Psychologists in Making: Life Lessons and Observations from Practicing Psychologists

In this unique book, well established psychologists share their observations on teaching psychology, the meaning of self-care, and what they believe psychology programs attempt to educate and instil in their students.

The volume begins with a mid-career psychologist who reflects on his schooling and shares his learnings. Authors in the next chapter discuss the differences between undergraduate and graduate programs, what they attempt to teach and instil in the students who aspire to be psychologists. Chapter 3 examines the characteristics of undergraduate and graduate psychology students that enhance their chances for academic success, while the next chapter describes a program that teaches psychology students the art of self-care to avoid burnout. An issue which minority psychologists often may face is discrimination, overt or covert which makes reaching their goals and achieving what they want, that much more difficult. In Chapter 4, a well-established Chinese Canadian psychology professor describes his marathon in the field of psychology. This is followed by a chapter that lays out the roadmap to becoming a psychologist. The last chapter describes how university students see people’s characteristics and psychopathology come to life by learning about famous and well-known figures.

This intriguing book explores ways to create, teach, foster and enhance the holistic growth of psychologists and will be a beneficial read for students and general readers considering a career in this fascinating profession. The chapters in this book where originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Psychology.

Ami Rokach is a clinical psychologist who teaches in the Department of Psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada. He has been researching and teaching about loneliness, human sexuality, intimate relationships, and death and dying for the past 40 years.