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Career Description

This is an ideal career for analytical and logical thinkers. Psychologists study the human mind and human behaviour. The most popular area of specialization is clinical psychology, where you’re dealing with psychological problems and mental illness. You may work in schools, clinics, government agencies, or the corporate sector with about forty percent working in private practice.

Career Advice - Psychologist Career

To learn about behaviour, you conduct tests and laboratory experiments, record case histories, or take surveys. Using research, you develop and test theories to explain the reactions of people to their environment. You also use your knowledge to help emotionally or mentally disturbed people adjust to life. Some psychologists work with medical and surgical patients who must cope with illness and injury.

Other areas of specialization arecounselling psychology, school psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, sports psychology and experimental or research psychology. Academic teaching and research is a further career option

Sports psychology deserves special comment. Sporting talent is cheap and it’s everywhere. But mental strength and a positive attitude combined with the right motivation can produce a performance often beyond a person’s perceived capability level. With such large sums of prize money and product endorsements available, combined with the emphasis on winning at elite level and filtering down to emerging club level athletes, the demand for skilled sports psychologists has grown faster than the supply.

Personality that best fits this occupation

You needs to be caring and sympathetic and must be emotionally stable, intelligent, and able to communicate with a wide variety of people. Those involved in research must be suited for detailed work, with great attention to detail, analysing statistical data using dedicated computer software, and showing interpretative insights.

The best things about this career

Rewarding directly working with people and their problems and you often get an opportunity to see the results of your work. It’s a white collar profession, you deal with professionals and the work is dependable and plentiful. It is also such a diverse field your skill set is directly transferrable.

The worst things about this career

Managed care has made direct clinical work difficult to get enough volume to make a living. The hours are usually long, emotionally draining and it can also be a lonely profession. The results of your work are often never seen, a factor you just have to accept.