Careers in psychology
Areas of psychology
Academia, Research & Teaching in Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Counselling Psychology
Educational Psychology
Forensic Psychology
Health Psychology
Neuropsychology
Occupational Psychology
Sport & Exercise Psychology
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become Chartered?
To become a Chartered Psychologist you must have:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
•
Society accredited postgraduate qualifications
www.bps.org.uk/careers
How do I gain GBC?
You can gain GBC by completing:
•
a Society accredited undergraduate degree
or
•
a Society accredited conversion course
The lists of Society accredited courses can be
found on our website
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Academia, Research
& Teaching in psychology
Some teaching staff will have qualified in one of the applied
psychological fields. They may return to teaching to
develop professional practice and conduct research or
simply to share their knowledge. All university lecturers are
expected to help extend their subject by gathering
psychological evidence on key research questions and
telling others what they have found by publishing
articles.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society in the field
of teaching or research in psychology, you need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
Five or more years supervised and assessed professional
activity. The research route will normally include
taking a PhD or equivalent research experience.
•
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Clinical Psychologists
Clinical psychologists deal with a wide range of mental and
physical health problems including addiction, anxiety,
depression, learning difficulties and relationship issues.
They may undertake a clinical assessment to investigate a
client’s situation. There are a variety of methods available
including psychometric tests, interviews and direct
observation of behaviour. Assessment may lead to
advice, counselling or therapy.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
clinical training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
•
a Society accredited Doctorate in Clinical
Psychology
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Counselling Psychologists
Counselling psychologists deal with a wide range of mental
health problems concerning life issues including
bereavement, domestic violence, sexual abuse and
relationship issues. They understand diagnosis and the
medical context to mental health problems and work with
the individual’s unique subjective psychological experience
to empower their recovery and alleviate distress.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
counselling training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and either
•
a Society accredited Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
or
•
the Society's Qualification in Counselling
Psychology
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Educational Psychologists
Educational psychology is concerned with children and
young people in educational and early years settings.
Educational psychologists tackle challenges such as
learning difficulties, social and emotional problems, issues
around disability as well as more complex developmental
disorders. They work in a variety of ways including
observations, interviews and assessments and offer
consultation, advice and support to teachers,
parents, the wider community as well as the
young people concerned.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
educational psychology training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
a Society accredited Doctorate in Educational
Psychology or, for Scotland only, an accredited masters
course in Educational Psychology followed by the
Society's Qualification in Educational
Psychology.
•
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Forensic Psychologists
The daily key tasks for forensic psychologists may include;
piloting and implementing treatment programmes,
modifying offender behaviour, responding to the changing
needs of staff and prisoners as well as reducing stress for
staff and prisoners. Forensic psychologists also provide
hard research evidence to support practice, including
undertaking statistical analysis for prisoner profiling,
giving evidence in court plus advising parole boards
and mental health tribunals.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
forensic psychology training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and either
•
a Society accredited Masters in Forensic Psychology
plus
Stage 2 of the Society’s Qualification in Forensic Psychology or
an alternative accredited stage 2 qualification (two years
supervised practice)
•
or
a Society accredited Doctorate in Forensic
Psychology
•
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
Health Psychologists
Health psychologists use their knowledge of psychology
and health to promote general well-being and understand
physical illness. They are specially trained to help people
deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health
and illness as well as supporting people who are
chronically ill. Health psychologists promote healthier
lifestyles and try to find ways to encourage people to
improve their health.
Health psychologists also use their skills to try to
improve the healthcare system.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
health psychology training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and either
•
a Society accredited Masters in Health Psychology
plus
Stage 2 of the Society’s Qualification in Health
Psychology (two years supervised practice)
•
or
•
a Society accredited Doctorate in Health
Psychology
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Neuropsychologists
Neuropsychologists work with people of all ages dealing
with patients who have had traumatic brain injury, strokes,
toxic and metabolic disorders, tumours and
neurodegenerative diseases. They require not only general
clinical skills and knowledge of the broad range of mental
health problems, but also a substantial degree of
specialist knowledge in the neurosciences.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Practitioner Full Member of the Division of
Neuropsychology you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
Accredited postgraduate training that gives eligibility for
membership as a Chartered Psychologist through the
Clinical or Educational training route
•
and
The Society's Practitioner Full Membership
Qualification in Neuropsychology*
•
www.bps.org.uk/careers
How do I become one?
*The Society's Practitioner Full Membership Qualification in
Neuropsychology
Those that have completed accredited postgraduate
training in Clinical Neuropsychology will be eligible for
exemption from part of the Society's Practitioner Full
Membership Qualification.
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Occupational Psychologists
Occupational psychologists aim to increase the
effectiveness of the organisation and improve the job
satisfaction of individuals. The speciality is broader in
scope and less formalised than many areas of psychology
and it touches on diverse fields, including ergonomics,
personnel management and time management. Work can
be in advisory, teaching and research roles, and to a
lesser extent, in technical and administrative roles.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
occupational psychology training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and either
•
a Society accredited Masters in Occupational Psychology
plus
Stage 2 of the Society’s Qualification in Occupational
Psychology (two years supervised practice)
•
or
a Society accredited Doctorate in
Occupational Psychology
•
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Sports & Exercise
Psychologists
Sport psychologists counsel referees to deal with the
stressful and demanding aspects of their role, advise
coaches on how to build cohesion within their squad of
athletes, and help athletes with personal development and
the psychological consequences of sustaining an injury for
example. Exercise psychologists optimise the benefits
that can be derived from exercise participation and
help individual clients with the implementation of
goal-setting strategies for example.
www.bps.org.uk/yourcareer
How do I become one?
To become a Chartered Member of the Society through the
sport & exercise psychology training route, you will need:
•
Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)
and
a Society accredited Masters in Sport & Exercise
Psychology
•
plus
Stage 2 of the Society's Qualification in Sport &
Exercise Psychology (two years supervised
practice)
•
www.bps.org.uk/careers
Protected titles
In order to use the following titles, you will need to be
registered with the Health and Care Professions Council
(HCPC). This involves completing an accredited Doctorate,
the Society’s Stage 2 qualification or equivalent that has
been approved by the HCPC. Visit www.hpc-uk.org
~ Clinical Psychologist ~ Counselling Psychologist
~ Educational Psychologist ~ Forensic Psychologist
~ Health Psychologist ~ Occupational Psychologist
~ Sport and Exercise psychologist ~ Practitioner
Psychologist ~ Registered Psychologist
www.bps.org.uk/careers
For further information:
Web: www.bps.org.uk/careers
Email: careers@bps.org.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)116 252 9534
www.bps.org.uk/careers