Should I Consider Becoming a Child Psychologist?

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When deciding on a career path, it is important to understand what is involved in the studies and duties and when dealing with people, you will need to be able to communicate effectively. Some people will find that they like a certain age group such as the elderly or the precious young generation of the world. We have all heard that the young are our future leaders, which makes it important to ensure they are healthy not only physically, but also mentally. The field of child psychology studies the development of children and will also follow some of them from the infant period throughout their lifespan.

Education for Careers in Child Psychology

According to the Department of Labor, the projected median salary is around $70,000 and is expected to have an overall job growth of 12% until the year of 2022.

Although there are many opportunities at the master’s degree level, there are far more opportunities at the doctoral level. It is also required that once the degree has been obtained, a two year internship will have to be completed. Once the degree and internship has been completed, you have to pass a state and national examination in order to become licensed to practice in the state in which you plan to practice.

There are different types of child psychology that you can get into and even can decide to specialize with a certain age group such as adolescents.

There are clinical settings that you can work at, but also inside hospitals, childcare, education systems, developmentally disabled, and in facilities with gifted learners. There can be obstacles that our young people deal with on a daily basis that might range from genetics to cultural, social development, cognitive, personality issues and even eating disorders. There may be many different reasons that a child might need the help of a psychologist that will require deep understanding and a truly wide level of study in order to help each client. You can choose to work with the government in child custody issues and might even work by appearing in court while dealing with the issues of wellbeing for a child.

Careers in Child Psychology

The key when working with people of any age is to remember that everyone is different and everything affects them differently. Everyone perceives things differently, making impeccable communication critical to being able to help people. Younger people, such as infants, are not able to tell people what is wrong with them nor can they communicate issues that they might be having. The ability to pick up on actions, sounds, emotions and gathering information from the family and gathering history can help that child with issues that they may be experiencing.

You will learn research and development while in college as well as life experiences.