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Psychology Program
By Ashley Boyce, an allied health world staff writer
Published: January 5th, 2010
What specific courses will be part of psychology programs?
psychology schoolswill offer certain courses in general psychology to create a fully developed psychological perspective for students. Although in the course of earning an advanced postgraduate doctorate degree students of psychology may focus their studies more narrowly, this is not the aim of most undergraduate programs where the focus is more general.
While earning a bachelor’s degree, students will explore the several established schools of psychological thought in great depth through select psychology courses. Although this is by no means a fully comprehensive list, expect psychology courses in these popular schools of psychological thought:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Humanistic Psychology
- Psychoanalytic Psychology
- Behavioral Psychology
- Structural Psychology
- Individual Psychology
- Functionalist Psychology
- Existential Psychology
What can be expected form courses in school psychology?
School psychology is one of the most widely known examples of integrative counseling psychology. It has gotten a tremendous amount of attention in recent years and has become fully integrated into the United States public school system, where in years past it was somewhat marginalized. No longer does the public associate this vital work with their own experiences with school guidance counselors.Teen violence, pregnancy, suicide, as well as the contributing factors of depression and anxiety are being talked about more in part because the public’s awareness of these issues has been raised. However, the increase is real and not only perceived as certain societal and familial factors that have become widespread in this generation are believed to contribute to an increase in the actual occurrence of these issues. This makes the school psychologist more important and in higher demand than had ever been the case before.
The unfortunate and horrific incidences of violence, bullying, and drug abuse that have highlighted the importance of this profession in the past two decades have contributed to a wider acceptance of the need for preventative psychological analysis and intervention. This is the focus of psychology courses that prepare graduates to work in schools. The classes these programs require are categorically unique since working in a school requires training in both psychology and education that will result in the specialized Ed.S credential.
What are some current psychological and behavioral addictions issues?
Psychology courses evolve along with certain social trends. This is of particular interest to anybody currently interested in knowing how to become a psychologist in today’s world. Historically addiction counseling has been associated with alcoholism and drug abuse. Although substance abuse still remains the most common, and perhaps the most obvious of all addiction issues, it does not stand alone and cannot be considered categorically more destructive than other less recognized forms of addiction.
The lack of recognition of the other behavioral addictions is thought to be in large part a result of a certain level of collective denial. Essentially, addictive behavior that is engaged in widely by all segments of society has a tendency to become accepted. The common behavioral addictions that will be of interest to contemporary students of psychology would include:
- Sexual addiction/Sexually compulsive behavior
- Internet/Computer addiction
- Food addiction/Compulsive eating
- Omniomania/Compulsive shopping or spending