About
The psychology major at Saint Michael’s will expose you to psychology in its many forms, from neuroscience, to cognitive, to clinical. As a result, you will find yourself studying a diverse array of subjects like addiction, hunger and eating, media’s effect on children, or psychology and the law. Our students are frequently out in the field working in alternative school classrooms, mental health agencies, and crisis centers, or back in campus labs researching issues such as the effects of stress on health, or of video-game playing on thinking skills.
Psychology is concerned with the scientific discovery of principles underlying human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The major at St. Mike’s emphasizes a thorough development of psychology’s critical and analytical tools so that you will become adept at formulating meaningful questions about behavior and at devising valid strategies for answering those questions.
Faculty
Psychology
Ari Kirshenbaum
Professor of Psychology, Krikstone Laboratory for the Behavioral Sciences
Read more
In-Depth
Majoring in psychology will introduce you to a wide variety of specialty areas within the field. Our faculty includes experts on sports psychology, developmental psychology, substance dependence, psychotherapy, and virtual reality. By the time you reach your junior and senior year, you’ll have opportunities to apply what you’ve learned to internships and to research projects. Our Practicum program offers a two-semester internship experience that combines classroom work with in-depth service work at a local community agency.
Special Opportunities
Participate in the Psychology Club
Our Psychology Club provides all students with opportunities to learn more about psychology. The club sponsors educational workshops which cover a wide variety of topics ranging from “what do school counselors do and how do you become one?” to “NGI – not guilty by reason of insanity – who determines this?” The student-run club raises money to support causes in areas such as autism research.
Become Inducted as a Member of Psi Chi
Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology, has a chapter at Saint Michael’s. To be eligible for Psi Chi consideration, students need senior or rising senior status, at least 20 credits in psychology including PS 101 and
PS 213*, a 3.6 GPA overall, and a 3.7 GPA in psychology.
*Students who have taken MA 120 or MA 140 instead of PS 213 will also be considered eligible, so long as they have taken a total of 20 or more credits in psychology.
Careers
After graduation, our majors go on to careers like:
- Psychologist
- School Psychologist
- College Counselor
- Health Psychologist
- Behavioral Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Applied Behavior Analyst
- Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
- Speech and Language Pathologist
- Clinical Social Worker
- Living Skills Specialist
- Police Officer
- Addictions Counselor
- Youth Worker
Our psychology program builds a foundation of useful knowledge and thinking skills that will prepare you to pursue a wide variety of positions, such as case managers, crisis counselors, research assistants, probation officers, resource counselors, and many more.
Our major also prepares you to enter diverse psychology graduate programs that train individuals for careers from licensed psychologists to university researchers. Many of our graduates enter into various psychology fields including:
- clinical
- cognitive or experimental
- counseling
- developmental
- educational or school
- industrial or organizational
- physiological
- social
- health
- behavioral neuroscience
Go for a Master’s in Clinical Psychology
In addition to the undergraduate psychology program, Saint Michael’s offers a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Opportunities are available for advanced undergraduate students to take courses in the graduate program and to earn credits toward their graduate studies.
Internships
Practice through Practicum
Our Practicum program is a unique internship opportunity spanning the fall and spring semesters. Practicum combines classroom work with 8-10 hours of work a week at a local community agency. The two-semester commitment affords the agencies the ability to give students greater client responsibility and a more in-depth service experience. Some of the sites our students intern at include:
- Rockpoint (an alternative high school)
- Day One (an outpatient alcohol/drug treatment program)
- The Howard Center (Comprehensive Care Program)
- Winooski School District (High School)
- Woodside (a juvenile correctional institution)
- Vermont Department of Children and Families
- Outright Vermont (support services for LGBTQA youth)
- Women Helping Battered Women
Research
Conduct Research
Research experiences are available in a variety of forms and settings. Opportunities are available to work with faculty on projects in areas such as pro-social/helping behavior, marriage and relationships, cognitive illusions and biases, behavioral neuroscience, health, psychology of religion, impulsivity, geographic navigation, and cross-cultural studies. Grant-funded research opportunities are available to our students during the academic year or over the summer.
Work in Multiple Lab Facilities
We have three different laboratories:
- Observational Lab
- Animal Lab
- Psychophysiology/Virtual Reality Lab
Present Your Research
Many of our students are invited to national academic and professional conferences to present their work. Psychology majors have recently made presentations at the American Psychological Association’s national meeting, regional meetings of the Eastern Psychological Association and the New England Psychological Association, and to scientists at NASA facilities..
For one recent project, two students and a faculty member used virtual reality simulations to examine how people learn and remember new places. Their work was published in the prestigious journal Computers in Human Behavior. Another project analyzed how stress may affect the immune response in occasional cigarette smokers.
In-Depth
Majoring in psychology will introduce you to a wide variety of specialty areas within the field. Our faculty includes experts on sports psychology, developmental psychology, substance dependence, psychotherapy, and virtual reality. By the time you reach your junior and senior year, you’ll have opportunities to apply what you’ve learned to internships and to research projects. Our Practicum program offers a two-semester internship experience that combines classroom work with in-depth service work at a local community agency.
Special Opportunities
Participate in the Psychology Club
Our Psychology Club provides all students with opportunities to learn more about psychology. The club sponsors educational workshops which cover a wide variety of topics ranging from “what do school counselors do and how do you become one?” to “NGI – not guilty by reason of insanity – who determines this?” The student-run club raises money to support causes in areas such as autism research.
Become Inducted as a Member of Psi Chi
Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology, has a chapter at Saint Michael’s. To be eligible for Psi Chi consideration, students need senior or rising senior status, at least 20 credits in psychology including PS 101 and
PS 213*, a 3.6 GPA overall, and a 3.7 GPA in psychology.
*Students who have taken MA 120 or MA 140 instead of PS 213 will also be considered eligible, so long as they have taken a total of 20 or more credits in psychology.
Careers
After graduation, our majors go on to careers like:
- Psychologist
- School Psychologist
- College Counselor
- Health Psychologist
- Behavioral Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Applied Behavior Analyst
- Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
- Speech and Language Pathologist
- Clinical Social Worker
- Living Skills Specialist
- Police Officer
- Addictions Counselor
- Youth Worker
Our psychology program builds a foundation of useful knowledge and thinking skills that will prepare you to pursue a wide variety of positions, such as case managers, crisis counselors, research assistants, probation officers, resource counselors, and many more.
Our major also prepares you to enter diverse psychology graduate programs that train individuals for careers from licensed psychologists to university researchers. Many of our graduates enter into various psychology fields including:
- clinical
- cognitive or experimental
- counseling
- developmental
- educational or school
- industrial or organizational
- physiological
- social
- health
- behavioral neuroscience
Go for a Master’s in Clinical Psychology
In addition to the undergraduate psychology program, Saint Michael’s offers a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Opportunities are available for advanced undergraduate students to take courses in the graduate program and to earn credits toward their graduate studies.
Internships
Practice through Practicum
Our Practicum program is a unique internship opportunity spanning the fall and spring semesters. Practicum combines classroom work with 8-10 hours of work a week at a local community agency. The two-semester commitment affords the agencies the ability to give students greater client responsibility and a more in-depth service experience. Some of the sites our students intern at include:
- Rockpoint (an alternative high school)
- Day One (an outpatient alcohol/drug treatment program)
- The Howard Center (Comprehensive Care Program)
- Winooski School District (High School)
- Woodside (a juvenile correctional institution)
- Vermont Department of Children and Families
- Outright Vermont (support services for LGBTQA youth)
- Women Helping Battered Women
Research
Conduct Research
Research experiences are available in a variety of forms and settings. Opportunities are available to work with faculty on projects in areas such as pro-social/helping behavior, marriage and relationships, cognitive illusions and biases, behavioral neuroscience, health, psychology of religion, impulsivity, geographic navigation, and cross-cultural studies. Grant-funded research opportunities are available to our students during the academic year or over the summer.
Work in Multiple Lab Facilities
We have three different laboratories:
- Observational Lab
- Animal Lab
- Psychophysiology/Virtual Reality Lab
Present Your Research
Many of our students are invited to national academic and professional conferences to present their work. Psychology majors have recently made presentations at the American Psychological Association’s national meeting, regional meetings of the Eastern Psychological Association and the New England Psychological Association, and to scientists at NASA facilities..
For one recent project, two students and a faculty member used virtual reality simulations to examine how people learn and remember new places. Their work was published in the prestigious journal Computers in Human Behavior. Another project analyzed how stress may affect the immune response in occasional cigarette smokers.
