What are the degree specializations?

• Clinical Psychologists: This specialized area is concerned with mental problems or disorders. There are some clinical psychologists who deal with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, while others deal with personal issues such as those facing divorce or the death of a loved one.
• School Psychologists: Those in this specialization deal with students within the school system. They work with teachers and parents to build a healthy and supportive environment. In addition, school psychologists work with students that have gone through grief or other emotional challenges.
• Counseling Psychologists: This is normally the route that most students want to take when they enroll in a doctoral in psychology. These psychologists spend their days counseling patients on a wide area of social and personal issues. They also may work in hospitals, their own practice, or a rehabilitation center. Students interested in counseling will take classes on subjects like Maslow's hierarchy of needs and abnormal psychology.
• Research Psychologists: Some psychologists choose to work in the area of research and experimental psychology at a university or a business. They may study the behavior of people or animals and how they relate to their environment.

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What degree levels are available?

• Associate Degree: 2 years to complete
• Bachelor's Degree: 4 years to complete
• Master's Degree: 2 years to complete
• Doctoral Degree: 3 to 7 years to complete, depending on how many courses the student takes each semester and the amount of time it takes to complete their dissertation. The student has a choice of the PhD, which is a research degree that ends with a standard dissertation or the PsyD program, which does not have a typical dissertation, but concentrates on practical and clinical training and normally ends with several examinations.

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What are the educational and certification requirements?

Since there are degrees available at all levels in psychology, the requirements for each degree varies. Typically, in the associate and bachelor's degree, the students take general education courses such as math, history, English, biology, and communications. Master's and doctoral programs generally focus only on the area of psychology.

The associate degree in psychology offers the student general education during the first year and the second year is devoted to learning the various ways that the mind works. Courses include abnormal psychology, cognitive psychology, social studies, and behavior psychology. The associate degree can be transferred into the bachelor's degree, and therefore the student would only have two more years of study, which would include courses such as developmental psychology, statistics, research methods, and clinical science. Without an associate degree in psychology, the bachelor's degree generally takes four years.

The master's degree in psychology typically takes two years of full-time study or a little less depending on the university the student is attending. The master's degree deals with courses that are aimed at teaching the student how to administer and interpret psychological tests. Elective courses may include counseling psychology and school psychology. The goal is to give the student a taste of the different fields, which is important when considering a job or a doctoral degree. Certification is required at the master's level for those who want to counsel. They are required to take the Licensed Professional Counselor exam or the LPC. In order to take the exam, the student is required to complete specific courses, which differ by state, so it is advisable to find out the requirements in your state.

The doctoral degree is a full-time program, though some online degree options do allow part-time study. The student studies a variety of practical research as well as hands-on training. They also have a practicum they must complete and then the PhD ends with a standard dissertation. Those completing the doctoral degree need to sit for the state licensing exam by the American Board of Professional Psychology, while those that are interested in school psychology must sit for a separate exam given by the National Association of School Psychologists.

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What kinds of classes will I be expected to take?

Almost every psychology student's career begins with the extremely popular Introduction to Psychology. This class exposes students to the various schools of psychological study and famous figures from the field. Students in undergraduate psychology programs will usually take at least one class from each psychological discipline. For example, most students will take child psychology, in which they study the developmental stages of children. This is a popular specialization option. Rehabilitation classes are also required of most curriculums. These degrees train future counselors in the particulars of helping criminals and addicts recover and reintegrate into society. Research is an important component of psychology. Therefore, students should expect to take a class in research methods early in their career. Also, basic biology classes are essential. Some schools offer biology classes that are tailored specifically to psychology students, with special focus on neurology.

In the master's psychology program, students take a core of foundational classes, along with electives that specialize their degree in a particular area of psychology. The core classes in the degree cover the broad, basic principles of psychology which apply to all psychological practices. For example, the course Principles of Learning discusses research on human motivation and the ability to retain information; the course Behavioral Physiology, on the other hand, approaches human actions from a physical perspective and examines the biochemical and neurological basis of feelings and memory.

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If I pursue this program online, will I be required to complete any on-site training?

It depends on the particular degree program you choose. The bachelor's in psychology degree will not require on-site training. The vast majority of work a psychology student participates in is reading, followed closely by lecture time. Undergraduate psychology degrees are among the easiest and most popular to be completed online, though by choosing this option students generally miss out on any research opportunities that are offered on their school's campuses.

Psychology master's and doctoral programs, on the other hand, usually contain a significant amount of clinical work, where students are required to assist in the running of psychological studies and observe people's behavior. This clinical work trains psychologists in the modes of interaction that are required between psychologists and their patients or subjects. Some master's degrees also require students to complete an original thesis in order to graduate. The thesis requires the development of a research project, which usually necessitates the on-site use of the college's equipment and patient pool.

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What are some other degrees that are related to this program?

There are a number of degrees that can overlap with psychology. Perhaps the most common of these is sociology, an area of study that is specifically dedicated to studying the ways in which people interact with each other. Psychological approaches and methods are often used in the sociological study and research. Psychology also deals significantly with neurological study, and many universities provide bachelor's degrees in neurology, or some specialized form of a medical degree with a focus in neurology. Neurology is the study of the brain and all of its processes. 

Many psychologists work as counselors of some kind -- whether for schools, private practices, or rehabilitation clinics. To meet the specialized demand for these qualified professionals, some schools offer a degree in counseling, which will usually require many psychology classes in and of themselves. A more rare degree is the degree in cognitive science, which uses an interdisciplinary approach to study the mind and the nature of intelligence. This area is sometimes offered as an area of specialization in postgraduate psychology programs. Another relatively rare degree that is becoming increasingly popular is the bachelor in psychobiology. Psychobiology is dedicated specifically to exploring how biological functions and environments affect people's psychological reactions and behaviors.

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