What Does a Child Psychologist Do?
A child psychologist is a person with a doctorate degree in psychology, who has a special interest in working with children. Typically, there are not specific degrees for the child psychologist. A student may choose in a doctoral program to make working with children, or doing research regarding children and child development her focus. In addition to studying other aspects of psychology the child psychologist usually takes specific interest in subjects regarding children and family, and may do her doctoral research or thesis on a matter that concerns these subjects. Once a child psychologist has completed her doctorate degree, she must complete additional supervised hours of training prior to being licensed by the state to practice. The process can take several years, depending upon state or country requirements. It should be noted that any psychologist can work with children, and that there is no clear distinction between a psychologist and a child psychologist. When people claim to
Firstly it is important to note that a child psychologist cannot prescribe medication to a child. The role of the child psychologist is to provide rhyme and reason for children’s behaviour and also to help their parents counteract feelings of depression malcontent and discontent towards those around them. Many children for example suffer the effects of bullying at school but may never tell their parents. Many children see their bullying as a sign of weakness and telling a parent only makes these feelings manifest themselves ten-fold. Educational Psychologist In the field of education a child psychologist may be known as an Educational Psychologist. An Educational Psychologist’s role will involve – for the most part – dealing with children who have psychological disorders or problems brought about by events or stresses related to schooling. As we have already discussed this may have something to do with bullying, which has now reached such a level that all schools have their own policie
Those who love working with children usually can follow one of three paths: Teaching, Social Work, or Child Psychologist. A child psychologist is a trained professional who is there to help treat children with mental issues ranging from abuse to mental illness, anxiety to peer pressure, suicide to coping with death. A child psychologist must have received a four-year degree at a minimum though many psychology firms prefer their employees to have a masters degree or doctorate. The licensed child psychologist must be patient, caring, and able to view situations from both sides without making snap judgments. Imagine getting a call from a concerned parent whose son or daughter is withdrawn, grades are slipping, and the child rarely leaves his or her room, preferring to sleep all day. That parent wants to hire a child psychologist. This is one of the many job duties you will perform. For some children, this is a normal part of puberty, but for others it can be a clear sign of depression. A
Psychologists work in a variety of settings including private practice, hospitals, schools and within the justice system. They do therapy, testing, evaluation, consultation, teaching, research , depending on where they work and their specific job requirements. I don’t think there’s any such thing as a “typical” day for a psychologist because the types of jobs and people vary so much.
