There are many fields of psychology, each covering particular areas, but with a fair amount of overlap. A psychologist is a person who has earned a doctorate in some branch of psychology, such as educational psychology, social psychology, counseling psychology, or, as you might see on TV criminal fiction, forensic psychology. There are some exceptions to the need to have a doctorate. School psychologists usually have a masters in school psychology, and there are masters level psychologists who obtained their degrees prior to 1990 who were “grandfathered in,” and are permitted to use the title “Psychologist.”  Since the 1990s, however, psychologists have been required to earn a doctorate from an approved university.

I am a clinical psychologist, having earned my Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This is a research as well as a clinical program, Si I completed 2000 hours of clinical work with clients as well as conducting six research studies before I entered my one-year internship, which is something like the residency program that medical students participate in.

So, research and teaching are two activities that most psychologists are trained in, with psychotherapy added for clinical and counseling psychologists. The training takes ten to fifteen years to complete, but most psychologists, including myself, feel that they continue to learn throughout their careers.

With the exception of a few states, including Indiana, psychologists are not licensed to prescribe medication. We can work with a client’s psychiatrist or primary care physician to provide feedback on the effectiveness or side effects of a client’s medication regimen.

Psychologists, depending on their field of practice, may have the training to administer psychological evaluations to clients, such as fitness-for-employment, academic strengths and weaknesses, level and pattern of psychological symptoms, ADHD, fitness for non-emergent surgeries (bariatric, pain stimulators, organ transplants, etc.) Psychologists, again depending on their field, are able to diagnose psychological disorders and create appropriate treatment plans.

Because psychologists are trained across the spectrum of disorders, and because of the depth and intensity of training, they are able to work with those who are diagnosed with severe mental health disorders, as opposed to Licensed Clinical Social Workers, who are licensed by the state they work in to provide psychotherapy, but whose education focuses more on immediate concerns and less complex disorders.

In addition to working in specialized fields, many psychologists have specialties within their field. Several of mine include geriatric, LGBT issues, dissociative disorders and trauma resolution, domestic violence, and hypnotherapy.

Regarding my mode of intervention, I make a concerted effort to work with my clients to create a treatment plan that is tailored to their needs, and that starts exactly where they are when they walk through my door. So, no two clients on my case load get exactly the same plan. And I expect every client to work with me on formulating a treatment plan that fits them, because, really, the plan is theirs, not mine.