Helping people succeed in school
and personal life is the work of
clinical, counseling, and school psychologists.
Clinical psychologists help people resolve
short-term personal issues or cope with severe,
chronic mental illness.
They start by assessing and diagnosing
a person’s condition,
then choose the most effective
treatment to offer—
whether it’s individual, family,
or group psychotherapy,
or a behavior modification program.
Clinical psychologists may specialize in
working with a certain age group,
or in treating certain types of disorders.
Counseling psychologists help their clients
deal with issues at home, in their career,
at school, or in their communities.
After interviewing clients
and gathering their history,
a counseling psychologist works to help them
understand the underlying dynamics of
problems in their lives,
identify coping strategies,
set goals,
and create an action plan to meet them.
They work with families, groups, and individuals.
School psychologists help students succeed
in their personal development and at school.
They may diagnose learning or behavior issues,
and design performance plans
to help students thrive.
School psychologists counsel students
and families,
and also work with teachers and school staff
to improve teaching, learning,
and administrative methods.
School psychologists
need an advanced degree,
usually the education specialist degree,
and certification or licensure.
Some school psychologists have a master’s or
doctoral degree in school psychology.
Most clinical and counseling psychologists
need a doctorate in psychology, an internship,
and a period of supervised
professional experience.
They must also pass a national exam.