What psychologists do

Not all psychologists are involved in the treatment of emotional disturbances. A 1982 survey of members of the American Psychological Association found that psychologists are working in an increasing variety of settings and that employment opportunities are likely to increase further in the next few years. In 1982, 46 percent of APA members were clinical psychologists, many of them working as therapists in mental health settings. An additional 17 percent were in community, counseling, and school psychology. Altogether, 63 percent of the members were in human service fields. Eighty-nine percent of these health service providers held doctoral degrees.

Human Service Fields

Helping people solve day-to-day problems is the focus of many psychological practitioners. Many psychologists work in settings where they can apply behavior principles to teach people to cope more effectively with their lives. These human service areas generally include the subfields of clinical, counseling, community, and school psychology.

Clinical Psychology. Clinical psychologists specialize in helping clients with behavior problems. The clients may be experiencing anxiety or fear or may be having trouble adjusting to stresses at home or at work. Clinical psychologists work cither in private practice or at a hospital, mental institution, or social service agency. They administer psychological tests, interview potential clients, and use psychological methods to treat emotional problems. Many universities employ psychologists to help students and staff adjust to the pressures of academic life. In this setting clinical psychologists often are able to continue their research into the causes of normal and abnormal behavior. More job opportunities exist in clinical psychology than in any other area of psychology.

Counseling Psychology. Counseling psychologists, like clinical psychologists, work with people who have emotional problems, but their clients' problems are usually less serious. For example, a person might ask a counseling psychologist for information about vocational rehabilitation programs or for help in making a job choice or in adjusting to a new life-style. Counseling psychologists tend to work for public agencies such as mental health centers, hospitals, and universities. Many work in college or university counseling bureaus to help students adjust to a university atmosphere and to provide vocational and educational guidance. Like clinical psychologists, many counseling psychologists use the setting in which they work to continue to explore the causes and treatment of maladjustment.

Community Psychology. Community psychology is a relatively new field that focuses on community mental health. Community psychologists work for mental health agencies, state governments, and private organizations. They help the community and its institutions adjust to problems. In a rural community they might work to establish an outpatient mental health treatment center; in an urban community they might analyze the misuse of drugs and design a drug rehabilitation program. Many community psychologists focus on special populations such as the elderly or the handicapped. In addition to the redirection and evaluation of current programs and plans, prevention is a major interest.

School Psychology. School psychologists work in educational systems. Their roles vary with their level of training. Those with bachelor's degrees usually only administer tests. Those with master's degrees administer and interpret tests and help teachers with classroom-related problems. Psychologists with Ph.D.s perform those tasks and are also involved in influencing school policies and procedures (Bardon, 1983). They establish communication among parents, teachers, administrators, and other psychologists at the school. They also provide information to teachers and parents about a student's progress and advise them how to help students and faculty do a better job. Many school psychologists see their primary job as helping students, teachers, parents, and others understand each other (Bardon, 1982; G. M. Trachtman, 1981).

Choosing a Therapist. Among the various practitioners who work in the human service subfields, each one has unique qualifications. But the public often is unaware of those qualifications. Many experience emotional problems but are hesitant to seek help, perhaps owing to misconceptions or lack of knowledge about therapists. They may think of a therapist as a forbidding medical figure who dissects and diagnoses a client's personality. Understandably, someone with this conception might try to avoid such an experience. However, a variety of people provide psychotherapy. Counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists all treat and counsel individuals like Jared Burger, who opened up this chapter.

Sallie Adams, a member of Ralph Nader's health research group, has written a consumers' guide to therapy called Through the Mental Health Maze. In addition to reporting on the types of mental health services available, the book provides guidelines for finding a therapist and for determining whether a therapist is competent and has received training at an accredited educational or professional institution.

College students can usually find a therapist through the psychological service center located on campus or through a counseling bureau. If these centers do not have appropriate facilities, the staff there can usually provide references to appropriate qualified mental health professionals in the general community. In larger cities, an individual can usually find a therapist through the outpatient branch of a hospital. Many of today's best mental health centers are outpatient divisions of the psychiatry department of a medical center. The telephone directory also lists people who provide therapy services, usually under the headings of psychologists, psychiatrists, or counselors.

It is a good idea to be relatively cautious even after choosing a therapist. A client should feel free to ask what goals the therapist hopes to achieve in therapy, and how he or she hopes to achieve them. Therapies vary significantly in approach, and someone who doesn't like the way treatment is proceeding should speak up. As mental health consumers, people have the right to evaluate and perhaps discontinue therapy, just as they have the right to evaluate the services of a tutor, carpenter, or physician.