What are some of the specializations within this degree program?

• School Counseling & Psychology: School counselors fulfill a variety of roles within an elementary, middle, or high school setting. Their daily activities can include parent meetings, one-on-one sessions with students, and working with a special education population.
• Developmental Psychology: Child psychologists with this specialty are interested in the developmental process of the child's mind as well as how they grow socially and emotionally.
• Substance Abuse: Substance abuse in minors is a difficult problem that we face today. This specialist would be concerned with the how and why of substance abuse in the youth population, as well as designing and implementing prevention techniques.

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What degree levels are available?

• Bachelor's Degree: 4 to 5 years to complete
• Master's Degree: 1 to 2 years to complete
• Doctoral Degree: 4 to 8 years to complete

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What are the educational and certification requirements?

Since the human mind is so complex, especially that of a child, the educational requirements of a child psychologist are strict. A bachelor's degree in child psychology will not be sufficient to obtain a license to practice, though careers can be pursued as aids and working in government offices. A master's degree is the absolute minimum to practice as a child psychologist, though this is highly dependent on state laws. The majority of practicing child psychologists hold a PhD or a PsyD Along with an advanced degree, those pursuing this career will need to fulfill an internship requirement of a set number of hours, which once again dependent upon state laws.

Certification and licensing requirements vary widely by state. Generally, an advanced degree in the psychology field along with a certain number of hours as an intern are needed. Many states also require the applicant to pass an official state examination to meet licensure standards. For those specializing in school psychology, residents of 31 states can opt to apply for the Nationally Certified School Psychologist recognition awarded by the National Association of School Psychologists. When transferring between states that recognize the designation, credentials can be shifted without having to sit another state exam. (NASP)

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What kinds of classes will I be expected to take?

Over the course of their many years in schools, child psychologists begin by studying psychology broadly and eventually narrow down to study exclusively the psychology of children. Bachelor's degree programs commonly offer an introductory psychology course, which offers an overview of the principles of the field. Students examine psychological principles and actual cases in order to prepare them for their future study. Students may also later be offered a course of child psychology, though at the bachelor's degree level it is still generally a more broad study of principles and theories.

At the master's and doctoral levels, study becomes much more specialized and focused on child psychology directly. Courses on the behavior and development of children and adolescents offer practical advice for handling future clients and assessing their needs. More theoretical courses are also offered, and will usually include some study of family and community and their impact on children's psychology. Master's degree programs also require a year-long internship, where students work in clinical or school settings directly with children under the supervision of current psychologists and children's health professionals.

Child psychology doctorates are designed to train graduates in the advanced topics related to children's cognitive and emotional development. These programs require students to complete a core of classes in developmental psychology, along with courses in research methods and statistical analysis. Students must also design a research project focusing on an area of child psychology; the results of this research will be written up as the student's dissertation. The foundational coursework of these degrees are psychology classes focusing on different areas of human development. Infant Development and Child Development are two classes included in most doctorates; these discuss the biological, physiological, and brain development of children during the early years of their life. A class in Adolescent Development discusses the emotional and cognitive changes that occur in humans after they have experienced puberty.

Research methodology and statistical analysis courses prepare graduates to design and run a research project that will provide significant results. The course Statistics for Social Science Research covers the theories and models that social science researchers can employ in their work. The class Design Methods for Qualitative Research, on the other hand, discusses the ways that interviews and other non-quantitative data can be incorporated into psychological research.

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

On-site training is absolutely a requirement for becoming a certified child psychologist. During the master's degree program, students are required to spend a certain number of hours in a children's mental health setting where they can gain the practical experience they will need in their future careers.

Doctoral programs in child psychology are not very amenable to the distance learning format. While the class work in these programs can be completed online, the research project is more difficult. The research questions broached by students in these degrees are very complex and usually require the use of the college's library, facilities, and psychology patients. Most child psychology programs also require students to complete a year of supervised practice, after completing their dissertation, in order to prepare for clinical work.

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

There are a number of options available for people interested in fields related to child psychology. Within the field of psychology there are many specialties available; one can pursue work in clinical psychology while specializing in, for example, geropsychology (working with the elderly). Specializing in counseling is another option, a field wherein psychologists meet regularly with clients to help them work through the conflicts and issues of daily life. Forensic psychology is a slightly different kind of speciality available for study; these psychologists use their unique training to assist lawyers and judges in prosecuting criminals and understanding the psychology of crimes. For people interested in working with children rather than in psychology, degrees in education are a popular option. One can begin working as a teacher or in a classroom environment with much less schooling -- just a bachelor's degree -- to become licensed and start teaching.

There are a few other psychology graduate degrees that can also provide students with a background in child psychology. The doctoral degree in cognition and perception can include child development classes, although this program is focused more on physiological research, rather than clinical care. The social psychology PhD can also focus around children and families; however, this program is more concerned with the larger social context, rather than individual development. Ed.S degrees are specialized psychology master's programs which train students to become school psychologists. General master's programs in psychology may have some overlapping course work with the child psychology PhD, although these degrees are much shorter and consequently have fewer advanced courses. Doctoral programs in counseling also cover the skills for helping patients with cognitive or emotional issues, although these degrees are more practical and less theory-based than psychology programs.

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