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Forensic Psychologists are encouraged to consider an outstanding career opportunity with Liberty Healthcare.
Liberty Healthcare is now accepting applications for a full-time Psychologist position with our organization's newest forensic mental health program.
Forensic psychology, a relatively new subfield of psychology popularized by television shows like "Criminal Minds," offers a path for students interested in exploring human behavior and the law. Forensic psychologists work with attorneys, judges, and other law professionals to illuminate psychological elements in legal cases.
Forensic psychologists offer their professional expertise to aid the judicial system in civil and criminal matters. These professionals need strong forensic skills to psychologically assess individuals in the legal system. Forensic psychologists also need strong verbal communication skills and should excel at assessment, interviewing, report writing, and case presentation.
The minimum requirement to become a forensic psychologist is to complete your bachelor's degree. It can be in psychology, criminal justice or forensic psychology. These are arts degrees and typically take three to four years to complete, depending on the institution. The eligibility for these courses is to complete your high school with subjects in science or arts.
A master's degree in forensic psychology provides a comprehensive outlook on psychology and criminal justice. It trains professionals in criminal psychopathology, psychological assessment and profiling. Many treatment centres prefer candidates with a master's degree in forensic psychology, and the programme is more focused and specialised.
You can gain experience in the judicial system, rehabilitation centres or a law firm. It helps provide exposure to the legal practices and the challenges of this field. Scout for internships and employment opportunities in non-governmental organisations. You may also gain general psychological work experience before working exclusively in forensic psychology. Additionally, to pursue a doctorate, you require relevant work experience.
A doctorate degree helps you specialise in a particular field of forensic psychology like the psychology of child abuse, law and ethics and undertake unique research. Pursuing a Ph.D. requires you to complete a research project and may up to three years to complete. In matters of the judiciary, most forensic psychologists consulted have a doctorate.
Progression within HM Prison Service is based on ability and experience. More opportunities may be available if you're willing to relocate. As a qualified psychologist you'll be able to progress into a number of roles, including developing policy, management or delivery of services.
With experience you may be appointed to a senior psychologist post, for example, in the management of a sex offender treatment programme, or to a principal/lead level, with overall responsibility for the management and delivery of offending behaviour programmes. Regional leads will oversee teams and will collaborate with prison directors and other senior stakeholders.
There are also opportunities to move sideways to other employers, for example, from the prison service to the NHS. There are a range of job opportunities in the NHS, including treatment leads for therapy initiatives and supporting the forensic wards. You can also progress to very senior management levels, such as head of services.
Freelance work and self-employment is sometimes possible. For example, you could move into consultancy in a forensic context.
Salaries in other areas of work may vary. Additional benefits may include a competitive pension, childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme and travel loans.
Income data from HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Health Careers. Figures are intended as a guide only.
As briefly noted earlier, there are many different employment opportunities in the field of forensic psychology. These opportunities are widely varied, too, so you can pursue many different work experiences.
For example, some forensic psychologists work in the field of research, conducting experiments, testing hypotheses, doing meta-analyses of existing research, and reporting on their findings. This is a very different experience than a forensic psychologist that works with law enforcement as a criminal profiler.
These are but two examples, but you get the point. While forensic psychology is a specialty within the field of psychology, its application can be made far and wide.
If you want to become a forensic psychologist, but you didn’t major in psychology for your undergraduate degree, you can still pursue your dream.
Many graduate programs in forensic psychology allow students admission if they have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, social work, or pre-law, to name just a few. While you might need to complete some psychology prerequisites before beginning your advanced degree, you won’t have to start over!
Once you complete your studies in forensic psychology, the opportunities for learning and growing as a professional certainly aren’t over.
For example, the American Board of Forensic Psychology offers board certification that is seen by many as the gold standard of professional competence in this field.
Likewise, there are always opportunities to learn from colleagues in the field who specialize in a different area than you do. That collegiality is a fantastic bonus of working in forensic psychology.
Forensic psychology can be very exciting work. This is true whether you work with law enforcement, in private practice, as a consultant, or something in between.
Each day you work in this field is an opportunity to learn something new, have different experiences, and take advantage of opportunities to make a positive impact on someone’s life. As such, many forensic psychologists find that this is a very exciting and very satisfying line of work.
Related to the previous point is that this is a job that can be a challenge – and many people find that to be a good thing.
For many forensic psychologists, this is not a desk job that bores you to death as the day drags on. Instead, there are often challenges at every turn – problems to solve, issues to analyze, and opportunities to help others.
But forensic psychology involves much in the way of research, investigation, and problem-solving. These challenges will help keep you on your toes and will keep your job one that can be quite exciting.
For some psychologists – like clinical psychologists or counseling psychologists – part of the job is working with insurance companies to get reimbursements for your services. And while some forensic psychologists might have to take on this task, many do not.
While it might seem trivial, this is a very important benefit of this job. Insurance paperwork can consume much of your time – time that you can’t spend working! The less red tape you have to deal with, the more time you will have to enjoy your line of work.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs in psychology will grow by 8 percent through 2030. While this isn’t a terribly fast rate, it still represents roughly average growth for the foreseeable future.
As such, when you enter this line of work, it’s reasonable to assume that you will be able to find employment relatively quickly. This, of course, goes back to the earlier point that there are many, many different avenues you can pursue in forensic psychology, so there might be more job opportunities for you to pursue.
Another factor that makes forensic psychology an attractive job is the potential to earn a good living.
The BLS reports that the median annual salary for psychologists is $82,180. The pay range extends from a low of about $46,000 per year up to a high of more than $137,000 per year.
Naturally, what you make as a forensic psychologist is determined by many factors, not the least of which is your level of education and experience. But as you get more on-the-job experience, pursue higher degrees and certifications, and develop a specialty, you might find yourself on the upper end of that pay range sooner rather than later.
:In most cases, working as a forensic psychologist requires that you have an advanced degree. In some cases, a master’s degree will suffice. But in some specializations (e.g., working as a college professor in forensic psychology), you will need a Ph.D.
Getting a Ph.D. takes a long time – perhaps as much as five years after you finish your master’s degree. With the expense of college so high, this can be a significant barrier.
Forensic psychologists must be excellent writers, good public speakers, and adept at solving problems.
Likewise, they must be able to work independently and with a team, meet deadlines, and work well under pressure.
While these skills can be developed in part during your educational training, it can take years to become fully competent in these areas.
While some workers enjoy a challenge, sometimes the challenges can mount up, causing a lot of stress. This is certainly a possibility in this line of work.
For example, if you work within the court system, preparing for a case with an attorney can be fraught with tasks. The overwhelming amount of work and the emotionally-charged type of cases that forensic psychologists are often involved with can cause quite a lot of stress.
Sometimes, forensic psychologists have to work on very difficult cases. The caseload might involve murder, abuse, and violence of other sorts. You might have to interview victims of crimes and perpetrators of crimes as well, and the details you learn can be unsettling.
In addition to the potential for this to be a highly stressful job, you must also consider the emotional toll it might take on you.
If you live in an urban area, you might find that the demand for forensic psychology services is quite high. But if you live in a rural area, the opposite might be true.
If you want to live in a lesser-populated area, be prepared for the possibility that there are fewer jobs in this field – and that you might have to travel further to provide your services to clients.
While this isn’t a typical 9-5 job – which is seen as an advantage for many people – it means that you might work unusual hours. This might include late nights, working on the weekends, or on holidays.
These extended hours are most frequently seen for forensic psychologists that work as jury consultants, victim’s advocates, and police consultants. When trials are coming up, the amount of work that needs to be done often increases, leading to long days of work for weeks or months at a time.
You might not have to deal with insurance reimbursements, but you will have to do a lot of paperwork as a forensic psychologist. And this is true of just about every career path in this field.
Whether you have to take field notes, summarize your findings for a court proceeding, or prepare notes for a client, you will be at a computer typing quite often as a forensic psychologist!
As noted earlier, the income potential for forensic psychology is pretty high. But the downside of that is that you will have to work in the field for some time before you realize those higher income levels.
A forensic psychologist evaluates the scenario, witnesses and suspects from a scientific and legal perspective. They may play a crucial role in cases that require an expert witness. They analyse behavioural data and provide their unbiased opinions.
Forensic psychologists communicate with psychologists, lawyers, civil servants, victims, criminals and offenders. A forensic psychologist requires strong people and communication skills to be able to forge a connection with their audience, listen carefully and speak empathetically. They must be able to establish trust and gather evidence through their communication.
A background in psychology makes forensic psychologists competent in understanding the scientific approach to human behaviour and mental health. This knowledge aids their process of probing and documenting observations. Since it is a very complex subject, they have to stay updated with the latest studies and research about human behaviour.
A forensic psychologist observes both verbal and non-verbal cues in their subjects. Their job relies on observing the littlest of things and inconsistencies that may affect the case. These details could be physical objects, behaviour or body language, and being attentive is important to identify them.
In many cases, a forensic psychologist helps children, criminals and police officers to deal with traumatic stress, mental health and abuse. Since they work on sensitive topics, a forensic psychologist requires the expertise to handle a situation well. In such scenarios, they have to remain calm, compassionate, trustworthy and objective.
The situations dealt with by forensic psychologists often make them privy to sensitive personal information. It is important for them to follow ethical practices and protocols to protect the identity of their subjects or not let information leak. They are not at liberty to discuss the case details with anyone who may influence the case.
Despite the highly emotional nature of the job, forensic psychologists have to approach each case without their biases and prejudices. It is important for them to provide fact-based, objective and scientific information to the police and courts. This requires a high degree of self-awareness and objectivity, particularly when handling cases related to abuse or crimes related to children.
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