10 Major Areas Of Online Psychology Degree Specializations

Fields Of Online Psychology Degree

Psychology is a broad scientific field with multiple majors and different career opportunities in various specializations including sports, education, business, marketing, sales, management and security. To prepare for a career in any of these fields, you need to understand the various types of psychology major specializations.

Psychology is the scientific study of the connections between the mind, behavior and environment according to the American Psychological Association. Their topmost objective is to describe, control and predict mental processes and behavior.

There are various fields to specialize in, with different career paths for each. In order to become a psychologist, therapist, or counselor, you are required to earn a clinical degree in psychology so as to prepares you to practice.

 

See Also: 5 Best Types of Psychology Degrees In 2023

 

10 Major Areas Of Online Psychology Degree

There are various types of online programs in psychology. What’s important is finding the specialty that best fits your interests. These experts make uses of theoretical approaches and psychological theories while utilizing broad techniques to help patients to manage or treat mental, physical, and emotional problems.

 

1. Psychology – General

A general psychology degree enable you have a wide understanding of the field of psychology in general. As an alternative to focusing on one specific area, general psychology programs provide analysis of the human mind related stuff and how it works. Regardless of your plans to attend medical school, you can actually use a bachelor’s degree in psychology to get a job as a psychiatrist or even a Psychologist.

A Psychiatrist or a Psychologist job is best for someone who is empathetic and likes to listen to others. It’s most suited for someone who wants to help people manage stresses of their daily lives, depression, anxiety, phobias, addiction and other related challenges.

 

2. Behavioral Psychology

These type of psychologists are those who focus in changing a person’s negative or harmful behavior like addictions and anxiety-related behaviors, however the field is more than just those.

These psychologists help patients maintain their OCD propensities, ADHD, and other disorders. These psychologist also help to manage harmful behaviors like binge-eating, self-harm, hair pulling, scab picking and other compulsions. These psychologists often further to get their higher-level degrees because most of these behaviors have to be treated with a mixture of one-on-one communication, therapy, and medication.

These type of Psychologist often become behavioral specialists or case managers in medical centers or public schools.

 

3. Addictions and Recovery

Just like every other diseases, addiction is a disease, and addicts need treatment. There are numerous kinds of addictions, like alcohol, drug, and smoking addictions. But that’s not all, people tend to become addicted to other things such as gambling, shopping, the internet, food, and more.

Addictions and Recovery Psychologists work with these addicts to treat not only the addictions themselves, but also the underlying causes of their addictions. They assist people in overcoming their addictions by helping them diagnose the causes of their addictions.

These type of psychologists have to be  empathetic because many addicts have had horrible traumas in their pasts and have degraded themselves in the quest of feeding their addictions.

 

4. Child and Adolescent Development

These psychologists work with children and adolescents of all ages to help them get control of a vast array of challenges because some of these children are from broken, abusive homes and need counseling.

These children have conditions including  ADHD, OCD, ODD, history of depression, and anxiety, that need time to time therapy sessions.

Child and adolescent development specialists help these kids work through and overcome their problems. Peradventure the problems cannot be controlled, child psychologists use a mix of therapy, routines, and at times medication to help these kids manage their problems instead.

 

 

5. Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychologists are also known as “criminal psychologists” and their major job is to question and study the responses and behaviors of criminals, most especially violent criminals, such as murderers, sexual offenders, and terrorists. Helping investigators interrogate potential suspects is not all they do, forensic psychologists do other things like:

• Bracing witnesses to take the stand
• Checking crime scenes
• Compiling criminal suspect profiles
• Suggesting sentencing to prosecutors like jail or psychiatric hospital
• Counseling prisoners

Forensic psychology is suited for people who are shrewd, intelligent, good with puzzles and as well courageous to be able to sit across from hardened criminals.

 

6. Mental Health Counseling

Like general psychologists, they usually work face to face discussion with patients on a variety of psychological issues like addiction or substance abuse, depression, overcoming trauma or grief, and unhealthy relationships.

Mental health counselors also work with patients on other numerous topics, including:

• Gerascophobia also know as fear of aging
• Self control or anger management
• Stress and anxiety management
• Parenting and relationship skills
• Weight and body image disorder

These counselors sometimes hold group sessions which can be group therapy sessions, couples or family sessions, or larger group sessions for patients suffering from similar problems.

 

7. Educational Psychology

These type of psychologists assist people in learning. Some people including children and adults born with or at a time in their life suffer injuries that had damaged their cognitive functions which make them unable to learn new information in normal ways. Although, majority of educational psychologists work with helping children and teens, there are however some that focus on helping adults with cognitive impairments.

Educational psychologists’ job is to give patients diagnostic tests and psycho-educational assessments to determine what type of learning disabilities the patients are suffering from.

Going forward, they then work hand in hand with the patients, their guardians, teachers, and other relevant adults to sketch educational plans, which include special learning accommodations, therapy, specially-tailored study skills, and more. Educational psychologists often work inside schools.

 

8. Family Counseling

These type of psychologists specialize on family members having disputes and communication problems. Family counselors make use of psychotherapy to help parents, guardians, children, spouses, and partners maintain stronger connections, cope with stress, manage grief and more.

Professionals are required to have a master’s or doctoral degree, depending on the state in order to hold licenses as psychologists or therapists. They can earn a certification from organizations, like the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

These counseling programs focus attention on assessment and case management,  counseling methods and interventions history and growth of marriage, couple and family counseling, and theories and models of family systems and dynamics.

 

9. Organizational Psychology

This is not a popular field of psychology, but it’s a very crucial one. These type of psychologists work with businesses, companies, and other organizations to assess employees and detect if they’re in line with the company’s general dynamic.

Organizational psychologists often report directly to management and give make them aware of which employees might do well in higher-level management, give insight on which employees could handle the stress of a promotion, help mediate workplace disputes, and also point out employees that aren’t working out in the company.

Organizational psychologists also at times work with a company’s employees directly, they use team-building techniques to help the company function more cohesively as a unit. They suggest policies to management that could help company’s morale and retention through listening to worker’s complaints, and praise of the company.

 

See Also: Top 7 Best Online Master’s in Education Degree Programs 2023

 

10. Sports Psychology

Sports psychologists specialize on helping athletes overcome mental challenges in order to achieve their full potential. They conduct research, skills assessment and counseling to their clients in order to determine the psychological factors affecting performance.

These psychologists often work with athletes to help them reach optimal performance. Sports psychologists also work with coaches, parents and related parties from a wide array of settings, levels of competition and ages.

They helps to strengthen team building, better communication, injuries and rehabilitation. Career opportunities in sport psychologists include athletic trainers, recreational therapy and also motivational specialists.