Psych-Tech

[HeatherlyAJ]

Thinking of Psych-Tech... any opinions?

[Poolzer]

Its been my observation that those that go that route have a little bit of it in them :). May be given rank upon completion, but its a dead end job that wont get you chief that easily if you're in it for a career though if you have a career path mindset to get a degree in mental health/counseling/psychology and go officer or get outthen it could be a stepping stone.

[HMC8404]

I'd have to agree with Poolzer. If you're going to stay in beyond a 4 year contract and aim a for a military career? Its not your NEC of choice to get out there and build your service record. But if it IS your intent to do a tour of duty and then get out and enter into the mental health field? Then by all means go for it.

I looked at your profile and you don't have your age listed. If what you're interested in is the mental health field, why not "volunteer" for your local area's crisis hotlines? This way you get a preview of whether this is something you would really want to spend your time doing. I volunteer for our local CONTACT lines here and our lines get veteran callers, suicide/prevention callers, teen callers, rape/domestic abuse calls, and the mental health callers. You'll find out real quick if this is something you've got the stomach for or not.

Good luck in whatever you decide to take up. :)

[HeatherlyAJ]

I joined the Navy with a B.S. in Psychology. Currently I'm 24 y/o, E-4. Not sure if I wanted to persue mental health on the outside yet. As far as I know it is no longer a STAR program, I guess I'm more interested in whether it will be fun and educational or not.

[HMC8404]

First off, its good to know you're already in.

Second, if you're not sure you want to pursue it after getting out, if you can, volunteer somewhere off base. Are you stateside? If so you have options. Where are you at? By doing this within the community, volunteering, not only will this shed light on what its like to a degree, it is great on your evaluations and if you're ever going up for Sailor of the Quarter and various awards.

Where are you at?

[taraleigh916]

Did you decide to go to psych tech school? My story is very similar to yours...I'm 25 y/o with a BA in psychology and wanted to see if this was the career choice for me or not.