Although discovering the causes of behavior is important, not all psychologists are involved in research. In fact, most psychologists work outside the laboratory, applying the findings of research psychologists to problems related to people's behavior. This section describes some of the most important fields of applied psychology. As we saw in the previous subsection, some clinical psychologists perform research devoted to discovering the causes of mental disorders and problems of adjustment. But most clinical psychologists are applied psychologists, dedicated to improving human functioning, especially that of individuals in distress. They are primarily engaged in psychological assessment and psychotherapy. Clinical psychologists work in private practice (on their own or as part of a joint practice), in hospitals and mental health clinics, as part of government services, in work organizations, and sometimes as professors. Below is a brief description of some of major fields of applied psychology.

Clinical neuropsychologists specialize in the identification and treatment of the behavioral consequences of nervous system disorders and injuries. They typically work in a hospital, closely associated with neurologists (physicians who specialize in diseases of the nervous system), although some teach or have private practices.

Health psychologists use their skills to promote behaviors and lifestyles that maintain health and prevent illness. They are employed in hospitals, government agencies, universities, and private practice.

School psychologists were among the first applied psychologists. School psychology is related to clinical psychology. As the name implies, school psychologists deal with the behavioral problems of students at school. The school psychologist deals with all aspects of school life—learning, social relations, testing, violence, substance abuse, neglect.

Consumer psychologists help organizations who manufacture products or who buy products or services. Consumer psychologists study the motivation, perception, learning, cognition, and purchasing behavior of individuals in the marketplace and their use of products at home. Some consumer psychologists take a marketer's perspective, some take a consumer's perspective, and some adopt a more or less neutral perspective, especially if they work at a university.

Community psychologists are concerned with the welfare of individuals in the social system—usually, disadvantaged persons. In general, the community psychologist favors modifying and improving "the system" rather than treating the individual person as a problem.

Organizational psychologists, members of one of the largest and oldest fields of applied psychology, deal with the workplace. Their predecessors formerly concentrated on industrial work processes (such as the most efficient way to shovel coal), but organizational psychologists now spend more effort analyzing modern plants and offices. Most are employed by large companies and organizations.

Engineering psychologists (sometimes also called ergonomists or human factors psychologists) mainly focus on the ways that people and machines work together. They study machines ranging from cockpits to computers, from robots to CD players, from transportation vehicles for the disabled to telephones. Engineering psychologists use knowledge of behavior and its causes to help designers and engineers design better machines.

To find further information on applied psychology, such as typical job duties, job outlook, potential earnings, and required professional degrees, click here:

http://www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/otrpresources/helping-online.html