up, psychology is located at the intersection of many fields of knowledge pertaining to human functioning. P SYCHOLOGISTS AT W ORK Psychologists today work in a variety of settings where they can apply psychological principles for teaching and training people to cope effectively with the problems of their lives. Often referred to as “human service areas” they include clinical counselling, community, school and organisational psychology. Clinical psychologists specialise in helping clients with behavioural problems by providing therapy for various mental disorders and in cases of anxiety or fear, or with stresses at home or at work.
They work either as private practitioners or at hospitals, mental institutions, or with social agencies. They may be involved in conducting interviews and administering psychological tests to diagnose the client’s problems, and use psychological methods for their treatment and rehabilitation. Job opportunities in clinical psychology attract quite a few to this field of psychology. Counselling psychologists work with persons who suffer from motivational and emotional problems.
The problems of their clients are less serious than those of the clinical psychologists. A counselling psychologist may be involved in vocational rehabilitation programmes, or helping persons in making professional choices or in adjusting to new and difficult situations of life. Counselling psychologists work for public agencies such as mental health centres, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities. Community psychologists generally focus on problems related to community mental health.
They work for mental health agencies, private organisations and state governments. They help the community and its institutions in addressing physical and mental health problems. In rural areas they may work to establish a mental health centre. In urban areas they may design a drug rehabilitation programme.
Many community psychologists also work with special populations such as the elderly or the physically or mentally challenged. Besides the redirection and evaluation of various programmes and plans, community based rehabilitation (CBR) is of major interest to community psychologists. School psychologists work in educational systems, and their roles vary according to the levels of their training. For example, some school psychologists only administer tests, whereas others also interpret test results to help