Psychology
Career Objectives
Understanding human behavior and the thoughts that generate it; with the purpose of achieving mental health, psychosocial well-being and greater development in people
Professional Profile
Health professional specialized in psychological disorders of which cause lies in personal difficulties of relationship and coexistence with the environment, and not to alterations in the structure of the nervous system, such as the ones treated by a Psychiatrist.
Psychology attempts to discover the secrets of human behavior, both at individual, social and pathological level, and its problems to lead the person to understand the mechanisms that determine his problems to learn to control them, as well as learning to develop his own characteristics and individual capabilities.
It is not about telling other what to do, but about facilitating and guiding the search process in solving the problems of people and social groups. For that, he uses relearning strategies and raising awareness of certain situations.
He studies the existence of a great variety of social problems that need to be identified and re-read, such as the family and social relationship of a person, in order to promote in it autonomous and sustainable change processes over time, also applying preventive and educational tasks in that field.
Psychological research collects facts about people’s behavior by organizing them systematically and developing theories for their understanding. This helps know and explain people’s behavior and in some opportunities, even, to predict their future actions, being able to intervene on them.
For this, he has a method, techniques and instruments that allow approaching scientifically the evaluation processes of psychological problems, their diagnosis and treatment.
Specific tasks or activities carried out in the profession
Psychology’s study areas are varied and their number is increasing, they are interrelated and often interlinked with each other, but in any of them, their task is to collect facts about behavior and experience, and organize them systematically, developing theories to understand them.
Specialties
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Organizational Psychology studies the working environment of workers to promote internal communication in organizations, keeping an appropriate work environment through a good communication strategy and agreement with others, and takes measure that make professional and private life more compatible, thus maintaining a better working environment.
He collaborates in the Management of Human Resources, studying their location in workstations according to their abilities, trying to optimize the incentive system for employees; promoting the training of professionals; implementing specific programs for the development of management skills; and advise individually, for the development of managers and middle managers’ skills.
Besides, he collaborates in research for the marketing department in an effort to achieve effective communication with consumers.
Occupational Field
Focused on work in public institutions (governments, ministries and municipalities), in private company and different workplaces, being able to participate in all those cultural, educational, working and clinical areas.
Social Psychology
Social psychology studies how the social environment affects or intervenes on the way of thinking and individual behavior of people, and in turn, how their mentality contributes to collective thinking.
This specialty of Psychology provides tools for a better understanding of human behavior in different human groups of everyday life, such as work, family, citizens and inhabitants of a country, etc; and how it influences him.
We know that people act differently when they are in groups than when they are alone, and also, act differently according to the groups they are in or they are representing. Thus, groups can be considered units of analysis with their own identity, that is, with their own characteristics.
The individual, when belonging to a group or a social class, his reactions are influenced by this membership; society is reflected there.
This is a mid-term review between the individual and the whole society as such; it corresponds to the study of human relationships and communication in this field.
Why all this?
Many of the problems faced in organizations and in personal life are due to not knowing how to communicate or interact with others. Many people suffer from their inability to be heard, their difficulty in complaining or their difficulty in recognizing the work of others. Overcoming these difficulties, it is possible to promote the individual potential of each person and modify the negative aspects of the environment.
He studies community problems such as social, racial, beliefs, stereotype prejudices, drug dependence, delinquency, alcoholism and others; and participates in the planning and implementation of programs to contribute to their solution.
Social Psychology goes in search of the solution of conflicts between the individual and society, unlike Sociology, that studies the behavior and collective needs of people, that is, as a society.
Occupational Field
In the community area (family, neighborhood council, sport clubs, schools, companies, etc)
Institutional (Public, governmental, municipal and statewide departments)
Educational Psychology
Educational Psychology studies the behavior of individuals and social groups in education environments, addressing the development of individual abilities, learning-teaching processes, educational, vocational and professional orientation.
Among its tasks, we have:
Being a consultant or intervening in teaching-learning processes.
Being a consultant or intervening in special education and in educational integration.
Being a consultant and intervening in emerging fields of education such as the research of new teaching methods in order to make studying more effective, such as teaching children to read or solve math problems.
Educational, vocational and professional orientation
Assessment and stimulation of development and individual abilities
Lesson plans and curriculum design
Carrying out evaluations and interventions in companies such as the diagnosis of personality and intelligence
Planning intervention programs in schools and social organizations
Studying the behavior of individuals and social groups in educational environments
Teaching
Occupational Field
Focused on working in different educational establishments (schools, high schools and universities)
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology through psychotherapy work tries to help those who have mental health problems in their daily lives or suffer from a mental disorder.
Psychoanalysis allows solving individual pathologies and disorders, seeking to understand a mental condition, how it has been formed, how it evolves and its relationship with the social and biological structure of the individual.
Research in the clinical area helps the discovery of psychotherapeutic methods and techniques that broaden the field of action in prevention work.
Tasks he performs:
He interviews the patients
He applies different types of therapies to people who need psychological support
He performs treatments that are not medical (with medicine) or surgical (operations)
He prepares sexual education programs, aimed at educational institutions in all the levels, as well as the community in general.
He participates in therapeutic programs designed to create life alternatives for elderly groups.
He participates actively in interdisciplinary teams in the hospital environment
He prepares psychological diagnoses in different life stages.
Occupational Field
Hospitals
Clinics
Doctor’s Offices
Public and private institutions
Private Consultancy
Emerging trends in the Psychology area
Physiological Psychology
Physiological psychology, for instance, studies the functioning of the brain and the nervous system.
The relationship existing between mind and body is studied through the SPECT (device similar to the scanner). This one performs an analysis of the brain functioning and monitors changes represented by colors the brain development generates. It has been proved that psychological factors such as suggestion produce the same changes as if medicines had been introduced.
It is the process in which it is applied, through suggestion, a placebo, which causes the person to produce their own morphine called endorphin. Now, the challenge is to know the mechanisms of how the mind produces these changes.
Economic Psychology
We know how the expectation regarding investments and the economic management of a company has to do with psychological factors such as decision making, that have to do with Social Psychology and, therefore, with Organizational Psychology concepts.
Legal Psychology
Mediation is the mission the psychologist has in trials. In them, he can get the parties to reach a solution much faster than in the entire legal proceeding, with the advantage that once accepted the agreement between the parties, this may have the same validity as a trial.
Estimated time of College years
5 – 6 years, depending on the institution
Main courses considered in the study plan
*Neurobiology
Psychology Fundamentals
Human Development Theories
Sociology
Psychological Processes
*Developmental Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
Personality
*Data Analysis Methods in Psychological Research
Social Psychology
Psychosocial Problems
Psychoanalytic Theory
Behavior Theory (related to behavior)
*Cognitive Theory (related to knowledge)
*Existential – Humanistic Theory (related to the reason of human existence)
Psychological Evaluation Techniques
Systematic Theory of Communication
*General Psychopathology
Community Psychology
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Research in Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Adult Psychiatry
Childhood and Youth *Psychopathology
*Organizational Psychology
Educational Psychology
Clinical Psychology Specialties
Psychological diagnosis techniques
Clinical psychological diagnosis
Psychotherapy Fundamentals
Intervention Strategies
Clinical Experience
Educational Psychology Specialties
*Psychosocial Analysis of the Educational System
Learning in Educational Systems
Management and Strategic Planning in Education
Design and Assessment of Educational Programs
Educational Practicum
Industrial and Organizational Psychology Specialties
Human Resources Management
Personnel Selection
Human Resources Training
Organizational Development
Occupational Organizational Experience
Vocation, Skills and Interests required in the candidate for this career
Interests
Motivation to understand his behavior and others’ behavior, and interest in using this knowledge to provide service to others
Taste for listening to his friends, inspiring confidence and turn to his help
Interest in knowing humans in their feeling; curiosity to investigate, observe and understand human behavior; curiosity to know why we are how we are
Communicate with each other, especially for those interested in Occupational Psychology.
(This interest shouldn’t be confused with a need to solve his conflicts)
Skills
Good reading ability and reading comprehension
High level of analytical and reflection abilities of himself and others
Synthesis Capacity (distinguish what is substantial from what is secondary, summarizing)
Observation ability to analyze himself and others
Self-knowledge, especially if he will be dedicated to clinical psychology
Ease of expression, speaking, conversation and understanding with others. -Communication strategy and agreement with others, especially for Occupational Psychology
Vocation
Reaching full development of human potentialities, people’s happiness, their satisfaction and personal and social fulfillment, through helping them in their personal, emotional and mental field
Or any specific dream or longing which feels involved or oriented towards this direction.
Candidate’s Personality
Honesty and respect attitude towards the human being
Sensibility and emotional stability
Empathy, that is, ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, seeing the world in two ways (yours and the patient’s) to become a contribution for them
Critical with regard to what he studies and observes in his environment
Tolerance before individual and cultural differences
Frustration tolerance
Willingness for systematic work
Participation initiative and willingness to work in groups
Work Scope
Urban
In direct contact with people
Conflict Management
Related Careers
Psycho-pedagogy with Educational Psychology
Pedagogy with Educational Psychology
Psychiatry with Clinical Psychology
Sociology with Social Psychology
Human Resources Management with Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Glossary of Terms
*Neurobiology: Minimum biological bases to understand the behavior and psychological phenomena of the human being.
*Developmental Psychology: Study of the human development and the cognitive (related to knowledge), emotional and social transformations in the stages of the life cycle corresponding to adolescence, adulthood and old age.
*Cognitive Theory: Historical and philosophical background of the study of cognition (knowledge) in Psychology.
*Existential Humanistic Theory: Related to the reason of the human existence. -Origins of the existential humanistic theory.
*Organizational Psychology: Basic principles of the structure and operation of organizations. –Human behavior in organizations, in its different levels: individual, group and organizational.
*Psychosocial Analysis of the Educational System: School system as an organization of society and social organization.
*Data Analysis Methods in Psychological Research: Basic Statistics concepts. –Hypothesis contrasting. –Computer statistical programs corresponding to analysis strategies.
* Childhood and Youth Psychopathology (mental disorder): Fundamentals of childhood psychopathology from the descriptive, explanatory and operational perspective. –Recognition of different psychopathological cases in childhood and their influence on family and school life of the child.
*General Psychopathology: Most frequent mental illnesses, psychosis, disorders: organic, anxious and mood.
*Research Methods in Psychology: Basis of research sciences and scientific operations. –Types of research and designs. –Descriptive Statistics.
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