The following description of 15 of these areas will serve as an introduction for students who are pursuing careers that require graduate education in a specialized area of psychology. Clinical psychologists assess and treat people with psychological problems. They may be found in hospitals, community health centers, or private practice. However, counseling psychologists tend to focus more on persons with adjustment problems, rather than on persons suffering from severe psychological disorders. Counseling psychologists are employed in academic settings, community mental health centers, and private practice.
Recent research tends to indicate training in counseling and clinical psychology are very similar.
Developmental psychologists usually do research and teach in academic settings, but many act as consultants to day-care centers, schools, or social service agencies. Sometimes their research is conducted with animals instead of humans. Most of these psychologists are faculty members at colleges and universities. They attempt to understand the basic aspects of learning and then develop materials and strategies for enhancing the learning process. For example, an educational psychologist might study reading and develop a new technique for teaching reading from the results of the research.