Psychologist
Mental Health
Psychology is a diverse discipline, grounded in science, but with nearly boundless applications in everyday life. Some psychologists do research, developing theories and testing them through carefully honed research methods involving observation, experimentation, and analysis. Other psychologists apply the discipline’s scientific knowledge to help people, organizations, and communities function better. Many do both. Indeed, one of psychology’s most unique and important characteristics is its coupling of science and application, which stimulates the continual advancement of both.
If you are interested in mental health, conducting assessment, and providing treatment, you may want to explore clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or school psychology. If you wonder what else psychology has to offer in terms of understanding human behavior beyond mental health, you may want to explore the subfields of brain science and cognitive psychology, climate and environmental psychology, developmental psychology, experimental psychology, forensic psychology, human factors and engineering psychology, industrial-organizational, quantitative psychology, rehabilitation psychology, social psychology, or sport and performance psychology, to name just a few.
Opportunities in psychology for those with doctoral and master’s degrees are typically at a higher level than for those with undergraduate degrees. An undergraduate degree remains excellent preparation for continued graduate work in psychology or in another field that requires a similar skillset. Many employers across industries are interested in the skills that psychology majors bring to collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data and their experience with statistics and experimental design.
Working conditions
Many psychologists work independently and also team up with other professionals—for example, with other scientists, physicians, lawyers, school personnel, computer experts, engineers, policymakers and managers—to contribute to every area of society. Thus, we find them in laboratories, hospitals, courtrooms, schools and universities, community health centers, prisons, and corporate offices. Additionally, many psychologists teach psychology in academic institutions, from high schools to graduate programs in universities.
Most psychologists say they love their work. They cite the variety of daily tasks and the flexibility of their schedules. They are thrilled by the exciting changes taking place in the field — from adapting technology to benefit humans, to working as part of primary health care teams. They are endeavoring to provide answers to research questions in such diverse areas as prevention, perception and learning, and they are using new technology and knowledge to train the next generation. It is an exciting time to be a psychologist.
Academic requirements
To be called a psychologist, you must earn a doctoral degree in psychology. But there are opportunities at all levels of education (bachelors, masters, and doctoral) to work in the field of psychology.
- To learn more about taking psychology in high school, see the American Psychological Association’s precollege webpages.
- To learn more about undergraduate education in psychology, see the American Psychological Association’s undergraduate education webpages.
- To learn more about graduate education in psychology, see the American Psychological Association’s graduate education webpages.
The American Psychological Association also provides a listing of accredited master’s and doctoral graduate programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, and combinations of these areas. Students interested in these fields should see the separate pages on clinical and counseling psychology and school psychology. If you are not sure why accreditation matters, this resource may help.
Subfields of psychology outside of these areas are out of the scope of accreditation. Examples of subfields of psychology that are not eligible for accreditation include brain science and cognitive psychology, climate and environmental psychology, developmental psychology, experimental psychology, human factors and engineering psychology, industrial-organizational, and social psychology. Many of these fields have bright job outlooks, like industrial-organizational psychology.
Resources
- Explore the different subfields in psychology, including becoming a psychological scientist or an applied psychologist.
- Learn more about becoming a psychologist.
- See why you should consider a career in psychology and what skills psychology students have that prepare them for success in the workforce.
- Get career information and view job listings.
- Begin creating a plan for your career in psychology.
- American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association has reviewed and approved this career profile.
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Average Salary
$117,750
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Years Higher Education
6 - 8
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Job Outlook
Average