The world of mental health is just as challenging, rewarding, and fast-growing as other areas of healthcare. While many aspects of it are still a mystery, modern studies are constantly helping to expand our understanding of the field of psychology. And within the field there are numerous specialties that one can choose to enter. Earning a specialized degree will allow you to master a specific area of the field and will increase your overall salary potential, your employment opportunities, and your career quality in general.
Picking a specialty in the field isn’t always easy, however. You need to understand which ones have the best salaries and are the most in-demand while also picking one that will allow you to work in an area that truly interests you. Here are ten of the best options out there when you begin selecting a degree specialty in psychology.
- School Psychology – By working with school children on a regular basis you will be able to guide their mental and emotional future regularly. It’s one of the most personally rewarding specialties in the field and one that is in demand around the nation.
- Social Psychology – This field focuses on the interaction of a person’s mind in a social setting. While it primarily focuses on research and study, some counseling positions do exist, particularly in helping those with major social disorders work through their problems.
- Developmental Psychology – This is one of the more interesting specialties to enter and it focuses on children, from birth through adolescence, and the study of the various factors that impact their development. Very often these experts help to counsel children and provide them with the help that they need, while in other cases they may simply conduct research.
- Experimental Psychology – Just as its name suggests, there are numerous aspects of the field that are still in experimental phases. This specialization focuses on working inside those areas to achieve a better understanding of the mind.
- Genetics Counseling – This field puts graduates in a role of providing counseling support to parents whose children have a genetic disorder, helping during pregnancy and after it in terms of working through emotional and mental issues that can arise.
- Forensic Psychology – This is one of the most exciting fields of study within psychology. It focuses on the application of psychological principles to the criminal field. Profiling suspects and testifying at trials are two key aspects of the job.
- Addictions – Just as its title suggests, this specialization focuses on understanding addictions and helping those who have them to move past them and improve their quality of life. All addictions are included in the field, and the psychology behind the actual addiction is the key to success in the field.
- Sport Psychology – Working with athletes to help motivate them as well as to help with various issues that can arise from the stresses of performance is the focus here. Many professional sports teams and numerous colleges and universities employ sport psychologists to work with their teams.
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology – This is a high paying field that is challenging and rewarding. Graduates enter companies and provide research and reports that will help improve a company’s profit and productivity, focusing on things like employee morale and motivation. It’s a rapidly growing industry worth considering.
- Counseling – This is actually a broad specialization that can be broken down into more precise ones like marriage counseling. Counselors work with adults, children, families, and more to help work through emotional troubles by talking and listening. It’s an in demand career path and one that is personally and financially rewarding.
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