What Are The Psychologist’s Areas Of Expertise?

Psychology is a science that can be considered recent and, therefore, the areas of specialization of the psychologist are unknown to many people, even when it comes to psychology students.

When someone tells us they are studying psychology, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of the clinical psychologist doing psychotherapy sessions. However, this is just one of many areas of specialization.

The psychology course has generalist training; in it, general contents of almost all professional areas of a psychologist are worked, but the contents and skills necessary for the professional practice are not approached in depth.

For all these reasons, we have prepared this article so that you have a clear idea of ​​the main areas of specialization of the psychologist. If you plan to study psychology, are already studying or feel lost because you are short of graduation, this article is for you.

Psychology, what is good to know before starting to study?

First, it is important to emphasize that psychology is a very complete career, in which both anatomy and statistics are studied. Thus, for example, a large part of the training hours are devoted to behavioral biology, neuroscience, physiological systems, endocrine system, development, anatomy, etc.

So, before thinking about the psychologist’s career prospects, you should assess the fact that it is a career with extensive medical-biological content. The first years of training will provide an important base of knowledge about the healthy functioning of the human body, and then will help to understand how the same organism works in cases of psychopathology. With regard to psychopathology, it should be taken into account that training is 99.9% of cognitive-behavioral orientation.

Why is it important that you take all of this into account? Because, as a result of this type of generalist and scientific training, psychologists have many areas of specialization even in medical-pharmaceutical contexts, such as specializing in clinical studies to test the effectiveness of new psychopharmaceuticals.

The training obtained also allows to act as a psychologist in consultation, psychologist in human resources, in education, social psychologist and in teaching and research. We’ll look at each of these areas of expertise below.

The most common areas of specialization for psychologists

1. Clinical psychology and psychotherapy: what most future psychologists want to do

The first area of ​​expertise that comes to mind is the image of a psychologist and a couch, isn’t it? However, this image is just a stereotype and much has changed in the field of psychology applied to psychological disorders and emotional problems. The reality is that clinical psychology and psychotherapy are one of the most frequent areas of specialization for psychologists ; however, this is far from the only one.

When we refer to clinical psychology and psychotherapy, we are talking about the work of the consulting psychologist. It is the area of ​​specialization that (more or less) we all know and accept as the psychologist’s professional task or role.

2. Psychologist in human resources: the least sought after area of ​​specialization, but with the greatest demand

One of the psychologist’s areas of specialization is working in companies and organizations. For this type of work it is also better to have a specialization (Masters or Postgraduate). After completing a degree in psychology, you are qualified to practice human resources tasks such  as participating in recruiting new employees and managing labor disputes in a company.

If you like administrative tasks and the business environment, looking for a psychology college that offers a course that focuses on work and organizational psychology is the first step in qualifying you for a position, for example, as a recruiter. .

In addition, over the last 10 years, there has been a great increase in the demand for qualified professionals for the prevention of work risks, and this is also one of the psychologist’s areas of specialization.

3. The psychologist in the educational field

Psychology is responsible for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pathologies, learning difficulties or educational needs of students (individual and group). In addition, the educational psychologist is responsible for guidance, vocational and professional counseling.

To work as an educational psychologist, you must be qualified when you finish your psychology course. The best thing to follow this path is to pursue a specialization in educational psychology and special needs.

There is also the role of the educational advisor, which has been gaining importance in recent years. This is a work carried out by psychologists and psychopedagogists who are mainly responsible for informing the educational community about the special needs of students and preparing educational psychology reports for each case, ensuring educational continuity, trying to reduce school dropout and guiding students in choosing a career or profession.

4. Psychology in social intervention: working with different groups to help them in their correct social insertion

Working as a psychologist in the community or social area has a series of functions that, although they vary according to your place of residence or work, coincide in that the objective of the social psychologist is to help people from special groups (mental health, abuse, risk of social exclusion, long-term unemployed) to find a job and have a job projection that gives them independence and autonomy.

Another area of ​​action for the social psychologist is participation in the planning or implementation of community intervention programs. For example, we refer to social interventions that seek to create a more solidary flow of social support, focus on promoting associative movements or seek to promote attention to the needs of each community.

For this type of work one is also qualified with a degree in psychology, although it is always better to have a postgraduate degree or specialization.

5. Teaching and research

Teaching and research, although lesser known, are other areas of specialization for the psychologist. It is about exercising as a teacher and/or as a researcher. We put and/or because these two roles usually go hand in hand, especially if you are considering working as a professor in a university setting.

One of the ways to work as a university professor is to pursue an undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree. Doing a doctorate involves completing research, preparing and defending a doctoral thesis.

On the other hand, the psychologist can work as a research technician in many projects in different areas. Some studies require special certifications (eg clinical trials), while others do not (psychological, social or epidemiological analyses). In this case, the job title is a research technician and may give you the opportunity to opt for greater geographic mobility compared to other areas of specialization.

Finally, it is very important to emphasize that working as a psychologist in psychotherapy consultation involves being autonomous, and this has some points in its favor and others against it.

There is a big gap in psychology graduation in relation to the professional guidance of future psychologists and that is why psychology faculties annually organize professional guidance days for the beginning of the professional activity. You can use one of these sessions to find out about possible professional areas of specialization in your place of residence.

In any case, considering taking a master’s or postgraduate degree in your field of interest will be an essential requirement for your resume to be competitive in a selection process.