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If you are looking into enrolling one of the many psychology degree programs that are available to students, it is helpful to have a clear understanding of what a psychologist is. That way you can choose which one of the psychology degree programs is right for you. A psychologist is a non-medical doctor who specializes in psychology. With psychology degree programs, they focus on the study and profession of behaviors involving both the mind and the body. This might be with human subjects or nonhuman ones. The duties of a psychologist vary depending on the specializations that they have chosen.
Psychology degree programs may focus on counseling and psychotherapy, on research and testing, or in teaching. Before enrolling in psychology degree programs it is also helpful to know the difference between a psychologist and some other commonly confused professions. For instance, a psychologist and a psychiatrist are both doctoral-level positions, but only psychiatrists have the ability to prescribe medicine to patients. Psychiatrists focus much of their training at medical school, and then the latter part is spent on mental health. A psychologist spends his or her entire graduate education studying mental health issues.However, there is a difference between a psychologist and a counselor. Both have been trained to deal with emotional stress in their patients. A psychologist, however, is required to have a doctorate in psychology, which generally requires five to seven years of study. A licensed counselor is usually required to have a master’s degree, which requires about two to three years of study, and some specializations only require an associate’s degree. Some other fields that might get confused with the role of a psychologist are psychoanalyst, licensed social worker, and marriage, family, and child counselors. A psychoanalyst has been trained in the methods of psychoanalysis. Licensed social workers have supervised internships much like a psychologist does, but they often focus on the area of social work that they will be working in. Marriage, family, and child counselors can have training in psychology or social work, specializing in relationships. So before enrolling in one of the psychology degree programs, you may want to do some research into the different fields of specialization. You may find that your talents and interests actually lie in one of the similar or related fields to psychology, but not psychology itself. Figuring that out at the start can make your goals a lot easier to achieve. |
