Different Types of Psychologists - An overview

Last updated date : August 17, 2021
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Psychology is a term we all know. In its most basic term, it is the scientific study of mind and behaviour. Psychologists on the other hand are the brain behind the work. They are responsible for determining what is bothering you, how best they can be of help, and for making sure their clients get to the goal they are working for. Not to mention, the faith psychologists should have in the progression of their client’s mental health. There are different types of psychologists, overseeing different dimensions. It ranges from sit-down conversations on sofas to conducting other complicated tests.


Based on what they are good at, and which field they can perform best, there are many different types of psychologists. This is also because these professionals themselves may or may not possess a specific skill set that is needed to be good in a different psychologist arena.


Types of psychologists

Health Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

When it comes to different types of psychologists, this field tries to encourage good health behaviours while reducing bad ones. That is such as poor eating habits, cigarettes, drug abuse, and not having enough exercise. Its goal is to lower the risk of chronic illnesses like weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, tumours, and traumas. They work with other medical professionals to provide advice on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. These things contribute to illness, and how to modify them. They develop public health plans in areas such as exercise, alcohol, smoking, and drug usage, injury, and disease management. By evaluating the extent of illnesses, health behaviour, and other variables, health psychologists collaborate with local residents and other experts to improve health and wellbeing.


They produce and take up plans that can improve human lives and well-being. This includes medications to assist them to cope with disease or other issues. They also dedicate themselves to understand the effect of mentality on the physical system of a person. They can also notice underlying factors of people when it comes to their attitude that can put them at risk. In other words, they are skilled in being able to treat the mental impact of the illness.


BioPsychologists – Types of Psychologists

Another important part of types of psychologists is this. Biological psychologists investigate and do neurological and psychology studies. They can learn about diverse biological variables that influence how we think, feel, and behave by studying the brain function of action. This sort of psychologist may also look at how brain damage and disease affect behaviour. Investigators can discover novel ways to prevent, cure, and manage brain disorders and trauma by better understanding how individuals are impacted by such injuries and diseases.


Things that are in their profile are,


  • Investigating human responsiveness concerns
  • Performing animal and human research in order to find ways to promote health and well-being.
  • Directing research projects involving cognitive processes
  • Investigating the effect of brain trauma and disorders
  • Examining the relationship between mood swings and a variety of mental illnesses
  • Sensations that might cause mental discomfort are being studied
  • Working as a teacher at colleges and universities
  • Undertaking experiments on animals to determine the impact of medicines on behaviour
  • Performing duties efficiently in a fast pace environment

Clinical Psychologists -Types of Psychologists

Clinical psychologists are also a key element in the types of psychologists. They provide a number of mental services to people of all ages and for a variety of mental health issues. These issues can range from moderate to chronic and difficult.


They may also work in areas such as research, instruction, and supervision, capacity building and assessment, policymaking, and other things that promote mental health. In addition, they are able to provide medical and compensation advice. They are skilful in the assessment and diagnosis of mental diseases and difficulties. To be a clinical psychologist entails conducting research, educating, and evaluating patients. Avoidance, detection, analysis, and therapy are all common topics for investigation. They assist in the making and execution of treatments in a variety of contexts, as well as the evaluation of prognosis.


These experts work in a variety of venues, involving clinics, outpatient clinics, government departments, as well as private practice. The most popular specialty is clinical psychology. They have typically served a more severely helpless community than counselling psychologists, but the distinction is becoming increasingly blurred.


Forensic Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

Forensic psychologists, a part of the many types of psychologists, are scientists who also practice in this field. They use clinical expertise, concept, and abilities to better understand and operate justice processes, as well as undertake research in related fields. Also, they frequently work in judicial, administrative, and family law settings, assisting litigants, criminals, survivors, and official and community-based staff.


They specialize where it involves psychology and the law. This can also include serving as an advisor in criminal or civil matters, leading paternity exams, and counselling those who have become victims of crime. They undertake responsibilities like examining young and adult convicts, dealing with child witnesses, determining the ability to appear in court, and providing professional testimony when needed, which is commonly seen as a detective attempting to capture felons. They have a wide range of tasks, but many of them are related to the criminal justice process. In the legal system, they play a critical role in deciding a criminal’s mental state.


As opposed to other types, these people get involved in the forensic side. Undertaking convict screens and examinations, providing trial mental exams, and conferring with attorneys, advocates, prison staff, or judicial staff on the mental well-being of convicts are some of the main responsibilities of this position. Inmates may get mental health treatment from them in the form of group treatments, such as drug addiction treatment or anger control, and individual counselling. Most people believe that forensic investigators exclusively help criminals, although they regularly assist victims of numerous crimes. In a sexual assault case, for example, they may assist a kid in testifying in court or assisting an assault victim in their recovery upon being assaulted.


Personality Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

A personality psychologist examines how someone’s personality influences the ways they engage with the environment. They study how personality types influence how they act in social settings, how they react to others, how they deal with issues, and how they manage to live with tension. They look at the many sides of personalities and how specific facts affect one’s life as well as what they do. Experts in the subject of this are concerned with a broad variety of issues with practical implications.


They mostly work with persons who have personality disorders and are having trouble functioning. They try to manage or deal with their difficulties. Personality disorders are thought to be produced by biological or genetic effects by some while others believe they are created by early life events that hinder full function. They might look at how personality develops and if altering is possible. They could also look at whether other personal characteristics are linked to certain illnesses or disorders, how personality impacts people’s decisions, numerous elements that impact personality development.


Military Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

They deal with those victims who are currently serving in the military. A psychologist might be a military person or operate as a freelancer. Them, like clinical psychologists, require a medical degree and regulated technical expertise. This job might involve things like counseling troops who are going through a hard time or mental anguish, doing research into various areas of military life, and assisting personnel in their adjustment back to a normal life. They are an essential type of psychologists to society.


There are several fields of study that are only available to this. Officer applicants are evaluated by psychologists in this profession to assess whether or not individuals have a mental picture that will allow them to perform the tasks of their post. Some specialize in psychotherapy for certain areas of the force, while others use their understanding of the human mind and personality to help with enlistment, stress management, training, verdict, and administration. Based on their capacity, the job differs.


They create and execute therapy plans to prepare service personnel for dealing with the demands of their jobs in a healthy way. They devote as much energy to preventing issues as they do to resolving them. The ways of military duty include severe stress. There is always the possibility for intense battle scenarios. The existence of a large amount of armament, possessing mentally stable and healthy individuals is critical.


Organizational Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

They are experts when it comes to workplace behaviour. Also, they work in helping employees determine who is best for the company. They work in examining each candidate’s knowledge and determining where and if they will fit in best. This service helps an organization enhance work performance and suit the best candidates for the job role. It can even benefit with switching roles between employees who are talented in different subjects.


Out of the psychologist categories, they are usually the highest-paid. They are important individuals when it comes to helping a business step up its game. That is by lowering cost and maximizing output by determining what is necessary and what is not. They need to have a master’s degree to be able to perform at their best. They take different forms when they perform. Sometimes on resources and sometimes test specialists. The seriousness and intensity increase with the level of the qualification. Which means conducting important and life-altering tests such as IQ tests, personality tests, performance, etc.


Consumer Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

This is one of the most important types of psychology when it comes to the marketing world. Behind being able to fully comprise a market and its sales, companies may have an invisible hand at their side, making all the magic happen. Most of the time, that is a consumer psychologist. They do their job by analyzing the consumers and determining what they are looking for, which makes things easy for the business that hired them to produce exactly what is necessary. Their job profile also includes identifying the target audience, analyzing consumer behaviour, and strategically tackling them with innovative ideas. They focus on consumer behaviour and take a deeper look at what the consumers are in look for.


This job role mainly aims to get into the consumer’s mind, and through that to elevate the sales level of the company. That makes the consumer psychologists really important because it is upon them that the sales of a company may rest. They develop strategies to promote markets and businesses. Wrong predictions and ill-timed suggestions can take the company apart.


Child Psychologist – Types of Psychologists

Among the types of psychologists, Child psychologists are those who help children with mental health issues. This includes helping children go through stressful events such as parents’ divorce, a previous trauma, bullying as well as guiding them away from behavioural problems. These professionals deal with children who are also diagnosed with syndromes such as autism, learning disabilities, OCD, phobias, and fears, among many other child-related issues. Their focus is mainly on these important and basic issues that can have a huge effect on a child’s life.


Things get extra complicated when it comes to children because incidents are common where traumatized or small kids refuse to speak up. The tricky and important part is to give an accurate diagnosis and an accurate plan on how to better the child’s situation. This process may or may not involve the child’s family or loved ones. Most of the time, the families are involved and the psychologist is likely to advise them on how best they can be of help. The process may also involve group therapy where the family as a collective participate to eliminate the issue. Especially if the child is bothered by a factor such as neglect. This goes hand in hand with developmental and clinical psychology since they must have a clear understanding of human development to tackle the issues.


School Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

They work closely with institutes and are dedicated to helping children with the stress they go through in a school setting. This can be academic pressure, sports pressure, behavioural issues, emotional problems, or societal issues. These individuals are important when it comes to the system of producing able citizens since an academic centre plays a vital role when it comes to a child’s growth. This is the first place that they deal with society outside of their family. The process of school counselling involves parents when necessary. Especially if the child’s difficulties at schools are in relation to what is happening at home. The process is broad since it not only cares about academic performance but all sorts of other issues school children can be associated with. One of them being drug abuse.


Overall, these specialists are focusing on improving the educational experience and the output. Bettering the process can include therapy sessions, programs, and other activities the way the school psychologist sees fit. These professionals pay considerable attention not just the behavioural but physical development, and thus health promotions are always upheld.


Personality Psychologists – Types of Psychologists

Personality psychologists perform the basics of psychology. That is analysing a persons personality and behaviour and determining how it affects their life, directly or indirectly. This includes how they behave in a social situation, their sense of humour, how they deal with situations, how they deal with people, the way they react to stressful situations among other factors. The basic belief is, who a person is affects everything and everyone around them. In other words, the negative and positive situations one may in be plainly due to who he or she is.


Personality psychologists can determine personality disorders in their clients through observations and testing. While it is debatable as to what causes personality disorders, these professionals are responsible for diagnosing them and coming up with a treatment plan in favor of the client/patient. Personality psychologists deal with different people from different upbringings. Thus, they need to be sensitive to those factors when it comes to determining diagnosis and treatment plans. They are, as always are responsible to make the client understand what is happening to them. Understanding the client enough to know their preferences when it comes to certain decisions is also important. They use different theories and methods to arrive at a final decision.


Engineering Psychologists

In simplest terms, this is where technology interacts with psychology. These professionals expertise when it comes to the relationship between digital devices and humans. The final outcome of their valuable input is creating more user-friendly devices which up the usage and sales. Their knowledge help on very basic levels as well as when it comes to complicated developments to make sure the devices we associate with every day are designed in a way that makes our lives easier.


Not only do they make life easier for users, they also play a vital role when it comes to the development site based on how the technology creation impacts the workers. This works on making the workplace safer and utilized. They also benefit the healthcare industry by taking part in creating devices to aid the health industry. As opposed to other engineers, engineering psychologists are armed with the knowledge of human factors and errors that can be a concern when it comes to the digital world.


Environmental Psychologists

Environmental psychologists explore the bond between humans and the environment. In other words, how a person’s environment affects in shaping who they are or who they become. A people’s environment can involve where they live, who they associate with on a daily basis, work environment, as well as concerns regarding natural environments. In other words, they can tell someone the effect of their environment on the recent anger issues they are experiencing, while working on issues such as climate change, or protecting endangered species.


Their professional conduct includes researching and studying the concerned case, how those factors affect the performance or behaviour and recommend plans to improve the environment. They can effectively work their way through identifying how environmental issues can alter good health in different situations, even if they are drastically different.


Counselling psychologist

The process of understanding the clients, connecting with them, being empathetic and trustworthy is emphasised when it comes to counselling. These specialists are active listeners and pay attention to every minor detail. They offer advice, insights, treatment plans, and other sorts of clarity to people who are suffering due to various mental health-related issues. Therapy is just one but a significant part of this process.


Since this is related to people and their dark side, there are times clients oppose treatment or the new information they learn about themselves. Especially when it comes to counselling men or couples counselling where one party or the other refuses to take the blame. In other words, this job includes a lot of patience and faith in the client’s progress.


Criminal Psychologists

Criminal psychologists work in the field of law, evaluating the situation of the victims and the criminals. Their service can be offered in different ways, but are wrapped around the basis of determining the competence of a criminal to stand trial and taking a timeline of events from the victims. They can also assist in other ways such as choosing the 7 jurors to assist in the case, by judging their mental competence and favouritism.


There are over 70 types of psychologists in the field. Apart from the above, below is a list of a few more.


  • Aviation
  • Adolescent
  • Advertising
  • Analytical
  • Cross-Cultural
  • Cultural
  • CyberPsychologist
  • CyberPsychologist
  • Developmental
  • Ecological
  • Evolutionary
  • Existential
  • Health
  • Geriatric
  • Human Factors
  • Legal
  • Mathematical
  • Media
  • Operational
  • Pediatric
  • Performance
  • Political
  • Research
  • Sports
  • Traffic

As you can see, there is a psychologist specializing in almost every issue we can think of. If you are not sure which is the best choice to help you, you can always research. In addition, even if you go to the wrong specialist, chances are they will redirect you to whom you should consult!