Psychology is a profession that arouses a lot of interest today, and although many students when they decide to pursue a degree in psychology think that practically all options for being a psychologist involve being a clinical psychologist, the reality is very different. Psychology is a profession with many areas of application
In this article we review the 12 most common professional opportunities that can serve as a guide to focus your professional future.
And the mind is everything for people. This makes psychology fit within many disciplines. For example, education, sports or organizations.
But, What options does psychology have? What professional work can psychologists perform? Below you can find a list of 12 career opportunities in psychology.
1. Organizational psychologist
Organizational psychology is a field of application of psychology in which many recent graduates find work, because there is a great demand for psychologists specialized in this field. Generally, people associates the work of organizational psychologist with that of the Human Resources professional something that is not exactly like that.
The Human Resources department is one of the options to dedicate yourself to organizational psychology, but there are others. For example, you can work in the marketing department or in market research, discovering ways to better access the type of clients and consumers that the organization wants to contact.
It must also be clear that The Human Resources professional profile is varied Psychologists usually fit into areas of this department such as personnel selection, training and even, in some cases, occupational risk prevention on issues such as occupational health.
However, a human resources professional may also be involved in personnel administration (for example, maintaining payroll), employment law, or compensation and benefit work, tasks that They are not exactly the domain of a psychologist
It is important that you know this difference to be able to direct your resume in one direction or another. In our article “The 10 best Master’s Degrees in Organizational and Human Resources Psychology” you can find all the information you need to specialize in this field.
In the educational field, the figure of the psychologist also fits perfectly And, since practically its beginnings, psychology has been interested in how people learn or how we develop.
Behavioral science contributes a lot of knowledge and many tools to education, for example, regarding how we can perform better or how we can counteract the learning difficulties that some students present.
3. Social and community psychologist
The social psychology professional investigates and intervenes in the collective dimension, the group and the relationships between people in a context. In reality, the social psychologist can perform multiple functions and can work in other fields such as organizational or sports.
Now, this type of psychologist is also an expert in some areas of action such as community intervention, gender violence, youth (sexual orientation, drug problems, etc.) or family and minors, among others. In addition, they can work as researchers or teachers.
4. Clinical psychologist and health psychology
Clinical and health psychology is very popular and, generally, most people associate the figure of the psychologist with this role. However, clinical psychology and health psychology are not the same.
While Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental problems (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoid disorder, etc.), The health psychologist deals with the cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects associated with health and physical illnesses For example, improving the quality of life of a cancer patient.
5. Sexologist
The sexologist is a psychology professional specialized in sexology, which is why it has acquired skills and tools to improve the quality of people’s emotional-sexual lives. Sexual problems are not treated as purely physiological phenomena, but their cognitive and emotional aspects are also taken into account to achieve a more complete vision of what should be treated through intervention.
These professionals deal with topics such as erectile dysfunction, sexual education for people or restoring sexual life after an illness, or offer advice to improve the intimate life of couples.
6. Psychotherapist
Psychotherapy is a space for reflection with a psychologist in which the patient faces the problems that plague their life. In other words, the latter goes to the therapist to reflect together and find out what is happening in relation to certain non-clinical problems
The psychotherapist uses a set of knowledge, techniques and methods to help the patient discover himself and begin a process of cognitive restructuring and habits to improve his quality of life and his interpersonal relationships.
Unlike the clinical psychologist, who can work, for example, with schizophrenic patients, psychotherapists treat more emotional problems, day-to-day difficulties or family or relationship problems.
7. Coach
Coaching is a very popular discipline in recent decades, which usually addresses more superficial problems than those typically treated by a psychotherapist
Generally, the coach’s work is focused on improving people’s quality of life through self-discovery, planning realistic goals, correct communication and Confrontation with limiting beliefs In this way, people can maximize their potential not only in their daily lives, but in different fields such as work, education or sports.
However, it must be clear that although all psychologists have the training of a coach, not all coaches have the training of a psychologist nor, in fact, do they have to be psychologists.
8. Sports psychologist
The profession of sports psychologist also is booming in recent decades since athletes, coaches and managers of sports teams have realized that in this sector the psychological variables are just as important as the physical, technical or tactical aspects.
Sports psychologists work mainly on variables such as motivation, emotional management, stress, self-confidence, attention or activation level.
9. Forensic psychologist
A forensic psychologist collects, analyzes and presents psychological tests that will be taken into account in judicial proceedings Therefore, in addition to having skills as a psychologist, he also masters concepts, norms and dynamics of the legal system in which he finds himself.
The forensic psychologist evaluates, for example, the psychological state of an accused to determine if his criminal act is the result of psychopathology; or performs a psychological evaluation of one of the parents of a minor to determine if he or she is suitable to have custody of the child. Unlike other professional opportunities, in this area the interests and intentions of the person being evaluated are not the most important thing to take into account.
Neuropsychology is a specialization that lies between neurology and psychology, so it deals with the study of mental processes and the functioning of the brain when there is any alteration in this
It could be said that it is useful, for example, to know the extent and treatment of brain injuries, malformations, dysfunctions and diseases that affect the functioning of the nervous system.
These psychologists perform their role in academic, clinical and research environments, and are present in neuropsychological rehabilitation programs. Furthermore, they can apply psychotherapeutic techniques and rehabilitation procedures so that the patient recovers a normal level of functioning after illness or injury or, in some situations, so that he or she enjoys a correct quality of life.
11. Researcher
Psychologists can also dedicate themselves to the field of research in different fields related to psychology whether clinical psychology, social psychology or sports psychology.
One of the advantages of this professional field is the incredible variety of topics that can be addressed through research in Psychology: personal relationships, cognitive biases, decision making, differences in the personality and intelligence of individuals, effects of educational methods. .. and the list goes on and on, since everything related to human behavior and mental processes is practically endless.
In addition, there are different research methods depending on each person’s preferred approaches and topics. For example, there is the qualitative approach, heavily based on interviews and on-site observations, and the quantitative approach, which begins with the conversion of observed behavior into numbers and categories defined from the beginning. Beyond this classification of types of research in Psychology there are other differentiation criteria, such as experimental research and research based on correlations of data.
Related article: “The 5 most common study methods in Psychology”
12. Teacher
Psychologists too They can work as teachers in various contexts Some may opt for university training and others, however, may take training in coaching, mindfulness or stress management courses.
