Psychology's Subfields and Occupations

Psychology's Subfields

Modern Psychology Perspectives: Biological, Psychoanalytic, Behavioral, Humanistic, Cognitive, Social-Cultural Modern psychologists don't all agree on the best way to understand human behavior and thought processes or the best treatment plan for disorders. Thus, psychology has various important perspectives.

Modern Psychological Perspectives:

Biological - focuses on the brain, hormones, and nervous system to explain human behavior and thought processes; often treats patients with medication
Psychoanalytic - focuses on the role of the unconscious mind to explain human behavior and thought processes; treatment includes talk therapy with hypnosis, dream analysis, and other methods of bringing hidden thoughts to conscious awareness
Behavioral - focuses on how humans learned their observable behaviors through life experiences; treatment includes conditioning techniques like stimuli, rewards, and consequences
Humanistic - focuses on helping humans reach their full potential by teaching them to understand themselves and make good choices; treatment includes talk therapy in which the patient is encouraged to take control of their life
Cognitive - focuses on how humans encode, process, store, and retrieve information and how this affects a person's world view; treatment includes various methods that change the way the patient interprets life experiences
Social-Cultural - focuses on the role of society in shaping human behavior and thought processes; treatment might include a group therapy session to help patients support each other

Psychology's Occupations

Are you wondering what can you do with a degree in psychology? There are many options! Consider some of the popular subfields below:

Clinical Psychology - a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Psychiatry - a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy
Industrial Organizational Psychology - the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace, including recruiting, selecting and evaluating personnel and finding the best ways to design products for satisfying use by humans
Forensic Psychology - applying psychology to legal issues, including studying criminal behavior, evaluating witnesses, and providing expert testimony
Developmental Psychology - the study of the ways humans develop over the course of a lifetime
Counseling Psychologists - help individuals identify their strengths and resources as they work with them on their ability to deal with life's problems
Health Psychologists - study the effects of biology, psychology and society on health, seeking to identify the best methods to promote emotional and physical well being

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