The Different Kinds of Psychologists & What They Do

The BPS protects the general public by preventing unqualified people to practice and/or call themselves chartered psychologists, without having completed necessary training, experience, and assessments.

By Samantha Newport.

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Generically and broadly speaking, psychologists study psychology; they carry out psychological research and testing methods, and apply psychological principles and theory in a variety of ways across different settings and institutes. Psychologists can work in more or less any capacity in the wider world (see our article ‘120 Psychology-Related Jobs & How To Figure Out Which One Is Best For You’), or more closely in hospitals, prisons, schools, colleges, or universities.

Since 1987 in the U.K, psychologists have been able to apply for chartership through the British Psychological Society (BPS). The BPS is the professional body for psychologists in the United Kingdom (whereas in America, this is the APA – American Psychological Association). The BPS protects the general public by preventing unqualified people to practice and/or call themselves chartered psychologists, without having completed necessary training, experience, and assessments. Those who are qualified and therefore allowed to work as a psychologist without supervision, will be listed as a charted psychologist on the official register. Different types of psychologists, as listed below, are all required to be chartered before they are legally allowed to practice.

Different applied psychologist roles can be:

A Clinical Psychologist

A clinical psychologist is someone who focuses on the treatment of various psychological disorders. This will involve carrying out necessary and relevant psychological assessments and tests in response to someone’s experience of mental and/or physical distress, to people in:

  • Community health services

  • Health care centres

  • Hospitals

  • Mental health services

  • Social services.

This role also involves delivering a range of different therapies to people in need, such as psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) etc.

An Educational Psychologist

An educational psychologist will work with children and young people across various different settings and institutes, such as:

  • Children’s homes

  • Colleges

  • Family centres

  • Nurseries

  • Schools.

As part of this role, educational psychologists will administer various psychological assessments and psychometric tests, such as IQ tests and personality tests. This is to diagnose and treat various issues such as learning problems and educational needs, behavioural problems, and emotional issues etc. Educational psychologists will provide guidance and support to struggling parents and teachers. They will offer advice on the best probable ways to support a child or young person in need, with either or both, physical or learning impairments.

A Forensic Psychologist/Criminal Psychologist

A forensic or criminal psychologist’s role involves applying various psychological theories and principles to situations and people within the parameters of the criminal justice system for that country. These types of psychologists will work in various criminal justice-related settings, such as:

  • Prisons

  • Probation services

  • Rehabilitation centres

  • Secure hospitals

  • Young Offenders Units.

A Health Psychologist

Being a health psychologist will involve working in a hospital setting or in community health centres. Health psychologists work with individuals to identify the causes of various states of health and illnesses. They work to promote and apply optimum health in clients by applying various psychological theories and principles so to tackle unhelpful or damaging beliefs, attitudes or behaviours that people may be experiencing, that cause them mental or physical distress, or sickness.

An Occupational Psychologist/ Organised Psychologist

These types of psychologists are concerned with people at work. As our interview with Dr Orin Davis touches on (read this in-depth interview here!) occupational/organised psychologists provides companies with advice and guidance on:

  • Advising on training and/or re-training needs

  • Appropriate working conditions

  • Designing programmes

  • Developing assessments and tests for staff members

  • Matching the best person to a particular role within a business

  • The recruitment and selection of staff members

  • Vocational guidance.


 

 

 

 

 

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