What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. The Bellarmine Psychology program offers three tracks: the general Psychology major, the Clinical and Counseling concentration, and the Human Resources concentration.
The general Psychology major is designed for students considering graduate school and professional work in the field. The Clinical and Counseling concentration is designed for students considering graduate school and work in the helping professions and is more training oriented. The Human Resources concentration is designed for students considering a career in organizational and business settings.
What makes Bellarmine’s approach to Psychology stand out?
Because of Bellarmine’s small class sizes, faculty are able to work closely with each student to help them develop their individual interests and progress toward career goals. Students also enjoy opportunities to conduct research alongside faculty and travel to regional conferences.
Bellarmine also offers a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology. This program prepares students to work in fields seeing substantial career growth, including integrative health care and sport and performance psychology. Students completing this program will be well-prepared to begin practicing or continue their training in a doctoral program.
The Student Perspective
Edwin White is a senior majoring in Psychology. He is planning to pursue a career in human resources, is a student-athlete on Bellarmine’s wrestling team, and is the current vice president of the HR Club.
Here’s what White had to say about his experience in Bellarmine’s Psychology program:
Q: What about Bellarmine’s Psychology program has stood out to you?
EW: The professors. These professors in the Psych program, they're amazing. The support around [the program], I've never seen bigger support in the sense of people feeling engaged in something like that. With Dr. Keim’s help, I got an internship during the summer—it was an HR recruiting internship—and she helped me become the vice president of the HR Club as well. Your professors can be a mentor to you.
Q: How does that level of engagement with professors impact the classroom environment?
EW: With the classes, they're small and it helps that one-on-one engagement with the professor. Then also having the support in the classroom as well from your peers, because you know everybody, you’ve seen everybody's face in other classes, [which helps in] building relationships. It helps me, because then you can have group activities and especially study groups as well, and [you can] branch out to see different psychology ideas or majors that they have. It makes me want to branch out. Psychology is everywhere.
Q: You mentioned the HR Club. Can you explain what goes on in that club?
EW: The HR Club is a club any student can join. It’s basically a club where you can help with resumes, interviewing, and recruiting. It’s all about getting a better understanding of how HR contributes to a company's life and how you can actually change the company’s environment.
Q: So, are you helping current students with their resumes for job applications?
EW: Yes. [For example], one of my residents—I'm an RA—he came up to me and wanted me to help him with his resume, and I showed him the basics of what hiring managers are looking for in a resume.
Q: What’s it like being a student-athlete?
EW: It's fun. It actually pushes you, I think, to become a better student overall because you want to do something that you love, and if you want to do something that you love, you're going to do everything in your power to make sure you have the best grades or you're going out and engaging with others so you can contribute to your team.
Q: When it comes to balancing your athletics and academics, do you find that to be easier because of the support systems you’ve found?
EW: Yeah, I think it is a little easier. With wrestling, we have study groups. Especially with first-year students, they'll have to be at the library at certain hours just working on homework. Our coach also encourages us to sit in the front of the class. It actually, I think, helps us a lot.
Q: How was your internship experience?
EW: It was an HR recruiting internship at Surge Staffing. What I did was I actually interviewed people and phone-screened them. It just made me realize how different companies work and [think about] if this is something that I want to do or how I can make a difference in people's lives.
Q: What would you say to a prospective student interested in studying Psychology?
EW: I’d say Bellarmine is great because of the academic program that it has and especially the support system that it has where you can engage with anybody on campus. Everywhere you go [in the world] there's going to be psychology: clinical, counseling, HR, industrial-organizational. Psychology is in every company, every business, every school there is. So, psychology’s everywhere and I think [prospective students] should do it.
The Faculty Perspective
Dr. Courtney Keim is an associate professor of Psychology with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Memphis. Her research focuses on organizational wellness and psychologically healthy workplaces. Dr. Keim is president of the Kentucky Psychological Foundation and has consulted with and presented to many organizations, including departments within Louisville Metro Government, Norton Behavioral Medicine, the U.S. Navy, and the Kentucky Nonprofit Network.
Keim says Bellarmine’s liberal arts education is the perfect complement to the study of Psychology because it gives students an interdisciplinary viewpoint and the critical thinking skills needed for the application of psychology to the human condition.
“Not only do students have the opportunity to take classes that span the broad field of psychology, but they also have space in their schedules to add other majors or minors that specialize their degree to their unique career path."
Keim says another strength of the program is Bellarmine’s small class sizes and the faculty’s wide breadth of knowledge. This combination enables professors to give their students more personal instruction and gives students opportunities for collaboration with professors outside of the classroom.
“The Psychology faculty really get to know our students and assist them in their individual career journeys,” Keim said. “Our faculty represent many areas in Psychology, so students are able to take a variety of courses from full-time experts in their areas. Outside of the classroom, our faculty conduct research with students, take students to regional conferences, and advise student organizations, such as the Psychology Club and the Human Resources Club.”
Keim says the Bellarmine Psychology program helps students develop the critical thinking skills, data analysis skills, and teamwork and leadership skills that employers desire. The program also employs individualized advising, intentional coursework, research requirements, and extracurricular activities designed to prepare students for advanced education in graduate school, law school, and medical school.
If this sounds like the type of program you’re interested in, Keim encourages students who are curious about Bellarmine to get in touch.
“Come and visit us! We love to have prospective students visit our classes, meet with us in our offices, or chat online to answer your questions.”
Visit the Psychology program page for more information including program highlights, career opportunities, and contact information if you’d like to get in touch with the department.