Types of Psychologists, Therapists and Counsellors

Psychologists, counselors, social workers, and psychiatrists all work to help people—what is the difference between these professions? Psychologist: An attending health professional attentive with the scientific inquiry of behavior and its associated mental development, along with memory, rational and irrational thought, intelligence, learning, personality, perceptions and emotions and their relationship to behavior. Psychologists work scientifically, to examine how people act and to consider what motivates them to react that way. To eventually be a psychologist significant to achieve a certificate/license by earning a master’s or doctorate degree. There is not only one precise classification of a psychologist, there are quite a few classifications, and for each one of the following subsections additional schooling is necessary:

Clinical Psychologist: is both a general practice and a health service provider specialty in professional psychology. Clinical Psychologists provide professional services for the diagnosis, assessment, evaluation, treatment and prevention of psychological, emotional, psychophysiological and behavioral disorders. To emerge as an accredited clinical psychologist it is necessary to obtain an undergraduate degree (4 – 5 years of college) and a doctorate degree in psychology (4 -7 years of college).

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Counselling psychologist: is the applied branch of psychology that facilitates lifelong personal and interpersonal functioning, focusing on emotional, social, vocational, educational, developmental issues and concerns related to health. Its central focus is on ordinary and normal developmental issues but also in dysfunctional and unusual problems related to the individual, the family, the group or the organizational human experience. Being a certified counselling psychologist you first have to acquire a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Next a master’s is needed to be achieved. Lastly it is required to seize a doctorate. As a whole it is 8-10 years of college.

Educational psychologist: is psychology that is concentrated upon individuals’ advancement, academy scholarship, instruction approach, leadership, and evaluation of aptitude and progress by standardized tests. (© 2014 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated). To eventually be an educational psychologist a bachelor’s degree, a master’s in educational psychology and a doctorate in educational psychology is needed.

Forensic psychologist: is the psychological evaluation of human beings who are involved, in any way, with the judicial organization (© 2014 American Psychological Association). It is a must to earn a degree in psychology. As stated above it’s a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. You have to train in forensic course and take the exams. It is also recommended that you have a minor in law. Many psychologist acquire a doctorate of the pair, law and psychology. As a result of this being a reasonably new field it is suggested that the forensic psychologist pursue their education throughout their careers.

Health psychologist: “help patients manage chronic disease and avoid preventable diseases” by “incorporating psychological theory and research to develop methods to assist patients in maintaining healthy lifestyles.” (Brandi-Ann Uyemura, 2011). A graduate, bachelors and doctorate in psychology are mandatory. A great number of states mandate those who want to clinically practice to complete one year of supervised internship.

Occupational psychologist: the study of human performance at work, as well as ergonomics, selection procedures, and the trappings of stress. You are mandated to require a master’s degree in psychology, a degree in business management, organizational psychology, mediation, and employment law. You must also have work experience. It is required to have 2 to 3 working internships. Then after all educational requirements a met you must take an oral state given by the state board. California is the only state that is no longer required to take the exam to become licensed.

Counselors: A qualified man or woman that consults people as their career. An associate’s degree in psychology will get you a counseling certificate. If you decide to specialize in like family, marriage, crisis or any specific counseling field you would have to obtain your masters or even your doctorate depending on what field you choose to go into. Social Workers: are qualified men or women that help others from very young to very old during hard times in their lives and keep them from harm. Each state has their own set of rules for becoming a social worker. I live in Texas so I selected to research that criteria. You are required to obtain a bachelor’s degree in social work. It has to be from a school that is CSWE- accredited social work program. When you are in your last semester you need to apply to the Texas Board to take the Association of Social Work Boards Licensing examination. It is also required to have a criminal history check. After graduation you are eligible to be licensed as a licensed Baccalaureate Social Worker. You may then obtain a job in your intended area of practice. You have to state your intended job description to the Texas Board. Then it is required to work under approved supervision until 3,000 hours of experience is accumulated. Depending on your intended field you may have to obtain a masters. After all education and hours are complete you then take a required examination, either the generalist examination or the clinical examination.

Psychiatrists: is a medical doctor that specializes in the treatment of mental disorders. First get a bachelor’s degree. You do not have to specifically major in psychology but whatever you choose to major in it is recommended that you take physics, chemistry, and biology. This is to get you ready for medical school admissions. It is recommended that you volunteer at one of your local health centers or hospitals to demonstrate a type of leadership skill while gaining experience working with patients. This helps with your application to medical school. You must complete a four year medical school. That is 2 years of class room and laboratory instruction and 2 years of supervised clinical experience. After medical school you must go through 4 years of residency. That is a post-doctoral training. The APA states that psychiatrist must be state licensed physicians. This is done by passing the Medical Licensing Examination. Each state has a set of procedures to go by. Psychiatrist should continue education during their careers in order to stay up to date with the industry trend and theories. Continuing Education is required for renewing Board Certification and may also be required to renew licensure.

Based on what I have learned in this study no I do not wish to go into any part of this field study. Though I respect it great, I do not wish to go that many years of schooling, I do not wish to be around that many people in the world. I have been around the psychology world most of my life. I have observed it, and I have experienced it. I’ve been to social workers, psychologist, counselors, I have taken my dad, my son, and now myself to a psychiatrist. I’m a good listener, I can be around people one on one. Even maybe four if I know the people. This would not be a good field for me to be in. I believe psychology could help me to be able to control my anxiety around people. I want to become an account and eventually own my own business. I want a successful business. With the help of my psychiatrist and therapy I know upon completion of this degree I will be able to obtain a job in my field of study. I will reach my goal of becoming a CPA and I will one day open an office of my very own.

My thoughts on the relative influence of “nature” and “nurture” is that it varies from person to person. You get traits passed down to you from your parents, grandparent, and past generation. Such as eye color, hair color, facial features, your height and more of your bodily features. I don’t believe that we get who we are from our parents or any family member, I believe a person becomes who they are meant to be because of the experiences they go through in their life.

My grandfather was an alcoholic he was also a heavy smoker, all of his children’s lives, all of my childhood, until he took his own life. Out of five of his children two of them became alcoholics, the other three became smokers. I do not believe alcoholism is hereditary or even smoking, I do believe the addictive gene is hereditary. It goes on to my mom and dad were both heavy smokers, they had six kids, two of them became smokers (identical twins), one became a snuff dipper. The other nothing. I can’t say we never tried anything, but we have never been addicted to anything or gone back to anything thing, tried it and left it.

The twins all though they are identical could not be more different personality wise. Robert is more of an outgoing person while Timothy is a stay at home kind of person. They both work, but other than that Timothy is very shy and only goes home and plays on his computer. While Robert also plays on his computer he will get out and about too. Robert is more inclined to go to a concert, or party; you wouldn’t find Timothy there. Not unless Robert absolutely just drags Timothy to a function will he go. Robert was able to quit smoking all on his own, Timothy cannot, absolutely refuses to lay the cigarettes down. Though I us to be as close to them as peanut butter is to jelly, I now to not get to see them that much. I’m sure if I was around them more I could find even more differences in them. Who knows I might even find more likenesses in them then I think.

Works Cited:

Psychologist. (2000). In The Royal Society Of Medicine Health Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Frsmhealth%2Fpsychologist%2F0

Psychologist (2009). (5th edition ed.). Richmond: Crimson Business Ltd. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/189241386?accountid=3783

© 2014 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, online

© 2014 American Psychological Association, Jane Tyler Ward, PhD. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/forensic-psychology.aspx

© Copyright 2003- 2014 Education Portal. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Retrieved from http://education-portal.com/articles/Forensic_Psychologist_Education_Requirements_and_Career_Information.html

Uyemura, B. (2011). An Overview of Health Psychology. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 27, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/an-overview-of-health-psychology/0007535

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