The field of psychology is a broad one offering a number of potential psychology jobs to those who are qualified and interested. People can earn up to a doctorate in psychology and many jobs might require this level of expertise. More often people with bachelor’s degrees end up with assistantship jobs. Depending on location and local requirements, people with master’s level work could assume a variety of roles.
When many people think of psychology, thoughts automatically turn to those psychologists who practice diagnosis and therapy for those who have difficult issues to face in life or who are mentally ill. Clinical psychologists may work in private settings maintaining a clientele, or some of these doctors work directly in places where mental health care is needed greatly such as mental hospitals or a variety of other treatment facilities. In private settings, clinical psychologists could also be counseling psychologists, offering therapy and problem resolution help to anyone interested.
Occasionally clinical psychologists specialize in treating certain types of patients. There are child and adolescent psychologist jobs available in many places. Though “child” or “adolescent” psychology aren’t protected terms in most locales, it’s usually assumed that people who claim this expertise have spent a good deal of their graduate work focusing on the particular needs of children and teens in the psychological setting.
Other psychology jobs that focus on this group include school psychology careers. Here, the psychologist works with individual students that have been identified as high risk in some areas. He or she might do educational testing on the student, make diagnosis of suspected learning disabilities, work with school and parents to set up strong learning plans for a child, and possibly provide individual counseling to one or more students.
A few psychology jobs may focus more on group interaction instead of work with individual patients. For instance, social psychologists could work in research or other settings determining what effects society has on whole group behavior. Some social psychologists advise in business and industry on creating better organizations, and may be also called organizational psychologists. Others might advise a variety of agencies on how to help people successfully accomplish something at the societal level. In addition to working in advising capacities, these psychologists could write books, craft social policy, or perform some research.
Jobs that principally involve research are often called research or experimental psychology jobs. There could be many different types of research done, and this might take place in private or scholastic environments. Some researchers are also principally teachers at the college level, though there are some who teach and aren’t that involved in research activities.
With the popularity of many crime scene shows, great interest has developed in forensic psychology jobs. Some people in these fields possess doctorates in psychology and law degrees, and they may use their knowledge to make recommendations regarding people or actions within the justice system. For instance, a forensic psychologist might conduct mental health interviews to determine fitness to stand trial for someone accused of a crime or give advice on the decision to charge someone as an adult or child.
Additional psychology jobs are many in number. Health psychologists can advise medical professionals on best ways to gain health compliance from patients, neuropsychologists are skilled at diagnosing conditions created by brain injury and may work with adults and children, and sports psychologists may assist individual athletes or full teams with more in-depth coaching that can overcome problems with performance that originate psychologically. Some of these professionals instead address psychological problems arising from disabilities with the body. This field is called rehabilitation psychology and is the career choice of many.
