The field of psychology is a fascinating one, and it is becoming increasingly diversified. One of the reasons for this is that the American Psychological Association now recommends that all psychologists should have a doctorate degree, a requirement for those who want to become practicing psychologists. Those educated to doctorate degree are theorists who perform research and develop new ideas. As a result, the field is becoming incredibly wide. So what are some of the things you can do after obtaining a Psy.D. degree?
1. Counseling Psychologist
Help patients to overcome complex issues that have an impact on their daily lives, although these are not mental illnesses.
2. Neuropsychologist
This is a specialized form of psychology in which you will learn how the system of the brain itself works, focusing on its structure and function and how these affect behaviors and psychological processes.
3. Clinical Neuropsychology
Work as part of a multidisciplinary health care team in order to provide psychological help to those who have had traumatic brain injuries. The goal is to make them productive again.
4. Family Health Psychology
Work with family physicians and other primary care providers in order to determine whether difficulties in a family are interpersonal, behavioral, and/or mental, and what the link between these and their medical issues are. In so doing, better treatment options can be created.
5. Bariatric Psychologist
Evaluate patients who may be candidates for bariatric surgery, counseling them to make sure their treatment is planned properly and to determine that they are psychologically prepared for the life changes they will have to make.
6. School Psychologist
Work within various schools to help children with academic or behavioral difficulties and disabilities. You will work closely together with educators and the families of the child as well.
7. Quantitative and Measurement Psychologist
This is a research type of position, whereby you will design new types of methods to evaluate data and use that to test and study complex problems and find solutions for them.
8. Educational Psychologist
This is different from a school psychologist, as what you will do is not work directly with pupils, but rather study learning behavior. The overlap with school psychology is that you will look at learning differences, instructional processes, and student outcomes. You may also focus specifically on children with learning disabilities and gifted children.
9. University Professor
Teach the next generation of psychologists.
10. School Head Counselor
Work with students who are going through difficult times, be they at home or in school, in order to make sure they can meet their academic goals and make the right career choices.
11. Medical Professor
Work with students of medicine, of which psychology is an element of the curriculum.
12. Biopsychologist
Biopsychologists are academics who study the way biological functions relate to emotional, behavioral, and mental processes.
13. Sports Psychologist
Work in research to better understand the psychology behind professional athletes, or work directly with athletes to ensure they can have better outcomes and stay motivated.
14. Substance Abuse Psychologist
Work with people who suffer from substance abuse an addiction problems, helping them take important steps towards leading a sober, healthy life.
15. Research Psychologist
Use various research methods and present your results to overseeing bodies.
16. Perceptual and Cognitive Psychologist
Study how humans think, including their learning, perception, and memory. Usually, perceptual and cognitive psychologists work with people with amnesia or other memory loss problems.
17. Vocational Rehabilitation Provider
Work for government agencies giving help to those who are facing barriers to employment or education, attempting to break through those barriers.
18. Rehabilitation Counselor
Work with those who have a development disability, such as victims of strokes and accidents or those with autism, helping them to adapt to their surroundings and situation.
19. Psychosocial Specialist
Provide rehabilitation services both on a psychiatric and psychosocial services to those who need to adjust to new social environments.
20. Parole Officer
Work with offenders who are due to be released into the community, ensuring they meet the requirements of their parole and become contributing members of society.
21. Forensic Psychologist
Work together with other members of the legal justice team and apply psychological concepts to address issues of public safety.
22. Human Resource Specialist
Work within any type of organization to address their employee development, training, staffing, retention, recruitment, succession planning, disciplinary procedures, and more.
23. Evolutionary Psychologist
This is a research type of psychology, whereby you will try to understand how behavior, feeling, and thought in humans has evolved over years.
24. Life Coach
Help individuals who want to personally and/or professionally develop.
25. Industrial Organizational Psychologist
Use various psychological principles to improve and encourage positive behavior at work. In so doing, you improve employee well being and, indirectly productivity.
26. Environmental Psychologist
Understand how human behavior changes the environment, and how changes in the environment change the way humans behave.
27. Social Services Manager
Coordinate, lead, design, and plan outreach activities and social programs in order to improve the community as a whole.
28. Experimental Psychologist
Another research field of work, where you will perform studies on both animals and humans.
29. Head of a Community Health Organization
Link up with government organizations and nonprofit agencies to develop new efforts to improve support, education, and understanding of behavioral issues that affect members of the community and how they interact socially.
30. Head of Public Relations/Chief Communications Officer
Handle the external communications, as well as public affairs and relations of the organization you work for.
31. Community Psychology
Ensure that individuals within the community have their needs met by working on their strengths and linking them with the social system and various organizations.
32. Children’s Welfare Institution Director
Ensure abandoned, disabled, abused, and marginalized children are looked after properly.
33. Engineer Psychologist/Human Factors Psychologist
You will generally have a strong engineering role, developing work areas that are safer, more productive, and more efficient.
34. Military Psychologist
Work with active duty and veteran military personnel as well as their family in order to help them deal with the issues that they face.
35. Consumer Psychologist
Work out how the consumer’s mind works and use this to develop new products and services, as well as new and more effective marketing campaigns.
36. Psychological Services Center Director
Be the head of a service center where you can be responsible for the administrative, clinical, and medical activities to make sure the community benefits from it.
37. Criminal Psychologist
Try to create profiles of existing or prospective criminals, thereby helping to lower the risk of recidivism, but also to predict behavior and to find offenders, sometimes dangerous ones.
38. Geropsychologist
Work with elderly people to provide them with the right mental health services, ensuring products and services are developed that are fit for purpose.
39. Aviation Psychologist
Work with everyone involved in the aviation industry, including pilots, equipment manufacturers, and more. You may also look into aviation accidents when they occur, although due to the rarity of those, your role is more likely to focus on aviation safety and lowering stress levels.
40. Clinical Child Psychologist
Work specifically with children, from infant to adolescent, often with certain behavioral difficulties.
41. Family Psychologist
Look into how family relations are intertwined and what this can do to the unit as a whole, as well as how to address any issues that occur.
42. Crisis and Hostage Negotiator
If you have excellent communication skills and you like the adrenaline of being in a dangerous job, then this is likely to be the job for you.
43. Psychoanalyst
Work directly with people who are having behavioral difficulties. You will focus on their unconscious mind, however, in order to determine the true underlying issue and developing appropriate treatment.
44. Clinical Psychologist
Assess, diagnose, and treat people with mental health disorders, emotional problems, or behavioral issues. Clinical psychology is the widest and most popular field.
45. Social Worker
Social work and psychology overlap quite strongly, although social work tends to be about signposting to services, whereas psychology is about delivering those services.
46. Comparative Psychologist
Study the behavior of animals and use a range of different scientific methods to see what the comparison is between modern and ancient species, looking specifically at reproductive behavior, adaptability, learning, and heredity.
47. Developmental Psychologist
Understand adaption, development, and human growth over the lifespan of your patients.
48. Psychophysics Psychologists
Study how certain external stimuli evoke certain perceptual and sensual responses.
49. Psychopharmacologist
Prescribe medication to those with a mental health disorders, and find ways to help them improve the emotions, behavior, and the mind of those with mental health disabilities.
50. Psychiatrist
Technically, psychiatrists are medical doctors. This is because you will provide treatment, have the right to prescribe medicine, and because you are able to provide treatment in an effort to actually cure your patient.
The above are just 50 roles you can take on if you hold a Psy.D. degree. There are many more, which just demonstrates how wide this field is. The most important thing is that you are guaranteed to have a job that will keep you busy and challenged for life.
