The Life of a Psycologist

A psychologist plays a major roll in society, but most people do not think about it because they are the ones who have to do the dirty work. A psychologist watches a client that has been sent to them. They watch their every move to decide if they have a mental problem. They create plans for what kind of therapy they are going to go through whether they will be Behavioral Therapy (This treatment is used to change the attitude and behavior of the patient by giving rewards for being good, reinforcements, desensitization), Biomedical Treatment (This treatment is when they only use medication and maybe some psycho therapy to treat emotion and mental illnesses), Cognitive Therapy (This treatment is used to change the way the patient thinks by getting rid of beliefs that make them depressed or angry), Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy (This treatment is the mix of both cognitive therapy and behavior therapy), Couples Counseling and Family Therapy (This treatment helps families and couples come closer together by having group and sometimes even individual sessions), Electroconvulsive Therapy (This life saving technique is only used at the last resort when someone is likely to commit suicide, cant take medicine, has major depression, and many others), Group Therapy (In group therapy there is about four to twelve people in it that discuss each others problems to each other and so they will get some positive feed back that can help all members), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (This treatment is used for individuals who meet with therapists one on one and discuss there current life and relationships and how to fix it), Light Therapy (This treatment is very unknown but is very affective. "Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that appears related to fluctuations in the exposure to natural light. It usually strikes during autumn and often continues through the winter when natural light is reduced. Researchers have found that people who have SAD can be helped with the symptoms of their illness if they spend blocks of time bathed in light from a special full-spectrum light source, called a "light box."), Play Therapy ("Geared toward young children, this technique uses a variety of activities-such as painting, puppets, and dioramas-to establish communication with the therapist and resolve problems. Play allows the child to express emotions and problems that would be too difficult to discuss with another person."), Psychoanalysis or Psychodynamic Psychotherapy ("This approach focuses on past conflicts as the underpinnings to current emotional and behavioral problems. In this long-term and intensive therapy, an individual meets with a psychoanalyst three to five times a week, using "free association" to explore unconscious motivations and earlier, unproductive patterns of resolving issues."). After the psychologists client has been through a little of the therapy the psychologist may change or modify the first plan to better help his client. Psychologists also have their clients take tests that they will interpret so they can better understand the client and what their needs are. A psychologist does therapy with groups of people as well as individual clients to help them define goals, gain insight, and ways they can help themselves when they are not in therapy. For instance, the therapist will say to read a good book, run, exercise, dance, and many other things so they will not feel depressed, angry, confused, and with any other problems. There are different levels to mental health and the higher you go the more you do. Counseling is the first step. They help an individual make the right choices and resolve problems. The second step the therapist helps a patient who is dealing with mental disorders like depression or family problems. A psychologist in a way does all of those things plus mentoring a watching. The highest is a psychiatrist that can do everything plus prescribe medicines which a psychologist can not do even though they are a licensed doctor.