Trauma and crises are an unfortunate part of life. Car accidents, riots, shootings, natural disasters, and war are just a few of the usual culprits that can traumatize people. Imagine a tornado or hurricane has ravaged your city.
Even if you have come through unscathed, your friends, family, and coworkers may have lost their homes, their belongings, or even their lives. While depressing to think about, this is a reality that people face each and every day in every corner of the world.
Trauma psychology is a specialization within the field of clinical and counseling psychology. Trauma psychologists work with victims of the situations outlined above to help them cope with their feelings, develop strategies for recovery, and build skills that will help bring about closure.
But before trauma psychologists can work with clients, they must undertake a significant amount of schooling. This schooling begins at the bachelor’s degree level and extends for many psychologists through a doctoral program.
The time spent in school may offer trauma psychology students a valuable opportunity to learn how to become effective psychologists and put their learning into practice, so that upon graduation they are ready to respond well to crisis situations.
What is a Trauma Psychology Degree?
A degree in trauma psychology prepares students to tend to the psychological and emotional needs of people in crisis. Crisis in this sense can mean a variety of things, from experiencing grief after the death of a loved one to surviving a catastrophic event like an earthquake to being the victim of a violent crime.
In any situation in which trauma is involved, trauma psychologists are able to work with individuals on the immediate effects of their trauma, as well as address the long-term ramifications of the traumatic experience.
Trauma Psychology Bachelor’s Degrees
To begin one’s education in trauma psychology, a bachelor’s degree should be obtained. Typicalundergraduate programs in psychologyinclude 120 semester credit hours, which takes about four years to complete.
Admission into bachelor’s degree programs can vary widely from one college to the next, but prospective students should expect the following common requirements:
Undergraduate programs in trauma psychology do not exist, rather, bachelor’s degree programs are much broader in scope. At this level, students are introduced to central topics in the field of psychology. This might include studies of:
Trauma Psychology Master’s Degrees
Master’s level degree programs in trauma psychology are usually in counseling psychology or clinical psychology, with a specialization in trauma or crisis intervention. Like othermaster’s degree programs in psychology, those with a focus on trauma psychology can require more than 60 credits of coursework, which represents several years of work to be completed.
Also commonly required is fieldwork in which students utilize their content knowledge and practical skills to work with actual clients that have experienced trauma of some kind.
While the requirements for fieldwork will vary from graduate school to graduate school, students can expect to complete anywhere from 600-1,000 hours of fieldwork under the supervision of an experienced and licensed psychologist.
Another component of master’s in trauma psychology programs that varies from institution to institution are the entrance requirements. In some instances, students need little more than a satisfactory undergraduate GPA.
However, other programs have much more stringent requirements that may include completion of required prerequisites, undergraduate research experience, recommendations from undergraduate professors, a personal statement, a curriculum vitae, or participation in an interview process.
Once admitted to a master’s in trauma psychology program, prospective trauma psychologists will take part in advanced studies in the field. Thesecourses might include:
Trauma Psychology PhD Degrees
Students pursuing a PhD in trauma psychology most often complete a program of study in the clinical psychology or counseling psychology realms, with specialized coursework in working with traumatized populations.
Unlike graduate school, in which students take part in extensive coursework, the doctoral level is less about coursework and more about independent research and supervised practice. Nevertheless, there are several courses that are commonly required for a PhD in trauma psychology:
What is an Online Trauma Psychology Degree?
Just like an in-person trauma psychology degree, online trauma psychology degree is a specialized program that focuses on understanding, assessing, and treating individuals who have experienced severe psychological distress or traumatic events. This can include experiences such as natural disasters, violent crimes, abuse, war, serious accidents, or personal loss.
Online trauma psychology degrees offer the same rigorous curriculum as traditional in-person programs, but they are delivered online, typically through a combination of live and recorded lectures, online readings, digital discussion forums, and remote assignments. This format offers flexibility and convenience, which can be especially helpful if you are working, have family responsibilities, or live far from a university campus.
What is the Role of a Trauma Psychologist?
A trauma psychologist specializes in understanding, assessing, and treating individuals who have experienced traumatic events. Their roleincludes:
By addressing the emotional and psychological aftermath of traumatic events, trauma psychologists play a crucial role in helping individuals heal and regain control of their lives.
What Can You Do With a Trauma Psychology Degree?
An advanced degree in trauma psychology may open many avenues to employment for psychologists. One of the most popular employment settings for trauma psychologists is private practice. Here, trauma psychologists can specialize in working with a specific group, such as survivors of domestic violence, or they can treat trauma in general.
Some trauma psychologists in private practice make a living responding to natural or man-made disasters, offering their services as part of relief organizations that seek to help people recover from crisis situations.
Another potential career path for a trauma psychologist is to work for the military. With the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans of the armed services, trauma psychologists have a definite role to play in helping veterans cope with the traumas they have experienced as part of their service to the country.
Military-based employment might mean a trauma psychologist serves overseas, and potentially even in a war zone. Many other trauma psychologists work stateside in veteran’s hospitals.
Mental health centers often employ trauma psychologists as well. While psychologists in this work setting may not focus all their time on treating clients that are traumatized, their training and expertise can be relied upon in the event of a local emergency. This is especially beneficial in less populated regions where trauma psychologists may not be in great number.
Yet another employment option is to work for a government agency. Trauma psychologists may be part of a state’s emergency response team and use their skills to treat survivors of a crisis situation.
Psychologists may also spend a significant portion of their day conducting research into how humans cope with stress, anxiety, fear, and other emotions associated with trauma.
Additionally, they might work to develop intervention programs that promote a return to normal functioning after a crisis situation has passed.
What Degrees are Similar to Trauma Psychology?
Trauma psychology, with its roots in clinical psychology and counseling psychology, has many related areas of study. Among the most closely related fields are:
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology is the basis upon which trauma psychology is founded. As that basis, clinical psychology is much broader in scope, with coursework focusing on treating clients with a host of psychological issues, not just those related to trauma.
Child Psychology
Unfortunately, children are often traumatized and require extensive psychological help to overcome the trauma they have experienced. Like trauma psychology,child psychologyis but one form of clinical psychology, in which psychologists employ their knowledge of human behavior to diagnose, assess, and treat psychological disorders.
Marriage and Family Therapy
Degrees in marriage and family therapyshare the clinical focus of trauma psychology, but with a greater emphasis on everyday issues that prevent couples and families from functioning at their best. Also similar to trauma psychology is a focus on brief, solution-focused treatments to help clients effectively deal with current issues that negatively impact their psychological wellbeing.
Health and Wellness Psychology
Degrees that focus on health and wellness are intended to shed light on how psychological issues can impact one’s physiological and emotional functioning. The information gleaned from these studies is often used to design preventions and interventions that promote improved overall health.
Mental Health Counseling
Like the other degree options listed above,mental health counselingtrains students to provide treatments to people that are coping with psychological or emotional issues. Students in this type of program develop clinical counseling skills to include in the treatments they offer. These programs may also offer a specialization so students can work with a particular group of people, such as children or the elderly.
