Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Contemporary Psychology15Forensic psychology applies psychological principles and techniques tolegal issues, such as assessment and treatment of offenders, mentalcompetency to stand trial, child custody, jury selection, and eyewitnesstestimony.Health psychology focuses on the role of psychological factors in thedevelopment, prevention, and treatment of illness. Health psychologyincludes such areas as stress and coping, the relationship between psychologicalfactors and physical health, and ways of promoting healthenhancingbehaviors.Industrial/organizational psychology is concerned with the relationshipbetween people and work. This specialty includes such topics as jobanalysis, personnel selection and training, worker productivity, job satisfaction,leadership, and group behavior within organizations.Personality psychology studies the nature of human personality, includingindividual differences, the characteristics that make each person unique, andhow those characteristics originated and developed.Rehabilitation psychology applies psychological knowledge to helping peoplewith chronic and disabling health conditions, such as accident or stroke victims,adapt to their situation and attain optimal psychological, interpersonal, andphysical functioning.Social psychology explores how people are affected by their social environments,including how people think about and influence others. Topics as variedas conformity, obedience, persuasion, interpersonal attraction, helping behavior,prejudice, aggression, and social beliefs are studied by social psychologists.Sports psychology uses psychological theory and knowledge to enhance athleticmotivation, performance, and consistency.Many students wonder how clinical psychologists differ from psychiatrists. Bothclinical psychologists and psychiatrists are trained in the diagnosis, treatment,causes, and prevention of psychological disorders. However, their training and credentialsare different. The training that a clinical psychologist receives leads to a doctoratein clinical psychology, either a Ph.D. or Psy.D. Clinical psychologists have extensivetraining in the different types of psychotherapy, which are described inChapter 14.In contrast, psychiatry is a medical specialty. Thus, a psychiatrist first obtains amedical degree, either an M.D. or D.O., followed by several years of specializedtraining in the treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are more likely to emphasizethe role of biological factors in psychological disorders. As physicians, psychiatristscan hospitalize people and order biomedical therapies, such as electroconvulsivetherapy (ECT) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Psychiatrists can alsoprescribe medications to treat the symptoms of different psychological disorders.These biomedical therapies are described in Chapter 14.Clinical psychologists are not medical doctors and cannot order medical treatments.In most of the United States, clinical psychologists cannot prescribe medications.However, legislation enacted in New Mexico andLouisiana allows clinical psychologists to prescribe medicationsafter completing additional coursework and supervised clinicaltraining (Munsey, 2008). Especially in rural areas with fewmental health professionals, allowing trained psychologists toprescribe medications can help many people who are otherwiseunable to gain access to mental health care (LeVine, 2007;Price, 2008).Despite the diversity of their work settings and interests, psychologistsshare common methods of investigating human behaviorand mental processes. In the next section, we’ll look athow psychologists are guided by the scientific method in theirefforts to understand behavior and mental processes.Military Psychologists: Serving Those WhoServe Shown on duty in Iraq, Army psychologistCaptain Jeffrey Bass (left) regularlytravels into combat zones with hisregiment and supervises a mental healthclinic (Munsey, 2008, 2007a). Bass combineson-site counseling with efforts to screensoldiers for the effects of combat stress.There is an increased demand for psychologistsin all branches of the military, bothin war zones and stateside. At home, militarypsychologists help returning soldiersand their families deal with the aftereffectsof combat stress, readjusting to civilianlife, and coping with injuries, especiallytraumatic brain injuries (Munsey, 2007b;Packard, 2007). Military psychologists alsohelp select and train army personnel forparticular roles or assignments, includingspecial operations (Munsey, 2007c).School Psychology There are about 25,000school psychologists in the United Stateswho provide a variety of psychological servicesto children, adolescents, and families inpublic and private schools. School psychologistshelp teachers, school administrators,and parents understand how children learnand develop. Some of the activities thatschool psychologists perform include counselingand assessing students, consultingwith parents and school staff, and workingwith outside agencies to promote learningand development.