Popular Specialty Areas in a Psychology Degree
A Closer Look at Popular Areas of Work in the Psychology Field:
Clinical Counseling: This specialty focuses on treating the seriously mentally ill, with such cases as schizophrenia, severe bi-polar, and phobias. Clinical counselors often work in general or mental hospitals, and the treatment they offer may include dealing with emergency situations.
School Counseling: School counselors work with students at elementary through collegiate levels, dealing with academic and non-academic issues. They counsel students with regard to academic performance and education pursuits, personal issues concerning their lives at home, abusive situations, addictions, disorders, and dealing with stress. School counselors can be intermediaries between students and parents, or between students and school officials.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology: This area of psychology involves the study and scientific evaluation of the workplace, including but not limited to applying psychology to management, coaching, assessments, interviewing and hiring, training, developing a successful business, and promoting healthy employee lifestyles. Psychologists in this field use their psychology background to teach others how to implement successful analytical skills when working with, leading, and employing other people. This field allows psychologists to work with many different people and contexts.
Developmental Psychology: This area of psychology focuses on issues regarding development through the full human lifespan. This can range from the diagnosis of disorders in children, such as ADHD and autism, to aging and age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's. It incorporates all the experiences related to social and cognitive development over time.
Research: Psychology is a field in which expanding knowledge and developing new applications is of the utmost importance. Because of this, the research needed to move the field forward is highly valued and promoted. Research in psychology can include studies such as:
- Specific mental illnesses and possible treatments
- How the different functions of the brain work (e.g. emotions, memories, linguistics, motivation)
- The application of theories to understand maladaptive functioning and to relieve suffering
- Social psychological issues, such as studying the thoughts, feelings, and actions of people as they relate to other social groups
- Promoting healthy solutions to such hard-to-socialize behaviors as anger, aggression, and sexual misperceptions.
There is also lot of research done within the field of statistics, focusing on the development and implementation of study tools with which to study human behavior. Statistics can include such areas as:
- Computer programming
- Data analysis over time
- Experimental design and methods
- Cumulative reviews
- Genetics research
In some cases, researchers can combine statistical research with another field, studying developments within the information itself as well as the practice of the information being gathered. Researchers also have the opportunity to write grant proposals for new research in psychology, gaining funds to further develop understanding within the field.
Forensic Psychology: This is where psychology and the law intertwine: forensic psychology is the application of the science of psychology to questions and issues of the law and the legal system. A forensic psychologist combines a knowledge of psychology with a knowledge of legal processes, serving as an authority, consultant, and/or witness in trials involving domestic violence, child custody, drug dependence, sexual disorders, or civil commitment. Work in this field can also include consulting regarding the creation of public policy, training of law enforcement personnel, and development of correctional systems.
Article Resources:
The American Psychological Association
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
The American Board of Forensic Psychology
The American Psychology-Law Society
New York University Psychology Department