research and applied practice.  Traditionally, sport psychology has emphasized athletic/physical performance, but the basic principles can be applied to human performance more broadly, including those engaged in the performing arts, corporate professionals, and military personnel.   Sport, exercise, and performance psychologists are interested in a wide range of topics relevant to human performance, including motivation, teamwork, managing barriers to effective performance (such as performance anxiety), and recovering from injury.  

Career options for sport, exercise, and performance psychologists would include research and practice.  Research positions can be found in colleges/universities and government, as well as nonprofit and sports organizations.  Those in practice may work directly with individual athletes and teams (either as staff members in the organization or as consultants in private practice) or they may work with sports organizations to help develop policies and programs.  

Career pathways and graduate school  Becoming a sport/performance psychologist requires a graduate degree and licensure.  This can be obtained through earning a doctorate (a Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in clinical or counseling psychology from an APA-accredited program with a specialization in sport psychology through a predoctoral or postdoctoral fellowship (or comparable work-training opportunity).  Another option is to earn a doctorate in sport psychology, though there are relatively few doctoral programs in sport psychology and the training may be more specialized, and hence, less flexible, than that in a clinical/counseling psychology program.  Additional certification is available through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) to become a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), which includes coursework and supervised experience.  A doctorate in kinesiology is a possibility for those solely interested in pursuing research, but it does not provide a path for obtaining licensure as a practicing psychologist.  There are also some master’s programs in sport psychology, some of which provide a path to licensure and others that do not provide training toward licensure, but instead focus on research and program development. 

Career opportunities with a Bachelor’s Degree If you are interested in the field of sport, exercise, and performance psychology, there are related career options that can be pursued with a bachelor’s degree, including:

These careers may require a bachelor’s degree in a health/fitness field or in education, experience in the field (e.g., sport or recreation), and relevant certification, but psychology coursework provides a vital foundation in human motivation, learning, attitudes, interpersonal skills, human development, and quantitative/research skills that serves these careers well.

Preparation:  Practical steps

Students who wish to become licensed sport/performance psychologists should prepare for clinical or counseling graduate programs.  (See I am interested in clinical psychology and I am interested in becoming a therapist)  In addition, APA Division 47 has a brochure on Graduate Training and Career Possibilities in Exercise and Sport Psychology which is an excellent resource for different tracks to explore and relevant training needed for each.

Students interested in exercise psychology and its broader connections to health and well-being may wish to explore the field of health psychology.  (See I am interested in health psychology)

As you prepare for your post-graduate career related to sport, exercise, and performance psychology, consider including coursework related to exercise science and kinesiology, getting research experience, and making connections with professionals in the field. 

Professional organizations

Relevant courses in Psychology A broad background in courses related to clinical/counseling psychology, as well as those related to aspects of performance, including biological, cognitive, and social factors are relevant preparation. 

Cognate courses in Biology, Health (e.g., Global Health, Public Health), Management, or Statistics can be helpful, as well, with a particular focus on research methods, statistics, and kinesiology.  

Additional resources:

Anshel, M. H., Petrie, T. A., & Steinfeldt, J. A. (Eds.). (2019). APA handbook of sport and exercise psychology: Sport psychology. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000123-000


Anshel, M. H., Petruzzello, S. J., & Labbé, E. E. (Eds.). (2019). APA handbook of sport and exercise psychology: Exercise psychology. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000124-000

Barker, J. (2013).  Becoming a sport psychologist.  Taylor & Francis.

Gould, D. (2021).  Reflections from a career in sport psychology: An autobiography and guide to teaching, research and professional practice.  Outskirts Press. 

References:

Helms, J. L., & Rogers, D. T. (2023).  Majoring in psychology:  Achieving your educational and career goals, 3rd edition.  Wiley Blackwell. Kuther, T. L. & Morgan, R. D. (2025).  Careers in psychology: Opportunities in a changing world, 6th edition. Sage.

Healthcare field

See also:  Health psychology and Mental health field

Health care practitioners diagnose and treat illness and injury, as well as promoting better health and wellness through preventative care.  There are many pathways to careers in healthcare, including specific training, licensure, and/or certification for the specific type of practice (e.g., medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine).  

Students interested in becoming a health care practitioner would typically be on the pre-health or nursing track, as this coursework will prepare them for licensure and careers in health care.  However, pre-health is not a major and many pre-health students will take psychology courses and/or major in psychology.  Psychological science is foundational for effective health care practice by providing an understanding of the complex, biopsychosocial context of health.  Psychology illuminates the mind-body connection, as well as how to foster effective doctor-patient communication and behavioral change, which is key to the promotion of health.  (It is no accident that the MCAT now includes psychology content.)  In addition, studying psychology includes critical evaluation of research, which is a vital skill for health care practitioners.

While all health care practitioners benefit from a solid grounding in psychology, the specific focus would depend on your planned career path.  For example:

In other words, it can be helpful to think about your potential career interests and choose courses in psychology and cognate fields that would be most relevant.  

Careers in health care are varied and include different training and licensure requirements.  You can explore options through Pre-Health Studies at Georgetown, the School of Health, and Berkley School of Nursing.  Some careers only require a bachelor’s degree (e.g., BSN) and others would require post-graduate training (e.g., M.D.).  In addition, there are many opportunities for mental health practitioners to serve vital roles within traditional health care settings (e.g., hospitals), so another pathway would be to pursue graduate training to become a licensed therapist.  

Relevant courses in Psychology:  As noted above, depending on the type of career you are considering, many Psychology courses are potentially relevant.  

Cognate courses in the biomedical sciences would be highly relevant, as well (and are typically required as part of a pre-health curriculum).  Other pertinent courses include those in Medical Humanities andSchool of Health. 

Want to find out more?  Chat with Profs. Adam Green and Deborah C. Stearns.

Legal field

See also:  Forensic psychology

Psychology and law is a broad and intellectually rich field that explores how psychological science can inform, improve, and sometimes challenge legal processes and policy. Unlike forensic psychology, which tends to be more clinically focused, psychology and law often operates at a more systemic level — examining how people make decisions as jurors, how memory and eyewitness testimony can be unreliable, how interrogation techniques affect confessions, how bias shapes legal outcomes, and how mental health intersects with criminal and civil justice. Scholars and practitioners in this space may work as researchers, policy advocates, academics, attorneys with psychological training, or consultants to legal teams and governmental bodies. It’s a field driven by a genuine tension between two very different ways of understanding human behavior — the empirical, probabilistic language of science and the adversarial, precedent-driven logic of law.

The pathway into psychology and law tends to vary more than in traditional clinical fields, because the career itself can take several distinct shapes. Students interested in the research and academic side typically pursue a Ph.D. in psychology with a concentration in law and psychology, often through programs specifically designed around that intersection — the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS, Division 41 of the APA) maintains a helpful directory of such graduate programs. Others pursue a joint J.D./Ph.D., which opens doors to both legal practice and scholarly research and is particularly well-suited to those interested in policy, expert witnessing, or law school teaching. For students drawn more to applied or advocacy work, a law degree alone — informed by a strong psychology undergraduate background — can be a viable route into areas like criminal justice reform, juvenile law, or civil rights litigation. In all cases, getting involved in research early, seeking internships that bridge both worlds, and connecting with faculty who work at this intersection are the most important steps a student can take.

Professional organizations:

Relevant courses in Psychology:  The Georgetown Psychology Department offers some courses that align with this field.

Want to find out more?   Chat with Prof. Jennifer Woolard and consult the Pre-Law Guide at the Cawley Career Education Center, which includes pre-law advising services. 

Business or industry

Psychology is a helpful preparation for careers in business and industry.  A keen understanding of psychological functions is vital for effective workplace design, personnel management, marketing, and industrial applications.  The interpersonal and research skills that are at the heart of psychology are foundational for effectively navigating careers in business and industry.  Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists study the intersection of psychology and the workplace, but one need not specialize in I-O psychology to apply your psychological expertise within the business/industry sector.  Careers in this area range from basic and applied research to service-oriented positions and can be found in university, governmental, private, and nonprofit sector organizations.  

With a bachelor’s degree:  There are quite a few career options for those with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.  Some ideas to explore:

With a graduate degree:  A graduate degree (master’s or Ph.D. in I-O psychology, cognitive psychology, or human factors) provides greater opportunity for advancement in the career tracks noted above, including supervisory/upper management roles, consulting, as well as becoming a usability specialist or design psychologist.  

Preparation: Research and practical steps

Professional organizations:

Relevant courses in Psychology:  

Cognate courses in all aspects of business and industry (e.g., finance, management, marketing, data analytics) can be found in the McDonough School of Business.  Courses in computer science, statistics, graphic design, and communication can also be very useful in preparing for a career in business and industry.  

Want to find out more?  Chat with Profs. Ian Lyons or Deborah C. Stearns

References:

Helms, J. L., & Rogers, D. T. (2023).  Majoring in psychology:  Achieving your educational and career goals, 3rd edition.  Wiley Blackwell. 

Kuther, T. L. & Morgan, R. D. (2025).  Careers in psychology: Opportunities in a changing world, 6th edition. Sage.

Education

Education is a wide-ranging field, with ample opportunities for teaching from preK-12 and in higher education. Though any undergraduate major can prepare someone for a teaching career, psychology’s focus on human cognition, development, and social interactions is particularly well aligned!

Career pathways: After college you have lots of options. As highlighted below there are many ways to get into teaching right after college. There are also opportunities to find a job doing education policy or research if teaching is not your calling but you are interested in doing work that informs teaching, schools, and school-related policy.

Get into education research at Georgetown: Several professors in our psychology department do education related work! Look at the department lab matching tool to see who is taking students.

It may also be worth looking at research offerings in the Public Policy, Politics, and Linguistics departments.

Gaining teaching experience during college: There are several opportunities to get into teaching and mentoring while you’re in college. See some options through the Center for Social Justice.

Gaining teaching experience after college: There are a lot of ways to get into teaching right after school, either as teaching support staff or a full-fledged teacher.  These websites offer a comprehensive list:

Many of these experiences will give you a chance to see how you feel about being in the classroom before you decide to take on a master’s degree. Some of these will actually cover your part-time masters’ degree as you gain teaching experience!

In addition to the non-traditional programs above, you can also go directly into a masters’ or teacher certification program. Be sure to look into what certifications you will receive and how they align with the kinds of jobs and the types of locations you want to teach in.

Professional organizations: These organizations have annual or biannual conferences that may have programming for undergraduates interested in education.

Relevant courses in Psychology:  The psychology department offers several classes that offer insights into how people learn and effective learning and teaching.

Are you interested in the intersection between education and social justice? Look into the Education, Inquiry, and Justice minor right here at Georgetown! This six class minor offers several compelling courses relevant to those interested in education.

Want to find out more?  Chat with Prof. Kristia Wantchekon.

Public policy

There are many ways the field of psychology can inform public policies and programs and thus many ways that the fields intersect. Developmental psychology has long informed policies that affect families, children and education. These include social programs to provide housing, health care, and food assistance to low-income families, interventions to improve family well-being including home visiting programs and other parenting interventions, and programs to directly improve children’s academic skills, including Early Head Start, Head Start, Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, early education, and K – 12 education policy and curricula. More recently, social and clinical psychology research has informed perspectives on and policies around technology and youth well-being, including smart phone and social media use and restrictions.

A typical pathway into these fields would start with a research assistant position at a nonprofit, policy-oriented research firm, a governmental agency position, or a position in a university-based lab focusing on applied psychological research. Examples of nonprofit organizations in this space include the Urban Institute, Child Trends, MPR, RAND Corporation or the Brookings Institution. Examples of government agencies include the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. To advance in this field, there are a range of graduate training options including earning a Masters in Applied Psychology, a Masters in Education, as well as a PhD in Developmental or Applied Psychology.

Preparation: Research and practical steps The Department has a number of labs that do applied psychology research. Working as a research assistant in one of these labs would prepare students for this field:

Professional organizations:

Relevant courses in Psychology:  The Georgetown Psychology Department offers a number of courses that align with this field. Taking any of these courses would prepare students for this field:

Want to find out more?  Chat with Profs. Rebecca Ryan, Kostadin Kushlev, Rachel Barr, Jessica Chiang, Ian Lyons, and Jennifer Woolard.