Clinical Psychologists: Ever worry about client dangerousness?

Question

I'm a psychology major and will apply to grad schools. I'd like to go into clinical psych and work with anxiety, depression, OCD, relationship problems, those coping with grief or terminal illness, etc. I don't want to limit myself to one disorder/speciality, but see a mix of clients.

I'm worried because I know patients can be psychotic, delusional, and dangerous to themselves and others. My mom had a friend whose daughter was a therapist, and she was killed by a schizoaffective client. My professor said one of his clients pulled a knife out during one of their sessions and tried to dig out a chip he believed to be implanted in him.

I don't want to go into counseling psychology b/c I'm afraid I'd be stuck doing vocational counseling. Nor do I want to become a child psychologist; I'd rather work with a population that has the language and cognitive skills to articulate their feelings/thoughts/problems.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Asking clinical psychology grad students & licensed psychologists with experience and relevant input.

Answer 1

The biggest part of your job as a psychologist is to assist and teach your clients the skills needed to effectively articulate their feelings/thoughts/problems. So I'm a little confused as to what you're looking to do. If you want to get into the mental health field, you have to understand that your patients will not all come in a nice neat package. The most important characteristic of being a good psychologist, therapist or whatever it is you'll end up doing is being nonjudgemental and truly have the passion to help others identify their problems, communicate them and work through them.
I don't mean to be insulting in any way, but from what I read it seems like you want your patients to come to you with the hardest work already done.

In terms of safety, you need to be mindful of who you are working with and their pathology. However, I've worked in this field for years and have never heard anything to even close to what you described. I would consider those to be extreem cases and not by any means a regular occurance.
You have to keep in mind that these people are there for help, they build a rapport with you. I have worked with many people who I felt were a danger to themselves and others, and have had total confidence in my safety with them because we had a strong therapeutic relationship. It doesn't mean that nothing could ever happen, but you will learn the skills to assess situations (which you'll learn in graduate school and gain with experience) as well as your future work place providing you with safety measures.

However you really need to think about what you're getting into. Noone will tell you that this field is easy, it's difficult and trying at times, but it can be very much worth it, if you have a passion for it. Being affraid to get your hands too dirty will not leave you with much satisfaction in your career.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions. I enjoy sharing my experience with people just starting in the field.
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Answer 2

in this screwed up world evrybody has to watch out!

Answer 3

become a missionary to Africa.