Psychology, in simple words, is probing and analyzing minds and behavior.
Often, it is confused with Psychiatry, but, both of the terms are different.
Psychologists observe individual and group behavior through interviews, surveys, and lab tests. They counsel those who are going through acute stress, trauma, or any other mental disorder. They also work with companies to help them design better programs to improve employee performances.
On the other hand, Psychiatrists are medical doctors. They prescribe medicines to the patients who are confronting any sort of mental ailments.
Interestingly, according to Forbes, the job of psychologists is among the 10 happiest jobs.
Though psychologists often work as therapists in the fields of sports, health, art, crime, geriatrics, etc., they are preferred in various other management fields like human resources.
“We employ psychology graduates for their expertise in interviewing and understanding motivations,” says Jacky Parsons, a Cambridge psychology graduate and director of research at innovation consultancy Sense Worldwide.
That said, it isn’t as easy and smooth to become a Psychologist as it seems. Becoming a Psychologist, to be precise, a successful Psychologist is demanding.
“If you like people, then go on Facebook – you need to be committed to become a psychologist,” says Professor Rachel Mulvey, associate dean of the School of Psychology at the University of East London (UEL). “You may deal with people you don’t like and you’ll have to put your own feelings aside.”
However, if yours is an agog soul that strives to learn the tricks to read people’s mind, and you wish to thrash out the everyday problems of individuals and groups, Psychology, as a profession, has a lot to offer.
So, here are some of the coolest psychology jobs that you can consider as a career and better the life of a lot of distressed spirits.
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Art Psychologist
A study was conducted recently. The participants were involved in a free-form art activity for 45 minutes. After the completion of the activity, it was observed that over 75% of the participants had lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels than before.
The study suggests that art could be an effective stress buster among adults. Art therapy has a very interesting aspect- neither the patient nor the doctor has to be an artist.
Besides, in this therapy, the individuals or patients are more responsive as they don’t need to express their issues through words.
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Forensic Psychologist
Why do criminals commit crimes?
This question pokes our minds, but who bothers to find an answer? A Forensic Psychologist.
The interesting part about a forensic or criminal psychologist’s job is that by observing a criminal’s behavior they form an opinion on how likely s/he is to conduct the crime again. Also, they probe criminals’ minds to understand the intention behind the evil acts.
Forensic Psychologists play an important role in the society. Through their observations of and conversations with the criminals, they figure out ways to prevent further offenses by the same criminals.
Dr. Keith Durkin, chairman of the department of Psychology and Sociology, Ohio Northern University says, ‘Careers in criminal psychology are never boring, and if you are educated in that field, it is great training for a huge range of jobs. You can do something different every day.
You could work in counseling people who have committed crimes and need psychological assessment. Many psychologists are exploring computer-related fields, like studying internet predators or helping investigate online fraud.’
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Health Psychologist
Health psychologists, also known as medical psychologists, according to American Psychological Association, “help patients manage chronic diseases and avoid preventable diseases” by “incorporating psychological theory and research to develop methods to assist patients in maintaining healthy lifestyles.”
While physicians are more concentrated towards the symptoms and cure of the disease, health psychologists go into details. Health Psychologists explore the reasons such as the family and relationship experience of a patient, his social habits, and how these have impacted the patient’s health over time.
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Geropsychologist
What does a Geropsychologist do?
Geropsychology is one of the most generous professions in the world. Geropsychologists work with the oldsters. Most of their patients are retirees. Geropsychology is different from regular psychology. The problems faced by this age group are different, for example: their income gets slashed, they lack physical strength, many of their age-mates from family and friends either have kicked the bucket or are ailing.
These stressors make them almost impotent to various mental and physical disorders. This is where Geropsychologists come into picture. They help these seniors to build necessary skills to deal with the old-age problems.
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Media Psychologist
Media Psychologists observe the relationship between humans and media. They tend to figure out the influence of media on our lives, and use this information to solve real life problems.
For instance, they research about the colors, visuals, or gigs that will pique customers interest and help advertising companies to bring out stronger and more impactful ads. They observe the behavior and trends related to particular shows and make the producers and directors to come up with more entertaining shows.
They conduct their research through monitoring individual’s reaction to various media stuff. Also, they can extract the required information by interviewing the individuals.
The widespread presence of media has boosted the demand for media psychologists.
They are hired by television channels, radio, movie studios, advertising & marketing companies, and healthcare industry.
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Sports And Exercise Psychologist
According to American Psychological Association, ‘While coaches typically focus on the physical condition of a sportsperson, sport psychologists focus on athletes’ minds. Sport psychologists can help athletes – professionals and amateurs alike – achieve their goals.’
So, in simple words, a sports psychologist assists a sportsperson in soothing anxiety, building and maintaining focus, improving performance, recovering from injuries, etc.
Also, these psychologists help athletes to cope with the mental pressure from coaches, audience, and family.
Due to constant pressure to perform well and severe media criticism on even a single poor performance, a sports person’s job is among the highly stressed professions. Sports psychologists play a vital role in helping athletes cope with such challenges.
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