Psychology is a science that can be considered new and, therefore, the areas of specialization of the psychologist are unknown to many people, even when it comes to psychology students.
When someone tells us that they are studying psychology, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of the clinical psychologist doing psychotherapy sessions, however, this is just one of the many areas of expertise.
- The psychology course has a general education; it works on general content on almost all professional areas of a psychologist.
- But does not deepen the contents and skills necessary for professional practice.
For all these reasons, we have prepared this article so that you have a clear idea of the main areas of specialization of the psychologist, if you intend to study psychology, study already or feel lost because you have few degrees, this article is for you.
First of all, it is important to note that psychology is a very complete career, in which anatomy and statistics are studied, for example, most hours of training are devoted to behavioral biology, neuroscience, physiological systems, endocrine systems, development, anatomy, etc. Etc.
So, before thinking about the psychologist’s career prospects, you should evaluate the fact that this is a career with high medical-biological content. The first years of training will provide an important knowledge base on the healthy functioning of the human body, and then help understand how the same organism works in cases of psychopathology. As far as psychopathology is concerned, it should be noted that the training is oriented to 99. 9% cognitive behavioral.
Why is it important to keep all this in mind? As a result of this type of general and scientific training, the psychologist has many areas of specialization even in medical-pharmaceutical contexts, such as specializing in conducting clinical studies to test the effectiveness of new psychiatric drugs.
The training also allows him to practice as a psychologist in consultation, psychologist in human resources, education, social psychologist and teaching and research. We’ll look at each of these areas of expertise below.
The first area of expertise that comes to mind is the image of a psychologist and a sofa, right?However, this image is just a stereotype and much has changed in the field of psychology applied to psychological disorders and emotional problems. The reality is that clinical psychology and psychotherapy are one of the most common areas of expertise for psychologists; however, he is far from the only one.
When we talk about clinical psychology and psychotherapy, we are talking about the work of the psychologist in consultation, this is the area of specialization that (more or less) we all know and accept as a professional task or role of the psychologist.
One of the psychologist’s areas of expertise is working in companies and organizations. For this type of work it is also preferable to have a specialization (master or third cycle). After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology, you are trained to perform human resources tasks, such as participating in hiring new employees and managing labor disputes in a company.
If you like administrative tasks and the business environment, finding a psychology faculty that offers a course focused on job psychology and organization is the first step in eligible for a position, for example, as a recruiter.
In addition, in the last 10 years there has been a sharp increase in the demand for qualified professionals for the prevention of occupational risks, and this is also one of the areas of specialization of the psychologist.
“In the private sector, the reality is that the vast majority of psychologists are independent professionals who work simultaneously in multiple centers and combine clinical work with a different type of activity.
Psychology is responsible for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pathologies, learning difficulties or educational needs of students (individual and group). In addition, psychopedagogue is responsible for professional and professional guidance and advice.
To work as a psychopedagogue you must be qualified at the end of your psychology course, the best thing you can do on this path is to pursue a specialization in psychology of education and special needs.
There is also the role of the pedagogical advisor, who has become more relevant in recent years, a work developed by psychologists and psychopedagogues, who are the main responsible for informing the educational community about the special needs of students and preparing psycho-reports of pedagogy for each case, ensuring the continuity of education, trying to reduce school dropout and guiding students in the choice of career or profession.
The work of a psychologist at the community or social level has a number of functions that, although they vary depending on where he lives or works, agree that the objective of the social psychologist is to help people in special groups (mental health, abuse, risk of social exclusion, long-term unemployed) to find employment and have a job projection that gives them independence and autonomy.
Another area of action for the social psychologist is participation in the planning or implementation of community intervention programs, for example, we refer to social interventions that seek to generate a more supportive flow of social support, focus on promoting community movements or seek to promote attention. to the needs of each community.
For this type of work you are also graduated with a degree in psychology, although it is always better to have a postgraduate degree or a specialization.
Teaching and research, although less well known, are other areas of the psychologist’s specialization. It is about working out as a teacher and/or as a researcher. We get going and/or because these two functions usually go hand in hand, especially if you are considering working as a teacher at the academy.
One of the ways to work as a university professor is to get a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctorate. Doing a PhD involves conducting research, preparing and defending a doctoral thesis.
On the other hand, the psychologist can work as a research technician in many projects in different fields, some studies require special certifications (e. g. clinical trials), while others do not (psychological, social or epidemiological analysis). the name of the position is technical in research and can give you the opportunity to opt for greater geographic mobility, compared to other areas of expertise.
Finally, it is very important to point out that working as a psychologist in psychotherapy consultations implies being self-sufficient, which presents some points in favor and others against.
There is a great gap in the degree of psychology in the professional orientation of future psychologists and that is why the faculties of psychology organize annual courses of professional orientation for the beginning of professional activity. You will be able to take advantage of one of these sessions to discover possible areas of professional specialization in your place of residence.
In any case, considering a master’s degree or postgraduate degree in your field of interest will be an essential condition for your program to be competitive in a selection process.