What Do Psychologists Do?

Psychology is the scientific study of human mind and behaviour: how we think, how we act, how we react and interact, both individually and as groups.

Psychologists work in many different areas of society and are concerned with practical problems such as:

• Helping people to overcome depression, stress, trauma or phobias
• Easing the effects of parental divorce on children
• Speeding up recovery from brain injury
• Helping to stop or prevent bullying at school or in the workplace
• Ensuring that school pupils and students are being taught in the most effective way
• Making sure that people are happy at work and perform to the best of their abilities
  
• Helping the police, courts and prison service to perform more effectively
• Helping athletes and sports people to perform better

In a sense, you may already think of yourself an amateur psychologist or know a little about psychology. We are all interested in what makes people tick and how this understanding can help us to solve major problems in society.

But professional psychologists apply scientific methods to understanding human behaviour by observing, measuring, testing and using statistics to show that what they find is reliable evidence and not just down to chance. Think of any question about how and why humans do the things they do, and the chances are that a psychologist somewhere will be researching it to find the scientific answer and further our understanding. The scientific knowledge gained by this research is then used by practising psychologists (those dealing with clients and other professionals) in almost every setting.

We need psychology because many of the problems faced by the modern world are rooted in human behaviour, so psychological knowledge can help us to find solutions. There is increasing recognition that mental health has an impact on physical health, and that psychological insights can help us in our personal and professional relationships and activities.

Where next?

• Learn more about the different types of psychologist
• Learn about taking a GCSE, A Level or equivalent in psychology