Yes, I am a psychologist.
It is interesting to notice the first impression of others when they ask me about my job. Mostly they will ask, “Don’t you feel stressed out listening to others in daily basis?” Or “What kind of problems that people share with you?”.
Even though I’m working in a big city in Indonesia, Surabaya, people still second guess this profession. It can be caused by the limited information regarding this work or the wrong conception regarding this job. People tend to think that psychologist is the one who is responsible to take care of patients with mental disability or schizophrenia. They forget to see between those two gaps – anxiety, depression, relationship issues or even daily hassles. Sometimes people come to my office to share how they feel or think – and that’s all.
Working in this area has a lot of benefits for me. For example, I have the privilege to learn a lot about life and its complications without the need to experience it first hand. I also blessed to have the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of life – how to see things objectively and slow to judge. Sometimes, when people are busy talking of others, I can float myself out of the circle and not being part of that ‘small minded’ conversation (as Roosevelt said).
Another important experience as a psychologist is the need to keep on updating oneself with recent knowledge. Going for conference and engage with a group discussion is very challenging and also enriching. For me personally, to be able to learn from and share with others is fun.
And if you still unfamiliar with our job, try to watch some well-known series: Bones (with Dr Sweets), Law and Order: SVU (with Dr Huang) or Criminal Minds (with Dr Reid). Despite the criminality background, their part in the series is quite loud. And you may get the seriousness of this work (well, not that serious though).
Enjoy your work as much as we enjoy our work 🙂
My Writing Paper 