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February 4, 2010
What Does a School Counselor Do?
Although, at many parts of the United States, they are also called as a guidance counselor, their responsibilities basically revolve around working with students in kindergarten through 12th grade in educational counseling. The key responsibility that school counselor perform is to work along with students in assessing abilities and helping them work constantly towards long-term objectives. However, at times their duty differ depending the nature of educational or work setting. Counselors who work in junior and senior high schools generally provide assistance to students in making proper selection of course that can affect their careers. In case, if students wish to attend college, school counselors play the vital role in advising them on both their extracurricular and academic activities. Apart from this, counselors in elementary schools mainly work with students who are physically handicaps. In such situations, counselors provide guidance to students who get into trouble in the community. They generally observe students in class and at play in order to determine if they actually require any special or extra behavioral or educational needs. In addition to this, the post-secondary school counselors are specialized counselors who generally use meetings with high school students and also assist them through any personal issues or career path to select after graduation. Today school counselors are at the top of their profession. These days, many school counselors are specializing in certain areas of guidance, such as vocational counseling and some are even becoming supervisors or school administrators. If we talk in terms of employment outlook then the requirement of school counselors is expected to grow faster than the average for all jobs. Many states of the United States are requiring counselors in elementary schools and in an expansion of responsibilities of counselors as well. Research School Counseling degrees and programs today as well as our listings of Top Education Schools on EducationMajorsU.com
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Organizational Therapy Programs in Psychology
Attaining a psychology degree in organizational therapy can help you lead a successful career as an organizational industrial psychologist. Once you complete the program, as a graduate you are easily qualified to work as an entry level counselor and play the key role in offering counseling to couples, individuals, and families. It is one of the few programs in psychology that trains you in learning skills that generally play major role in assessing in organizational setting on the level of the work group or individual. Besides this, upon the completion of a program, you would also be able to apply current psychology and business theory, inspire teams and utilize managerial skills to support productivity, and talk efficiently with co-workers. As a student, you can take this program, either in the conventional three year cycle or in an accelerated two-year course pattern. You can take either of the programs depending on your career planning. The key point that needs to understand is that whatever the degree level or sequence you choose, the future scope and career growth possibilities are great and rewarding. With a bachelors degree, you could easily join a business firm that provides training to different individual. Moreover, sooner or later, you could even establish your own business providing trainings to corporate professionals and organizational retreats. With an organizational psychology master’s degree, you could be most appropriate person to hold a position in an organization’s administration. These days, many students after attaining a masters degree in organizational psychology perform consulting for firms and help them in overcoming from a difficulty with their organizational culture. Apart from this, if you perform a Ph.D in organizational therapy then you could play the major role as an administrator where you may require preparing trainings and reimbursement systems that generally focus on subjects like organizational reliability and work performance. Nowadays, there are many psychology schools and universities in the United States and Canada that offer specialized psychology programs in organizational therapy. However, you must remember to choose the program and get your training only from an accredited psychology school. Today the organizational psychologist has become an important career option for many young aspirants. If we talk about the job outlook, it also seems to be very promising. In fact, as per the recent studies submitted by BLS, the job growth for graduates of an Organizational Psychology program is nearly expected to boom much faster than the average for all other jobs in the next few years. In fact, in recent times, every business has started to realize the value of utilizing mental health knowledge to increase worker satisfaction and industry productivity. So the day is not that far when human resource professionals specialized with organizational therapy will be required to organize and streamline worker-training programs. No doubt, today the options after completing an organizational therapy program in psychology are limitless.
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Popular Online Psychology Degrees
There are several degree programs available in psychology available through both campus and online modes spanning Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees. However, in order to practice as a psychologist, the minimum expectation is a Master’s degree in Psychology. An online Associate degree in Psychology is not enough to pursue a career as a psychologist though a Bachelor’s degree can serve as a stepping stone in this discipline. A graduate of a Bachelor program can begin a career as an assistant to a practicing licensed psychologist or assist with experimental research. For those whose heart lies in practicing in the psychology profession, a Doctoral degree is strongly recommended though a Master’s degree may do. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that a Doctoral degree is essential in most cases for practicing as licensed psychologists. Both Master and Doctoral degrees require a dissertation and internship under a licensed psychologist. A Bachelor degree usually spans around 3 years whereas Associate’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees last approximately 2 years. License is mandatory for practicing as psychologist and requires lot of hands-on work. Professional experience for a few years is necessary over and above the internship done [3 months to 1 year] as part of Master’s and Doctoral degree programs. Potential psychologists also need to qualify in the State licensing exams for psychologists. Course content for these programs usually revolves around subjects such as research methods, clinical sciences, cognition, behavioral psychology, biology, statistics and developmental and social psychology. Specializations can be selected in areas of sports, child psychology, clinical psychology, school counselors and organizational psychology. Career outlook for the psychology discipline is predicted to be positive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts 9% job growth in this profession. The discipline has various types of psychologists such as developmental psychologists, child psychologists, clinical psychologists, organizational psychologists and counseling psychologists. Those who possess higher educational qualifications such as Doctoral degrees are expected to benefit the most in the thriving competition. Earnings or salaries in this field can be lucrative for those with established practices or those who have made their mark in employment. They vary based on the practicing discipline. The highest 10% in this discipline drew more than $87,060 annually in 2002. The median annual earnings for school psychologists stood at $54,980 whereas it was $71,400 for organizational psychologists. Employment opportunities exist in fields such as management, human resources, marketing, research and corporate training among other avenues. The growth in the psychology discipline is expected to be fueled by the growing demand for health care and clinical services, awareness and inclusion of psychology elements in school curriculum and expansion of medical services.
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History of Social Work
Then the time period between the 1700s till the late 1800s, witnessed the end of the Civil War and the commencement of the industrial revolution. This was the time that marked the starting of contemporary social work in the United States. As production of goods got multiplied, and agrarian-based jobs dried out, many workers started flocking towards the big cities, which ultimately led to rise in some serious problems such as unemployment, overcrowding, and finally living a life in barbaric conditions. Though some families were able to find job but still lived life at the lowest standards of poverty. Adding to this, as Americans started migrating all around the country and relocating to cities where there were employments, major concerns in relation to race and culture emerged. Now, as the industrial revolution remained to continue, cities turned more congested, wages continued low, general livelihood circumstances further declined and migration kept on increasing. Out of all these state of affairs, finally the awareness about community and individual requirements grew. Finally, in the year 1877, the first American Charity Organization Society (COS) of the United States was established in Buffalo, New York. The organization started charitable programs and prepared volunteer labor to help the poor, with the key aim of repairing as much self-sufficiency. Adding to this, the organization even introduced the initial proper training programs for social workers, who were generally called friendly visitors. Meanwhile, around 1884 the settlement movement started in the London city. This movement started out of the Victorian knowledge. The key idea behind the movement was to motivate and enroll students travel into slum areas to work and live together amongst local inhabitants. Within few years, Stanton Coit founded America’s first settlement house- the Neighborhood Guild, which was finally, named as University Settlement on New York City’s Lower East Side. In addition to this, in 1889, Jane Addams established Hull House in Chicago, which is considered as the most renowned settlement house in the United States. Unfortunately, the concept of settlement house movement seemed to drop its impetus after World War I. In simple terms, volunteerism declined and proficiently trained and skilled social workers took over the procedure and administration of settlements. Finally, it was during the World War I, when social workers’ skills were actually considered useful outside of poor communities. Thus, after WWI, saw the early development of a change in the populations social workers served. By the year 1927 the child guidance centers reached to almost 100 where interdisciplinary groups of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers offered therapy to mainly middle-class clients on serious subjects like adjustment disorders, childhood trauma and many other. Through the difficult era of the 1970s, social work continued to be highlighted by budget deficits and the introduction of most social programs. In the 1990s, the world once again witnessed the most important policy developments that resulted serious inference for the social work as a profession. Temporary assistance to needy families (TANF) emerged as the largest improvement policy ever of that decade. As per this policy, a family may well be on public support for five years. And By 2000, social workers and agencies working in this area grew in numbers and began to realize that they need to create and initiate new solutions for the needy people. Today for almost over a century, the social work has emerged as one of the most rewarding professions. It has matured with the pace of time and in response to social and economic changes. Tough, if we try to look its key mission, it still remains to advocate for the requirements of the most helpless segments of society and finally improve their well-being. Research Social Worker careers in Psychology today with our listings of Top Psychology Schools.
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Popular Places to Study PsychologyPsychology is one of the few subjects that lets students study their own theoretical knowledge through experiments. Over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for programs in psychology. Perhaps, one of the prime reasons for this enormous rise in demand is that the field of psychology offers more job opportunities in comparison to other subjects in the humanities. And, adding to this, the research prospects in psychology are also vast, which is why the demand for courses in psychology has been rising steadily. Today if we look at the popularity of psychology then we can easily see that the ratio of students opting for degree programs in psychology has also increased proportionately. There are many psychology schools located at different cities that are offering various degree programs in psychology. However, the major point to note is that every school generally has its own specialty, and therefore it’s vital to understand the differences between the universities and choose the school not just based on their ranking. At times, you can find a good education containing a good curriculum at a school that may not have a good ranking. The University of Minnesota, for instance is just one of few places where you could enjoy a good education. In fact, as per the recent studies, the University of Minnesota stands out for its fame of excellent tutors, and is a good place to study school psychology and personality genetics.
Today the field of psychology has many different concentrations. Therefore, the place or school you decide for learning psychology must be closely influenced by the faculty’s interests & experience and form of research that gets completed. Understanding human behavior is never easy, but getting trained from experts at best education platforms can surely make a big difference.
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What are the eating disorders psychologists treat?
The eating disorders include ‘anorexia nervosa’ where the Individuals believe they are fat even when they are dangerously thin and restrict their eating to the point of starvation, ‘bulimia nervosa’ where individuals eat excessive amounts of food, then purge by making themselves vomit or using laxatives and ‘Binge eating’ where people have out-of-control eating patterns, but don’t purge. The approach of different psychologists towards these disorders varies according to the pattern of treatment followed by each one of them. According to studies, eating disorders are more seen in women and children. As per the studies, maladaptive eating behaviors and attitudes affect 10 to 15 percent of women. Investigators have also discovered that the behaviors extend beyond anorexia and may be an indictment of societal pressures. Psychologists do not jump into a quick conclusion like other doctors. They adopt a wait and watch approach rather than advocating the patients to take tablets etc. This is because; here the eating disorders are linked to abnormal thinking in the mindset of people. Psychologists are finding effective ways to treat these dangerous disorders. Family therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy can help individuals overcome two common eating disorders. In case of anorexia, some psychologists adopt a unique technique called Maudsley’s approach. The treatment is a form of family therapy that enlists parents’ aid in getting their daughters to eat again. Early in the treatment, psychologists invite the family to share a picnic meal. That gives them a sense of family meal patterns. It also allows them to suggest ways parents can get the child to eat more. The immediate peers of the patients or parents should also establish a good rapport with the psychologist. In weekly sessions, the parents then describe what they have fed their daughter and what’s working well. The approach also helps to strengthen the daughters’ feelings of independence by gradually letting them take control of their eating. Clinicians also help the family learn how to help the child cope with the challenges of adolescence. In contrast to current treatment, this approach is relative short-term. It relies mostly on outpatient treatment. And as per the opinion of researchers it is successful over the long-term; say researchers and this was proved right by many studies which found that two-thirds of patients regained normal weight without hospitalization. Most showed big improvements in psychological functioning. And parents became less critical of each other and their daughters. With respect to bulimia treatment, the largest controlled study on bulimia so far shows that two types of psychotherapy can help individuals stop bingeing and purging. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps individuals change the unrealistically negative thoughts they have about their appearance and change their eating behaviors. Interpersonal psychotherapy helps individuals improve the quality of their relationships, learn how to address conflicts head-on and expand their social networks. Thus, if you think that you have eating disorders which give you sleepless nights and unwanted thoughts; then go and get consulted with a psychologist. This will give you more confidence about your mental as well physical health. Pursue a Degree in Psychology.
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After the Diploma: How to market yourself with a Psychology Degree
Psychology as a profession has more chances in areas like Human Services such as Federal, State, Local governments and non-profit organizations, Administration, Community Relations, Public Relations, Teaching, Retail and Sales as well as in Advertising and Market Research. Well written resumes are work half done. Resumes should look neat and clean and should be content specific rather than including your life history. It should primarily focus on your Diploma in Psychology, other certifications as well as work experience if any. The main thing to be highlighted in a resume is your intentions and aspirations about psychology profession. By reading your resume, the interviewer should be able to analyze you and your merits. Another important way to market you with the Psychology Degree is to establish a good rapport with your faculty members, friends and other experts in the field who can guide in your job hunting. There are many other options in Psychology career. A Master’s Degree in Psychology can help you administer tests in Psychology. Under the supervision of a Doctoral Level Psychologist, you can even conduct research in laboratories and conduct psychological evaluations, counsel patients or administer duties. Not only this, you can even be a high school counselor or work as school psychologists or as counselors in the field of addiction. Psychology Degrees make you versatile and dynamic and this is what you need to project on in your resumes and interviews. You must be fully aware that you have the same skills that are required by a Business Executive, Architect, Librarian or Social Worker. There are not many jobs that require skills that psychology majors do not have. The present economic scenario which is characterized by down turns and recessions only call for more and more psychologists to deliver. Another most important thing to keep in mind is that you must be innovative and creative in your psychological approach. You must be able to deliver what you have learnt in psychological classes in an appropriate manner. Using Internet is another best option before you. Having personal profiles on Twitter, MySpace and Face Book can help you project your status as a psychology expert and this would do market you very much. On websites, you can upload your job winning resumes and network them to Health and Science Employers. For a good psychology profession, be sure to check the local yellow pages, news papers and online listings for companies in your area and then compile a list of potential employers who offer psychology-related jobs. This list also includes K-12 schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, government offices, mental health clinics or psychotherapy practices. Thus, the opportunities before you are many. Be systematic and scientific while searching jobs. Mainly, you should focus on your skills, personality and how will you be able to communicate with people to ensure a better performance. Sure, if all these are done, a good and rewarding psychology job will knock at your door step!
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Schizophrenia and PsychologySchizophrenia is a chronic, relentless, and disabling brain disease. In fact, it can be defined as a disorder characterized by a range of cognitive and emotional dysfunctions that basically involves instability in the content of thought, perceptions, language and communication skills along with fluency of thought and speech and interpersonal functioning. More often, it affects an individual’s capacity to “think straight.” Thoughts may come and then may go easily and rapidly and an individual may not be able to focus on one thought for very long and may be easily distracted. Individuals who have schizophrenia often suffer or carry terrifying symptoms of hallucination and delusion. Generally, considered as psychotic symptoms, in hallucination a person has a tendency of watching, listening, smelling, or feeling something that doesn’t really exist. Moreover, he or she may also have a false sense of sound like listening different tones or voices that might not be heard by other individuals. These are the most ordinary psychotic symptoms that generally affects near about 65 to 70% of patients. Adding to this, delusion is the false psychological belief and a person usually has a thought that other people are reading their minds or controlling their thoughts. These symptoms may leave them fearful. In most of the cases, their speech and behavior get so disorganized that they may be impenetrable or terrifying to others. Apart from this person suffering from schizophrenia may experience severe mental symptoms or even psychosis due to undetected essential medical conditions. A patient may not be capable of sorting out what is appropriate or irrelevant to a situation. The person may be unable to connect thoughts into coherent sequences, with thoughts becoming disorganized and fragmented. Moreover, a person may show any interest in social gatherings, avoid contact with others and when enforced to cooperate, he or she may have not had anything to say. In some severe situations, an individual can spend an almost entire day doing nothing at all. These problems with disturbing expression can be particularly upsetting to friends or even family members. The consequences of the disease, in any case, are very much emotional and as a result, psychological therapies can be helpful and one of the best ways to treat this disease. In recent times, the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is primarily considered as psychotherapy has shown positive improvement in both positive and negative symptoms in some patients. The approach has strengthened the patient’s capacity for normal thinking, using mental exercises and self-observation. Actually, some evidence has even shown drastic improvement in patients’ ability to learn and remember different things. Adding to this, individual psychotherapy is another form of psychosocial therapy that is available for people with schizophrenia. This type of therapy mainly focuses on current or past problems, thoughts, experiences, feelings and relationships. In this therapy, a sufferer shares his or her experiences with a trained empathic person. Now talking about their world with someone outside it can help the patient gradually learn and understand more about themselves and their problems. This psychotherapy helps them learn to sort out between the real and unreal or distorted world. Recent studies also indicate that supportive, reality-oriented, individual psychotherapy can be beneficial for outpatients with schizophrenia. Psychotherapy for schizophrenia often emphasizes adding structure to a person’s life. This structure can assist the patient suffering from schizophrenia in going to work every day, keeping good personal hygiene, and building personal relationships.
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How To Get Into A Psychology School
Start early- It is important to understand that getting an admission into the psychology school is never that easy. You must start as early as possible to develop strong skills and show those factors that are important to graduate schools. Try to get good grades- The next most vital point for consideration is that you need to have good grades. In fact, this is a very critical step. You may be able to recompense to some extent for reasonably high grades with a very high GRE score, but at the same time it is almost nearly impossible to prevail over mediocre grades without remediation. Ultimately, the best thing you can do is you must study efficiently, handle your time and write extremely well enough. Therefore, start early on with good grades, which may further help you improve your focus. Train yourself for the GRE- It is very important to train yourself well before you appear for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). It is very advisable to never appear for the examination just to see or judge yourself how you can do or rather just to have the idea of what all things you need to study. If you are not aware then it is important for you to know that all of your GRE scores for the earlier five years are actually informed to the schools of your choice when scored are sent. So, take the GRE seriously on each administration. Consequently, the best possible thing for you to do is to start preparing early. There are numerous exam preparation books easily available in the libraries and bookstores. Select Your Additional or Supplementary Activities Carefully- Your contribution in different extramural activities can actually add a unique feature and may even give extra attention to your application. Actually, it can play a very effective role in providing you with another way to get to know faculty and in turn let them also know more about your strengths or weakness if any. The time is always limited, so it’s better to select only those activities where you can participate. Moreover, it is also sensible to understand clearly that never think about mentioning your extracurricular activities just as a line on your resume. The faculty and admissions committees are smart enough to find the difference and may even ask you more regarding the level of your participation in activity. Apart from all this, it is equally essential for you to get all the supporting materials together. If you rush to finish your application the probability of making errors naturally increases. Get a proper and authenticate copy of your transcripts from every school you have attended and always perform the double examination to verify that everything mentioned on the transcript is really accurate and correct.
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Starting a New Career in PsychologyIn an increasingly competitive world, stress and other such mental disturbances are very common. Being physically well is not always enough in a long life race. One also needs to have a good mental health. Sometimes, the impact on the mental health does not show in the physical health. It is absolutely impossible to find people who are not free from any personal issues, family-related or career issues. In fact, if we carefully look at the current scenario the need for psychologists in the field of mental health has risen drastically over the years. No area, be it, a community or a family can be said to be free of tensions or disputes. Therefore, in order to diffuse such pressurized situations, skilled and professionals like psychologists are required. Today psychologist plays a vital role. The subject like "Psychology" can be easily defined as a systematic study of the thought process and behavior of human and animal in environmental variables. It is a science that handles mental behavior. Today in order to improve the quality of the living with standard thinking, various specialists in psychology like psychologists, counselors, social workers and clinical workers have come into existence. Adding to this, these days many specialists in psychology are also helping and counseling different people in different areas like, entertainment industry, corporate world, education, research establishments, sports, law, prison management and other human services. So by now if you have made up your mind for making a career in any of the psychology fields then to get started all you need is the right selection of a program and attain a degree from an accredited school. The minimum requirement to be qualified as a psychologist generally varies from one state to another state in the United States. Though there are many states that mostly acknowledge a master’s degree in psychology. If you are one of those with a master’s degree in psychology, you can easily administer tests as psychological assistants. However, you can even attain a doctoral degree in different fields of psychology. The key benefit of earning being a psychologist with a Ph.D. is that you can easily qualify for a wide range of research, teaching, clinical and counseling positions in various universities, secondary schools and even in private industries. Apart from this, you can also earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A bachelor’s degree in psychology actually qualifies you as a person to assist other professionals in community mental health centers and correctional programs. Besides this, you may even work as administrative assistant or become sales or management trainees in business. In relation to education channel, you can select to earn your psychology degree either through campus-based programs or may even enroll in any one of the online psychology degree programs. In terms of flexibility and convenient of learning from anywhere distance learning psychology degree has many benefits over traditional campus-based degree program. Therefore, it is very suitable for working adults who are further looking forward to advancing their career and become a psychologist. The other key points that you must know are that as a psychologist if you are in independent practice, it’s essential that you meet licensing or certification requirements in all States and the District of Columbia. Though the licensing laws differ from state to state and the type of position you hold. Today psychologist has become an important career option for many young aspirants. The job outlook in psychology also seems to be very promising. In fact, as per the recent alumni surveys of the psychology school undergraduates show that these days professionals from different fields such as marketing directors, firemen, pilots and business executives are working with their degrees in psychology. No doubt, today the options in psychology are limitless.
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