The San Fernando Valley Psychological Association P.O.Box 18185 Encino, CA 91416 (818) 700-3502	Home > About Psychology > Latest Article About Psychology Psychologists are experts in behavior; they are trained to understand what people (and animals) do. "Do" might include feelings and thoughts, that is, when psychologists talk about behavior, they include emotions and cognitions. Clinical psychologists help people with problems. This happens most often in "talk therapy". "Talk therapy" is a dialogue between a person and a psychologist, with the goal of increasing the person's understanding of their own behavior, and feelings, and thoughts, in order to make happiness, good relationships, and effective behavior more likely for the client or patient. Sometimes clinical psychologists use hypnotherapy and biofeedback, in addition to the dialogue. There are many kinds of clinical psychology, based on different theories of personality and emotional disorders. Clinical psychologists help people with a wide range of problems, ranging from situational difficulties, stress, marriage conflicts, to personality disorders, to severe and persistent mental illness, such as bipolar disorders or schizophrenia. In experimental psychology, psychologists set up very exact situations in order to see how people, or animals, behave differently under different conditions. A lot of our knowledge of learning processes comes from experimental psychology. Experimental psychologists work more with animals than with people. In business consulting, psychologists with distinct specialization (not all psychologists are able to do all psychological jobs) help management to structure work environments which work better for the company and the employees. In health psychology, the relationships between behavior, emotions, thoughts, and health outcomes are studied. Clinical health psychologists often help people with chronic medical conditions to cope and adjust better, or to behave in ways which minimize complications. Figuring out strategies for helping people to quit smoking is a health psychology task. A psychologists might also be employed by a school, to teach psychology. Schools also use psychologists to counsel students. Psychologists licensed as School Psychologists may have Master of Arts degrees, meaning that their training is more specific and limited than the doctoral level licensed Psychologist. TRAINING and LICENSURE: All licensed Psychologists have doctoral degrees. After graduating from a four-year college, with a BA or BS degree, the psychologist-in-training goes to a graduate school, where he or she studies psychology for an additional four or five years, often earning a Master of Arts degree along the way. The clinical psychologist has a year of supervised experience, before the granting of the doctoral degree, in addition to other course work. Clinical psychologists might get a Psy.D. degree instead of a Ph.D. degree, with more emphasis on applied psychology. In graduate school the students take courses in learning, sensation and perception (how what we perceive is influenced by emotions, experience, and biology), child development, research and experimental design, social and organizational behavior, theories of personality, and clinical methods. There are often courses in psychopharmacology. Not all students take all courses, ruling out some and including others depending on what they want to specialize in after their schooling is complete. In order to be in private practice, or to publicly call him/herself a psychologist, a person must be licensed by the state. In order to be licensed, the candidate must have a doctoral degree, two years of supervised experience, and must pass an extensive written examination. Who Needs Psychotherapy? Psychotherapy is treatment by talking and listening. These problems are treated: anxiety, confusion, worry, phobias, depression, relationship difficulties, and behavioral difficulties. These are problems which may happen by accident, bad decisions or life style, or genetics (things you are born with, caused by physical/biochemical factors). Psychological problems are unlike medical problems in these ways: there isn’t usually a simple remedy to produce a quick cure; rarely is there a very specific cause which dictates a very specific treatment; and their treatment requires much more cooperation and participation from the patient than the treatments for physical illnesses do. Many emotional and behavioral problems are successfully resolved in a few weeks or months, while some take considerably longer. The time depends on the problem, how long it has existed, and the internal and external strengths available to the client who is consulting the therapist. For example, are there relatives and friends living close by? Does the patient/client have a good education and job skills? Does he or she have an optimistic nature, or habits of sticking to things even when they are difficult? You find a therapist the same way you would find any specialist. Ask people you trust and people you know who have had similar problems. A good therapist will listen to you carefully, and be understandable when he or she talks to you. He or she should give you as much information as you ask for about the proposed treatment and his qualifications. Therapy is a consultation with a professional, which can be a satisfactory short-term business-like interaction, or an important helping relationship which lasts for months or years. Latest Article MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL FITNESS We can identify the personality traits which happy, effective, fulfilled people have. These are qualities you can develop and maximize. FLEXIBILITY: Can bend with circumstances, compromise, do things or see things in more than one way; adapt. FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE: not terribly upset or discouraged when things go wrong; can keep pursuing a task or goal even if initial attmepts are thwarted. CLEAR-HEADEDNESS: realistic about people and circumstances; perceptions and expectations are not distorted by biases, hopes or fears. Sees things as they are. COURAGE: able to take on challenges, willing to try new things, take risks. Not defeated ahead of time by anticipated problems. The ability to experience pleasure, to feel satisfaction, joy, happiness and enjoyment. Previous Article GENDER DIFFERENCES by Linda Waters, Ph.D. Several best selling books have described the differences between men and women, and how these differences can get in the way of communication and relationships. This should help us to deal with each other. We can forgive some irritating behavior if we don’t take it too personally. Thirty or so years ago, it was believed that gender differences were a result of training. Because little boys and little girls are treated differently and taught different things, they grow up to have different interests, talents, and different ways of behaving. It is now widely believed that there are also innate cognitive and temperamental differences as well as physical differences between men and women. Some behavioral and personality differences are caused by physical differences, for example differences in brain structure and hormones. Although gender differences definitely exist, there are no traits possessed only by men, or women. Our characteristics overlap. For example, men tend to be more aggressive, but there are passive men, and very aggressive women. Another example: most women are more nurturing than most men, but some men are far more nurturing than some women. And so forth. You never know exactly what traits a person will have by their gender, but men and women do behave and react differently.