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.
What they do:
Diagnose and implement individual or schoolwide interventions or strategies to address educational, behavioral, or developmental issues that adversely impact educational functioning in a school. May address student learning and behavioral problems and counsel students or families. May design and implement performance plans, and evaluate performance. May consult with other school-based personnel.
On the job, you would:
Compile and interpret students' test results, along with information from teachers and parents, to diagnose conditions and to help assess eligibility for special services.
Maintain student records, including special education reports, confidential records, records of services provided, and behavioral data.
Report any pertinent information to the proper authorities in cases of child endangerment, neglect, or abuse.
Math and Science
psychology
sociology and anthropology
Health
therapy and counseling
Education and Training
teaching and course design
Business
customer service
Basic Skills
listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
reading work related information
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
understanding people's reactions
looking for ways to help people
Verbal
communicate by speaking
listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
use rules to solve problems
make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
Dependability
Integrity
Cooperation
Persistence
Self Control
Social Orientation
You might use software like this on the job:
Data base user interface and query software
Global Education Technologies EXCENT
Vision Management Consulting IEP PlaNET
Word processing software
Ewing Solutions QuickWriter
Microsoft Word
Spreadsheet software
Microsoft Excel
certificate after master's or master's degree usually needed
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