is there any way that I can major in family law and minor in forensic psychology?


family law
Guy Lover asked:


I always have wanted to become a psychologist and a lawyer I’m now sixteen about to turn 17 next month and currently a junior in high school now its time to really make a chose on what I really wanna do I want to be a family lawyer and a forensic psychologist but is it possible for me to do both or do I have to choose one?

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3 Responses to “is there any way that I can major in family law and minor in forensic psychology?”

  1. MomSezNo Says:
    December 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    To become a lawyer, you will need to attend three years of law school after you receive your Bachelor’s degree. To become a psychologist, you will need to earn a Ph.D., which will take four or more years after your Bachelor’s. MomSezNo

  2. eri Says:
    December 10th, 2009 at 5:52 am

    No, neither of those are majors. To become a lawyer and study law, you need to first get a 4-year college degree and then apply to law school. To become a forensic psychologist, you’ll need at least a masters degree in psychology and often a PhD. That alone is 6-12 years of college; becoming a lawyer is 7 years of college. eri

  3. ownpool Says:
    December 13th, 2009 at 12:52 am

    You could do both, but it would be very time-consuming. The easiest way to do it would be to major in psychology in undergraduate school and then go on and earn a Ph.D. in the subject. This would take about nine years after high school. Then you could practice psychology while you go to law school at night, which would take four years. If you want to be certified as a family law specialist in the state for which I know the requirements, that would take over five more years.

    Now we get to the problem. If you tried to practice both professions at once, you would find it difficult to be respected in either. Many lawyers and psychologists would consider it to be a conflict of interest having to do with split loyalty between the professions for a person to try to do both. You could, however, practice one profession for a number of years and then stop practicing that profession and switch to the other profession.

    It would be difficult to build a practice in forensic psychology in any event. Most people who practice forensic psychology spend most of their practice doing general psychology and practice forensic psychology less than a quarter of the time.

    The few people who do forensic psychology full-time often return to part-time work in it after a few years as they do not find the stress and often routine nature of the work to be as interesting or as well-paying as general psychology.

    You asked a very interesting question, ownpool

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