We're human. All humans encounter challenges in their life, and sometimes we need a helping hand to overcome those challenges. This section focuses on areas of psychology, and what we (psychologists) do, as well as highlighting some psychologists who have made important contributions in their field. Some of the psychologists discussed will be familiar to you, some may not be. Each section discusses briefly the contributions made, the theories and approaches which have been developed and links to sources of further information.
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What psychologists do...
Educational PsychologistsIf it's a 'child psychologist' that you're looking for, an educational psychologist may be able to help. Most educational psychologists work within local education authorities, and apply their knowledge of psychology to helping children and young people experiencing difficulties with learning or adjusting to social changes. Clinical Psychologists
Deal with mental and physical health problems including depression, anxiety, addictions, and relationships. They work with adults and children, aiming to reduce psychological distress and promote psychological well-being. Forensic Psychologists
Apply psychological understanding to criminal investigations, criminal behaviour, criminal treatment and the wider legal processes. If you're after a 'profiler', a 'criminal psychologist', or a 'criminologist' you may want to speak to a forensic psychologist. Counselling Psychologists
Counselling psychologists work with clients - adults and children - to explore mental health issues and the underlying factors that may have caused them. Working across a broad range of human problems, but typically exploring mental health issues and disorders, bereavement, and relationships, a counselling psychologist may be able to help if you are looking for wider causes of problems. Health Psychologists
Health psychologists aim to prevent illness and promote good health by applying psychological principles to promote changes in peoples attitudes about issues such as skin care in the sun, quitting smoking, or safer-sex. Neuropsychologists
Look at the relationship between the brain and neuropsychological function. They explore things like the biological basis for depression, and also help with assessment and rehabilitation of people with brain injury or disease such as tumours, strokes, dementia, and other degenerative diseases. Occupational Psychologists
By employing psychological knowledge, occupational psychologists are able to improve the effectiveness of organisations, and to improve the career development of employees. Occupational psychologists may devise tests for assessing how suitable a person is for a job, they may help with issues such as staff motivation, career planning, or coping with redundancy. Sport and Exercise Psychologists
Work with team and individual sports from amateur to elite levels, and focus on increasing exercise participation and motivation levels in the general public.
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Famous Professional Psychologists
Some of the better known professional psychologists...Beck, Aaron: is known as the father of cognitive therapy and inventor of the widely used Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale, and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).
Binet, Alfred: was a French psychologist and developer of the first usableintelligence test, the basis of today's IQ test.
Chomsky, Noam: is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, considered to be one of the most significant contributions to the field of theoretical linguistics made in the 20th century.
Ellis, Albert: is an American cognitive behavioral therapist who developed Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT).
Erikson, Erik: was a developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings, and for coining the phrase identity crisis.
Erickson, Milton: is considered the father of modern hypnotherapy. The therapy he engendered, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, is one of the fastest growing and influential branches of hypnotherapy today. His methods inspired NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
Freud, Sigmund: is the father of psychoanalysis, and is generally recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century.
Fromm, Erich: was an internationally renowned social psychologist and humanistic philosopher.
Lovaas, Ivar: a clinical psychologist considered one of the fathers of applied behaviour analysis therapy for autism through his development of the Lovaas technique, and the first to provide evidence that the behaviour of children with autism can be modified through teaching.
Maslow, Abraham: Abraham Masolw one of the founders of humanistic psychology and is often best recognized for developing the theory of human motivation now known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Piaget, Jean: Jean Piaget spent much of his professional life listening to children, watching children and in the area of developmental psychology.
Pavlov, Ivan: Ivan Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomenon now known as classical conditioning in his experiments with dogs.
Rogers, Carl: Carl Rogers was instrumental in the development of non-directive psychotherapy, which he initially termed Client-centered therapy and he is known as the father of client-centered therapy.
Eric Schopler: was an American psychologist whose pioneering research into autism led to the foundation of the TEACCH program.
Skinner, B.F.: B. F. Skinner was one of the most influential of American psychologists. A behaviorist, he developed the theory of operant conditioning.
Wolpe, Joseph: Joseph Wolpe is best known for developing theories and experiments about what is now called systematic desensitization and assertiveness training.