Studying psychology means to scientifically study the mind by observing and recording brain functions, behavior, and mental processes. Normally when you think of the word “psychology”, you’ll picture a doctor sitting in a chair taking notes while a patient lays on a couch and describes their feelings. This is definitely one type of psychology which we will look into, but there are so many other branches of psychology to explore.
Clinical Psychology
The most commonly known branch of psychology is clinical psychology. This is where your therapist falls under, as mentioned above. Clinical psychologists will work with their patients to treat mental health disorders, stress, addictions, or relationship problems. Clinical psychologists will also diagnose their patients based on the symptoms they display or talk about. Those in the clinical psychology practice can also specialize in a specific field such as a sports psychologist, who helps professional athletes deal with stress.
Forensic Psychology
Are you interested in criminal behaviour and want to know why people commit offences? Forensic psychologists have the task of applying their knowledge of psychology and brain function to court cases and criminal investigations. Forensic psychologists will also look at treatments for offenders who struggle with mental health problems.
Developmental Psychology
Psychologists in this field will study human development, life span, and how human experiences affect both of those topics. Those in this department will look at factors such as how or where we were raised, and how that affects our growth. Some of the other elements developmental psychologists will research are motor skills, language skills, moral comprehension, identity, emotions, problem solving, and personality.
Social Psychology
In this field, psychologists will research and evaluate how social influences in our society affect human behaviour. Social psychologists will use a variety of scientific methods during their research. An example of the type of research a social psychologist would do is look into aggression or prejudice within a group of people and how that affects others.
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychologists will work with patients after they have suffered from an injury or illness that has affected their brain function. For example, if someone were to experience a stroke, they would most likely be referred to a neuropsychologist afterwards. If there is cognitive damage that has affected a person’s brain function, neuropsychologists will create a treatment plan to help the patient.
Educational Psychology
Psychologists that study education will work with individuals who have learning disabilities or work with those who are gifted. They also study the learning process as a whole, and research what improvements can be made when it comes to teaching. Educational psychologists will work directly with parents and teachers to ensure that a student is learning in a way that is beneficial for them.
Occupations in psychology are always developing as we as a society grow and learn more about how our brains function. Also, a great thing about studying psychology is that we will always need psychologists and this occupation will never die out because of how frequently our world changes around us.
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