An Overview of Careers in Psychology

If you’re a person who likes to conduct research, promote health, educate, or provide social services, a career in psychology might be a perfect fit for you. It offers a wide range of opportunities in research, clinical psychology, quantitative analysis, forensics and more.

The added bonus in studying to become a psychologist is that it prepares you for both employment and for life as you apply psychological principles in all areas of life.

The widest range of opportunities go to those with Doctorate degrees, but the other degrees have opportunities in the public, private sector, and in health care.

Psychologists are scientists and innovators drawing from a large body of research and applying it to their specific field(s) of interest or employment. They follow scientific methods and employ careful analysis and observation in their work. They adapt to changing requirements and are creative in application of knowledge and research.

What is available to Doctorate degreed psychologists?

Clinical and counseling psychologists: the two largest and most popular careers. Both are involved with causes, preventions, diagnosis and treatment. Clinical psychologists typically treat the more severe psychological problems like schizophrenia. Counseling psychologists deal with the day-to-day type of problems like careers, family and academic problems.

Clinical psychologists frequently work in teamwork with psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are becoming increasing more medication managers than psychotherapists.

Cognitive and perceptual psychologists: human thinking, memory and perception. They’re concerned with how people think and learn.

Developmental psychologists: psychological development of humans from infancy to elderly.

Educational psychologists: They study effective teaching and learning with regard to motivation and effort; also the effects of ethnicity and culture.

Experimental psychologists: they study psychological phenomena that can include cognitive processes, learning/conditioning and cross species comparison.

Forensic psychologists: expert witnesses in legal matters, helping to decide custody issues and other issues.

In addition here are more choices:

Evolutionary psychologists, engineering psychologists, health psychologists, neuropsychologists, industrial/organizational psychologists, quantitative and measurement psychologists, rehabilitation psychologists, social psychologists, and sports psychologists.

The different and varied fields meet almost every interest. Research is inherent in of all these different areas.

The outlook for psychologists, over the next decade is very good, with the best selections, greatest range and higher pay going to those with doctorate degrees. Other degrees, still have many choices in research writing, human resource and health care.

Health care is expected to have the most explosive growth. Those numbers makes sense since millions of baby boomers are retiring soon and will continue for the two decades.

http://apa.org