Clinical and Counseling Psychologist Assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests. Help individuals with distress or maladjustment understand their problems through their knowledge of case history, interviews with patients, and theory. Provide individual or group counseling services to assist individuals in achieving more effective personal, social, educational, and vocational development and adjustment. May design behavior modification programs and consult with medical personnel regarding the best treatment for patients.
Clinical and Counseling Psychologist is Also Know as
In different settings, Clinical and Counseling Psychologist is titled as
- Applied Behavior Science Specialist (ABSS)
- Clinical Counselor
- Clinical Psychologist
- Counseling Psychologist
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- Licensed Psychologist
- Psychologist
- Psychotherapist
- Therapist
Education and Training of Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
Clinical and Counseling Psychologist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education Required for Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
- Bachelor in Psychology, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Psychology, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Psychology, General
- Bachelor in Developmental and Child Psychology
- Associate Degree Courses in Developmental and Child Psychology
- Masters Degree Courses in Developmental and Child Psychology
- Bachelor in Clinical Psychology
- Associate Degree Courses in Clinical Psychology
- Masters Degree Courses in Clinical Psychology
- Bachelor in Counseling Psychology
- Associate Degree Courses in Counseling Psychology
- Masters Degree Courses in Counseling Psychology
- Bachelor in Clinical Child Psychology
- Associate Degree Courses in Clinical Child Psychology
- Masters Degree Courses in Clinical Child Psychology
- Bachelor in Geropsychology
- Associate Degree Courses in Geropsychology
- Masters Degree Courses in Geropsychology
Training Required for Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Clinical and Counseling Psychologist in different industries are
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Mental Health Counselors
- Psychiatrists
- Clinical Neuropsychologists
- Neuropsychologists
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- School Psychologists
- Healthcare Social Workers
- Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
- Psychiatric Technicians
- Recreational Therapists
- Rehabilitation Counselors
- Occupational Therapists
- Genetic Counselors
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers
- Social and Human Service Assistants
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Family Medicine Physicians
- Psychiatric Aides
What Do Clinical and Counseling Psychologist do?
- Collect information about individuals or clients, using interviews, case histories, observational techniques, and other assessment methods.
- Counsel individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.
- Document patient information including session notes, progress notes, recommendations, and treatment plans.
- Interact with clients to assist them in gaining insight, defining goals, and planning action to achieve effective personal, social, educational, or vocational development and adjustment.
- Develop therapeutic and treatment plans based on clients' interests, abilities, or needs.
- Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, or reference materials.
- Use a variety of treatment methods, such as psychotherapy, hypnosis, behavior modification, stress reduction therapy, psychodrama, or play therapy.
- Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.
- Consult with or provide consultation to other doctors, therapists, or clinicians regarding patient care.
- Obtain and study medical, psychological, social, and family histories by interviewing individuals, couples, or families and by reviewing records.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling or treatments and the accuracy and completeness of diagnoses, modifying plans or diagnoses as necessary.
- Select, administer, score, and interpret psychological tests to obtain information on individuals' intelligence, achievements, interests, or personalities.
- Advise clients on how they could be helped by counseling.
- Develop and implement individual treatment plans, specifying type, frequency, intensity, and duration of therapy.
- Consult with other professionals, agencies, or universities to discuss therapies, treatments, counseling resources or techniques, and to share occupational information.
- Refer clients to other specialists, institutions, or support services as necessary.
- Maintain current knowledge of relevant research.
- Consult reference material, such as textbooks, manuals, or journals, to identify symptoms, make diagnoses, or develop approaches to treatment.
- Observe individuals at play, in group interactions, or in other contexts to detect indications of mental deficiency, abnormal behavior, or maladjustment.
- Provide consulting services, including educational programs, outreach programs, or prevention talks to schools, social service agencies, businesses, or the general public.
- Provide occupational, educational, or other information to individuals so that they can make educational or vocational plans.
- Plan and develop accredited psychological service programs in psychiatric centers or hospitals, in collaboration with psychiatrists and other professional staff.
- Direct, coordinate, and evaluate activities of staff and interns engaged in patient assessment and treatment.
- Develop, direct, and participate in training programs for staff and students.
- Provide psychological or administrative services and advice to private firms or community agencies regarding mental health programs or individual cases.
- Conduct research to develop or improve diagnostic or therapeutic counseling techniques.
- Plan, supervise, and conduct psychological research and write papers describing research results.
- Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.
- Prepare written evaluations of individuals' psychological competence for court hearings.
- Supervise and train interns, clinicians in training, and other counselors.
Qualities of Good Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Tools Used by Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
- Biofeedback equipment
- Desktop computers
- Laptop computers
- Personal computers
- Tablet computers
- Universal serial bus USB flash drives
Technology Skills required for Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
- Addison Health Systems WritePad EHR
- Anasazi Software Client Data System
- Athena Software Penelope Case Management
- B Sharp Technologies B Care
- BlackHawk Canyon Publishers PracticianWorks
- Blueberry Harbor Software Clinical Record Keeper
- Bluewater Management Systems BMCASE
- BRB Software HorizonMIS
- Clinivate Clinitrak
- Comprehensive Affect Testing System CATS
- Core Solutions Care Enterprise
- DocuTrac QuicDoc
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- Fagerman Technologies MedLook
- Google Docs
- Google Sheets
- Health Care Software HCS INTERACTANT
- Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
- ICANotes
- JTL Enterprises MedIntake
- Mdansby The PsychReport
- MedEZ behavioral healthcare and substance abuse software
- Medical Outcome Systems eMINI Software Suite
- Medicine Rules PowerSEAT 360
- MICA Information Systems MICA-MED Practice Manager
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- MPMsoft billing
- MS*Health Software/CMHC
- My Clients Plus
- Neuro Innovations Therapist's Toolkit
- Neurobehavioral Systems Presentation
- Noldus Information Technology The Observer XT
- O*NET OnLine
- Office Management Systems Mental Health Office All-in-One
- Polaris Health Directions Polaris-MH
- Practice Management Technologies Visual Private Office
- PsychAssistant
- PsychNotesEMR
- Psyquel
- PsyTech Solutions Epitomax
- Serenic Navigator CommunityCare
- Sigmund Software Sigmund Enterprise Management
- SpectraSoft AppointmentsPRO
- Spreadsheet software
- Statistical software
- Testing software
- TheraManager
- Thriveworks TherapyBuddy
- Trinity Software Solutions BEACON
- UNI/CARE Pro-Filer
- Web browser software