Career Areas in Psychology

Psychology has a tremendous range of focus areas to choose from. Presented here are just some of the major specialty areas that psychologists research and practice in.

Clinical Psychology
Counseling
Developmental Psychology
Environmental Psychology
Forensic Psychology
Health Psychology
Human Factors
Industrial Organizational Psychology
Neuroscience
School Psychology
Social Work
Sports Psychology
Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders.

Counseling

Counseling Psychology focuses on facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span.

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology is a scientific approach that aims to explain how children and adults change over time.

Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology focuses on the relationship between human behavior and the environment.

Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychology is the application of education, training, and experience as a psychologist to questions of the law that may be relevant to legal proceedings.

Health Psychology

Health psychology focuses on how mental, emotional, and societal factors contribute to physical health. This field also focuses on the processes related to dealing with illness and recovery.

Human Factors

Human Factors discovers and applies information about human behavior, abilities, limitations, and other characteristics to the design and evaluation of products, systems, jobs, tools, and environments for enhancing productivity, safety, and comfort. The newer term for Human Factors is “User Experience Research” or “User Experience Researcher” or “UX Research.”

Industrial Organizational Psychology

Industrial and Organization Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and principles to organizations and individuals.

Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the broad study of the structure and function of the nervous system and brain.

School Psychology

School Psychology is the application of expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally.

Social Work

Social Work aims to improve a society’s overall well-being, especially for the most vulnerable populations.

Sports Psychology

Sports Psychology uses psychological knowledge and skills to address optimal performance and well-being of athletes, developmental and social aspects of sports participation, and systemic issues associated with sports settings and organizations.

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