BA or BS for PhD in Clinical or Applied Sport?

[SportyMIND]

I am interested in both Clinical and Applied Sports Psych. I am not positive which one I am going to Grad school for yet, most likely it will be Clinical, then after I get my PhD, go back for a Masters in Applied Sports.

I am curious for both programs which is more beneficial, a B.A. or B.S. in Psych.... mainly for making the transition/coursework, as well as applying.



Thanks!! ....P.S. I am currently at a Comm. College getting my AA in Arts and Sciences.

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[Therapist4Chnge]

Welcome to SDN SportyMIND.

Sports Psychology is one of a number of niche areas that falls under the general umbrella of Psychology, typically within Clinical Psychology. Depending on the type of work you would like to do will dictate what kind of training you will need. In general, someone works in the area of Sports Psychology will be looking at things like: Motivation, Stress Management, etc....which are really just off-shoots of Clinical Psychology. If that route is chosen, a person first needs to complete a Clinical Psychology program, which may include specific training in an area, or they get "generalist" training, and later on complete a post-doc or similar work in an area of specialty.

A person can choose to do clinical work where they work directly with the client, while others do the more research based work where they develop research that then can be applied to those areas....or they do some combination of both. There are other areas like looking at physiology, neurology, and related areas.....though those may or may not have a psych component.

To go back to your initial question about B.A. or B.S.....probably doesn't matter. You will need to take a range of psychology courses and participate in research while in school and/or after your schooling, if you want to go for a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Getting into a Clinical Psychology program can be very difficult, but you are at a point where you can do some planning and put yourself in a position to be successful.