What are my Career Options with a Degree in Psychology?
Feb 1, 2015 | 9:00 am
There are tons of career choices for people who decide to take up a course in psychology for a Doctorate, Master’s or Bachelor’s degree. For instance, today’s psychologists can become social psychologists when they specialize in social development psychology. Others can choose to become educational psychologists – these specialists help people in learning. Also, there are industrial psychologists – this is a psychology career that enables the participant to promote balance and harmony in the workplace.
Have you heard about research psychologists? These are psychology degree holders who specialize in researching different areas of psychology. And, you can choose to specialize in developmental psychology, which will enable you to take up a career that promotes physical and metal developmental stages.
Here are some of the top career options with a degree in psychology:
Counselor or Therapist
Becoming a counselor or therapist is one of the popular career options with a degree in psychology. This career enables practitioners to help individuals cope with their problems and challenges as they work with them. A typical example is a licensed marriage or family therapist who works with families or couples, to help them deal with issues such as poor communication, emotional stress and similar family-related issues. These psychologists usually adopt group sessions or one-on-one strategy in handling marriage or family related issues.
Clinical Psychologist
Most times, people tend to confuse a clinical psychology with a psychiatrist. A psychologist who specializes in clinical psychology usually works with patients for the purpose of assessing and treating their behavioral, mental, or emotional disorders. But, clinical psychologists do not prescribe medicine like the psychiatrists. A clinical psychologist is concerned with specific problems in order come up with specific solution. A typical example is when a clinical psychologist works with young people going through their puberty stage. Clinical psychologists can also work with a general physician.
Developmental Psychologist
A psychologist who specializes on developmental psychology can work in other direct application and research centers since the individual studied human development from birth to life. A typical example of a developmental psychologist’s task could be to embark on a research about the effects of video games and television on the development of an adolescent.
Forensic Psychologist
If you choose to pursue a career in forensic psychology, you will be involved in providing psychological expertise and insight on legal issues. Usually, forensic psychologists hold degrees in both psychology and law. Experts in forensic psychology can assist in interpreting competence to stand jury and trial behavior.
Educational Psychology
The work of educational psychologists is to study and develop effective learning and teaching methods/materials. These experts may study aspects such as small classrooms vs. large classrooms, and may focus on areas as motivation of students, including the effects of socio-economic background on a student’s performance.
Organizational/Industrial Psychologists
If you build a career in organizational or corporate psychology, you will be helping a corporate entity boost employee satisfaction and productivity, and at the same time help enhance the quality of the workplace environment. Usually, an organizational or industrial psychologist will work in human resource departments of a corporate entity.
There are tons of other career options with a degree in psychology.