Psychologist Career Information

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Psychology is a specialized field of study that deals with human thought, behavior and emotion. Only a person who is fully trained under this discipline can be called a psychologist. He or she has a wide range of options from which they can choose from when deciding upon a specific field of specialization. The most preferred field of specializations are counseling, clinical and school psychology, although there are some that venture into Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Social/Personality Psychology, among others. Another well preferred field of specialization is industrial organizational psychology. A person who works in this particular field of psychology employs basic and advanced psychological principles that are related to workplace problems.

Psychologist Career Information

When choosing the best school that offers psychology courses, one should focus his or her attention on the quality of the school’s curriculum as well as the extensiveness of the coursework being offered for undergraduate studies on psychology. In order for a student to become a top psychologist, he or she must obtain a solid background on various aspects and related subjects. These subjects include chemistry, biology, physics, and other specialized subjects that focus on laboratory courses and research. There are some colleges and universities that offer general science related to psychology, but this is not often the most practical option since psychology is an entity of its own and it is a specialized practice that combines all the general sciences into one.

Although psychology is a combination of technology and basic science, it is still important for students to evaluate the coursework offered by the university or college institutions. The more comprehensive the curriculum, the more focus the school brings in developing the scientific ability of their psychology graduates. This means that aside from general science, the school must also have an extensive curriculum that includes other science related subjects such as behavioral science, genetics, organic chemistry, and other non-science subjects like statistics, and other subjects greatly associated to psychology. This only shows that the school is keen on providing quality education that will help bring out the best from each of their students.

Becoming a Psychologist: Career Information You Need to Know

A lot of psychologists often choose to work in schools or other health care settings including, but not limited to clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and mental health facilities. Others worked in colleges and universities. A number of psychologists are self-employed and decide to focus on private practice.

In 2010, an estimated 174,000 positions were held by psychologists. About 154,000 of these positions are centered on counseling, clinical and school psychology. Around 2,000 psychologists are pursuing a career in industrial organizational psychology while about 18,000 are working in other field of specializations.

Becoming a psychologist means undergoing extensive training and skill development that will serve as a stepping stone with the help of extensive preparation and instructional teaching in the use of the most up to date technology used in evaluating the human mind and behavior. This is why most universities and colleges provide sophisticated laboratory equipment in order to train firsthand and develop the skills of prospective psychology graduate students, in order to prepare them when their skills are needed in an evaluation.