What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a psychologist? Probably someone well dressed, with a notepad, an office, and yourself lying on a big divan. And yes, many psychologists see themselves like this in reality, but that is not the only field of action that we have in this profession, since there are many types of psychologists.
Did you know that there are even psychologists who work in marketing? Also in social areas, companies, with sports teams, in school facilities and even in experimental laboratories. Taking this into account, which one should you go to according to your area of work? In this article we tell you what the work of each one of them is like.
Why is the field of psychology so broad?
- Easy, because the world is extremely diverse and everyone needs A vision of the processes of the human mind or the behavior of each person for the benefit of the different areas of life development. This ranges from the practice of psychological theories to intervening in the quality of video games or advertisements and television commercials.
- We are all connected with global tastes, current trends, old memories that marked our childhood and these characteristics influence the quality of interpersonal relationships, professional development, the formalization of our personality. And who is in charge of analyzing all this data and human qualities? Well, the psychologists. What finally brings a result that will benefit the area where you are working.
Types of psychologists and their field of application
Clinical psychologists
Many tend to confuse clinical psychologists with psychotherapists and although it is also a general branch of psychology, the truth is that clinical psychologists focus more on the diagnosis and intervention of mental and emotional disorders in infants, adolescents, adults and older adults, better known as psychopathologies.
Some specialists are trained in a specific type of psychopathology, while others are general intervention, that is, they attend to any type of disorder and its different degrees of severity. From single episodes to the longest lasting, they work on their origin, therapeutic treatment together with pharmacological treatment and on social adaptation.
Health psychologists
These specialists are trained in biopsychosocial processes and the factors that influence or alter them. The work carried out in this field is based on analyzing and finding lifestyles, problem prevention, disease detection, promotion of healthy habits and an adequate state of mind. As well as the policies, failures and solutions to the health system, either in a community or in individual people.
Psychotherapists
Somehow they are the ones that represent the traditional image of a psychologist, since they attend to patients or clients in consultation individually, in couple’s therapy or group therapies. In the same way as clinical psychologists, children and adult populations are served.
The objective of psychotherapy is to analyze and intervene in people’s internal conflicts or problems of daily life and their resolution, so that they reach a point where they can do it for themselves in the future.
Psychogerontologist
These psychologists work for the well-being of the elderly, they also study all the factors that affect old age and promote health habits, physical activities and emotional state of mind in which not only the elderly are involved, but also their relatives or personal caregivers and geriatric centers. This is due to the demand to ensure the quality of life in old age and the need to educate and sensitize the population on the importance of carrying them out.
Sexologists
They are specialists trained in the subject of sexual and intimate relationships of couples, as well as personal knowledge. They work on the detection and intervention of problems that may arise in privacy, development plans and activities for coexistence, as well as the promotion of sexual education, pregnancy planning, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and sexual risk behaviors. But they also work on the intervention of sexual disorders and their resolution, from disorders, fears, traumas or fetishes to achieve social adaptation again and more importantly, self-confidence.
Forensic and criminal psychologists
They work together with police forces and courts to evaluate the mental capacity of the defendants to be prosecuted in court and obtain the correct verdict or create profiles of criminals that help in their capture, as well as the expertise of the evidence or the mental state of those involved. It is also in charge of making psychological evaluations to them, which helps to determine the corresponding resolutions.
Another job they do is to provide crisis intervention to shield crime victims to lessen their anxiety.
Organizational psychologists
His field of development are companies and work agencies in general, from large companies to micro-enterprises, where it is necessary to improve and maintain a quality and healthy work environment for all employees. Psychologists are in charge of detecting communication, coexistence or work motivation problems, as well as psychosocial risk factors that affect the performance of all those involved, generally using group intervention techniques or individual assistance.
They are also in charge of the process of recruitment and selection of personnel, evaluation of the mission, vision and objectives of the company, orientation and job preparation.
Consumer psychologists
Also known as marketing psychologists, they are in charge of studying, analyzing and using the general consumption data of populations through information collected by their repetitive tastes, current trends, attractive views and public preferences, in order to create a quality product for the masses.
Here reference is made to Jung’s theories on the collective unconscious, regarding the common qualities that converge towards a product. This knowledge is applied in advertising, commercials, image development and promotion of various virtual and physical items.
Safety and traffic psychologists
The field of work of road psychologists is established in enforcing the necessary and adequate regulations to guarantee safety in risky activities, such as driving, professional automobile races, rallies, roads, use of weapons, etc. They are also in charge of detecting which ones should be under supervision, which ones may have individual use permits and which ones have to be classified as dangerous for the public. They carry out their work through the development of plans for education, advice, practices, rehabilitation and accident prevention.
Educational psychologists
Schools are also places that need psychological attention, perhaps in a greater way since children and young people are involved and their education process, which can become a real challenge. Therefore, educational psychologists provide guidance, motivational work, teaching plans for teachers, detection and intervention of problems or learning disorders, confidence and student skills. In turn, they are in charge of reinforcing the work of teachers in schools and helping them create better plans for each school year.
Developmental psychologists
From the moment we are born our mind is in constant dynamism learning about the world that surrounds us, the benefits and difficulties to which we are subjected and how to obtain the necessary resources to survive. That is why there are expert psychologists who follow the day-to-day life of small newborns until the end of their developmental stages in adolescence, accompanying parents in creating parenting plans and intervening in common problems and developmental disorders that may arise. They work from the motor, cognitive, social and emotional areas of children, as well as their day-to-day functionality.
Social or community psychologists
Society has a great influence on our being and I am not referring only to the inherent culture or traditions of a region or morally acceptable norms, but also to the environment where we grow and develop. ‘The neighborhood of our childhood’ has a meaning, sometimes positive or negative for others that marks us for life, but why? The study of those responses is what social psychologists are in charge of.
But their work does not end there and it is that those inclined to the community branch are in charge of creating projects, proposals and plans to improve the psychosocial well-being of a community, through empowerment tools that allow each person to contribute a benefit to their community. community, so that among all they can resolve the conflicts presented by their own hands.
Sports psychologists
Behind every athlete there is a sports psychologist in charge of keeping their mental health fresh and their optimal state of mind for greater performance. You may be wondering: why are sports psychologists necessary? Very simple, a sportsman, athlete or player is subjected to constant loads of pressure to be the best at what he does and that can easily make him succumb to stress, which in turn can lead to failure and traumatic emotional consequences.
A sports psychologist is in charge of always keeping the spirit and confidence of the athlete active and of course, also that of his team, since he works with the communication, coexistence, cooperation and teamwork necessary to always emerge as a winner.
Experimental psychologists
Also highly recognized in the field of psychology for being those doctors with long coats who analyze the performance of people or animals. Although the way of experimenting has changed a lot over the years, experimental psychologists keep their instinct of curiosity awake and test every detail of psychological science, what influences people’s behaviors, the effects of an emotion, how it is maintained performance or hope in difficult times. They are not afraid to go to every lonely corner and as their name says, experiment with everything until they find an answer.
Neuropsychologists
Psychologists of the mind are those in charge of studying the chemical and biological mental processes that occur in the brain, that is, what is behind the scenes: how thought is produced, what is behind an idea, how neurons are activated and what drug can help or affect them. This work is very important within psychology because we can understand the work of neuronal functions, how they change in a mental illness, a head injury or a degenerative disease. What procedure and care should we have to treat them or how to prevent their advance. It also provides new discoveries about stimulation, activation, strengthening and care of our mental health.
As you can see, the world of psychology is so broad that we can consider it as a complete and complex universe, but that in every corner there is someone who works in it for the benefit of each area of development in the world and the people who make their lives. in these.