In
this lesson we will take a closer look at what the different types
of psychology that are often practiced by professional
psychologists. These areas of psychology are often called
professional or applied psychology. All the specialist
areas listed below have specific educational and training
structures in place which allow people to become officially
sanctioned as psychologists.
According to the American
Psychological Association, "clinical psychology integrates science,
theory, and practice to understand, predict, and alleviate
maladjustment, disability, and discomfort as well as to promote
human adaptation, adjustment, and personal
development.
Clinical Psychology focuses on the
intellectual, emotional, biological, psychological, social, and
behavioral aspects of human functioning across the life span, in
varying cultures, and at all socioeconomic levels."
Educational
psychology
Writing in the encyclopedia of
educational psychology, Neil Salkind states that "Educational
psychology can be defined as the application of what we know about
learning and motivation, development, and measurement and
statistics to educational settings (both school and
community-based)."
Salkind also makes the point that
when taught at college or university, "educational psychology is an
ambitious course that undertakes the presentation of many different
topics all tied together by the theme of how the individual can
best function in an "educational" setting, loosely defined as
anything from pre-school through adult
education."
Health
Psychology
The American Psychological
Association states that health psychology is concerned with
understanding how biology, behavior, and social context influence
health and illness. Within this framework, The division of health
psychology within the British Psychological Society notes that
psychological research and methods are applied to inform such
issues as:
- The Promotion & Maintenance of
Health
- The Identification of Factors Contributing
to Physical Illness;
- The Improvement of The Health Care
System
- The Formulation of Health
Policy
Forensic
psychology
Forensic
psychology covers a broad range of practices
primarily involving evaluations of
defendants, reports to
judges and attorneys, and courtroom testimony on given issues.
Forensic psychologists are appointed by the court to conduct
competency to stand trial evaluations, competency to be executed
evaluations, sanity evaluations, involuntary commitment
evaluations, provide sentencing recommendations, and sex offender
evaluation and treatment evaluations and provide recommendations to
the court through written reports and testimony. A prime
qualification of a forensic psychologist is an intimate
understanding of the law, especially criminal
law.
Occupational
psychology
In helping to define occupational
psychology, The British Psychological Society notes that
occupational psychology "is concerned with the performance of
people at work in training, how organisations function and how
individuals and small groups behave at work. The aim is to increase
the effectiveness of the organisation, and to improve the job
satisfaction of the individual."
"occupational psychology" may be an
unfamiliar term because psychology that deals with people at work
has also been labelled "industrial", "work", "organizational", and
"industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology.
Sports Psychology
According to The Association for
Applied Sport Psychology, "Applied sport and exercise psychology
involves extending theory and research into the field to educate
coaches, athletes, parents, exercisers, fitness professionals, and
athletic trainers about the psychological aspects of their sport or
activity. A primary goal of professionals in applied sport and
exercise psychology is to facilitate optimal involvement,
performance, and enjoyment in sport and
exercise."
Thanks to the great resources at Wikipedia and of David Webb for the information in this
lesson.
Clinical psychology
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