Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and how it dictates and influences our behaviour, from communication and memory to thought and emotion. It examines how people think and behave and tries to understand the many factors that influence thought and behaviour ranging from biological to social influences.

There are a number of specialisms in psychology including:

Counselling Psychology

Counselling psychologists consider how people relate, think and behave, how they experience the world and how they function in their everyday life. This can take account of people’s social, economic, cultural, spiritual and physical health experiences. They use psychological and psychotherapeutic theory and research in their work to reduce psychological distress and promote well-being in individuals, groups and families.The relationship between the counselling psychologist and the client is considered central in their work.

Educational Psychology

Educational psychologists work with children and young people to assess and support their emotional, educational, behavioural and psychological development. They apply psychological theories, models and research to deal with problems encountered by young people in education, which can involve learning difficulties and social or emotional problems. They aim to enhance children’s learning and their work often involves making recommendations to schools around ways to improve the mental health of young people, working closely with teachers and parents to help to help address and prevent problems arising.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychologists use psychological knowledge and techniques to address a range of mental health issues, conditions and disorders. They draw on scientific knowledge to bring about positive change and can help individuals cope with problems such as depression, anxiety, self-harm and interpersonal difficulties as well as more severe problems such as psychosis or personality disorders.

Work & Organisational Psychology

Work & Organisational Psychology brings psychological knowledge, theory and practice to workplace situations to help organisations get the best performance from their employees and to improve employees’ own job satisfaction. Also known as Occupational Psychology it involves the study of human behaviour in the workplace.
Work & Organisational Psychology is concerned with the performance of people at work and in training, and with developing an understanding of how organisations function and how individuals and groups behave at work. Its aim is to increase effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction at work and can include such workplace issues as talent management, coaching, assessment, selection, training, organisational development, performance, well-being and work-life balance.

Sports & Performance Psychology

Sports & Performance Psychology examines the psychological factors associated with participation and performance in sport, exercise and other types of physical activity. Sport and performance psychologists are interested in helping athletes use psychological principles to achieve optimal mental health and to improve performance.
Sports psychologists work with team as well as individual sports, from amateur to elite levels of competition and help athletes at all levels of sport participation to add mental skills to their physical ones. They can help athletes to set effective goals, deal with wins and losses and to stay composed under pressure.Their aim to help athletes prepare psychologically for competition and to deal with the psychological demands of both competition and training.