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Psychologist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Quoted experts
Brenda Ingram-Wallace Ph.D.,
Dr. Julie Kuehnel
Psychologist example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical psychologist skills. We ranked the top skills for psychologists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 17.7% of psychologist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a psychologist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 psychologist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how psychologists use patients:
  • Conducted psychological evaluations and assessments on Mentally Retarded/Developmentally Disabled hospitalized patients.
  • Developed cognitive behaviorally-based educational module for post-surgery patients.

2. Crisis Intervention

Here's how psychologists use crisis intervention:
  • Job Duties: Provide individual therapy, brief psychological assessments, psychological evaluations, group psychotherapy and mental health crisis intervention.
  • Developed, implemented and maintained behavior plans, monitored psychoactive medication, trained staff, and implemented crisis intervention.

3. Rehabilitation

Here's how psychologists use rehabilitation:
  • Review contract psychologist reports and render psychological suitability decisions for all peace officer applicants to CA Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.
  • Step 5) Direct supervision of 10 clinical staff, including day-to-day operations in the Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program.

4. Mental Illness

Here's how psychologists use mental illness:
  • Provide consultation to individuals and agencies regarding mental illnesses, their behavioral manifestations, and associated treatments.
  • Contracted to provide psychological assessments and individual psychotherapy for adults with severe and persistent mental illness.

5. Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision refers to how practicing nurses get professional and moral support from their experienced colleagues. The practice aims to promote their ability to make a concrete decision that values the patient's well-being.

Here's how psychologists use clinical supervision:
  • Provide clinical supervision to Assistant Psychologists/Assistant Psychology Practitioners and Psychology Practitioners within the Psychology Service as and when required.
  • Supervised the prison psychiatric facility and provided administrative and clinical supervision to the units 4 assigned psychologists.

6. APA

American Psychological Association, also known as APA Style, is a standard layout used for all social science research fields and is designed mainly for scientific writing. Typically, this style has different parts, including the title page, introduction, methodology, discussion, conclusion, citation, and reference. It can be used in further research, including education, sociology, psychology, social sciences, and many more. One of its advantages is that it clarifies the research document and citation so that the author or writer can avoid plagiarism.

Here's how psychologists use apa:
  • Supervised clinical activities of doctoral level psychology interns in APA accredited internship program.
  • Provided supervision and mentoring for APA Pre-Doctoral interns.

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7. Social Work

Here's how psychologists use social work:
  • Gained extensive social work case management experience by providing extensive mental health counseling to low-socioeconomic status families with adolescent children.
  • Facilitated weekly team meetings for a multidisciplinary team of social workers/counselors and case managers for case consultation and treatment planning.

8. Psychological Services

Physiological services refer to professional services such as assessment, intervention, and consultation offered by qualified professionals in planning and managing a program that aims to determine the mental state.

Here's how psychologists use psychological services:
  • Provide psychological services for adults with sexuality concerns including psychological intake interviews, psychotherapy, group facilitation, and psychological assessment.
  • Position: Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Resident (part-time) Responsibilities: Providing psychological services in a private practice setting for adolescents.

9. Veterans

Here's how psychologists use veterans:
  • Expedited access to Mental Health services from Primary Care and facilitated continuity of care with tailored treatment recommendations for veterans.
  • Utilized a recovery-oriented model of care to assist Veterans in fulfillment of their personal goals and reintegration into their communities.

10. Substance Abuse

Here's how psychologists use substance abuse:
  • Administered a variety of standardized psychological measures including cognitive, memory, academic, personality, and substance abuse assessments.
  • Provided individual and group therapy to dual diagnosed patients for substance abuse; received weekly supervision from Clinical Director/psychologist.

11. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how psychologists use mental health:
  • Conduct workshops regarding parenting concerns and collaboratively work with mental health agencies in providing wrap around services to identified students.
  • Reviewed evaluations conducted by state contract mental health professionals of individuals residing in or recently admitted to nursing care facilities.

12. Program Development

Program development refers to a road for developers to guide them on creating and developing viable community programs. Since it provides an action plan for the project, it is a continuous process that only ends with the program's full implementation.

Here's how psychologists use program development:
  • Involved in program development, quality assurance, behavior plan construction and psychological evaluations for developmentally delayed children.
  • Led Intervention Assistance Team and crucial participant in Individualized Education Program development and implementation.

13. Individual Therapy

Here's how psychologists use individual therapy:
  • Provided ongoing individual therapy/behavior therapy.
  • Provide individual therapy for adults and children with various emotional problems including depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety.

14. Group Therapy

Group psychotherapy or group therapy is the practice of treating a group of clients together in one sitting throughout multiple sessions. This practice allows people to receive encouragement and support from their peers who are taking the same group therapy.

Here's how psychologists use group therapy:
  • Provided long-term individual family and group therapy to children and adolescents in a therapeutic day school environment.
  • Conduct weekly group therapy, specifically Sex Offender Treatment, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Emotional Self-Regulation.

15. Psychological Tests

Here's how psychologists use psychological tests:
  • Conduct assessments using measurable psychological tests aimed at addressing risk, competency, vocational level and personality assessments.
  • Selected, administered, scored, and interpreted psychological tests to assist in diagnosis and psychological reports.
top-skills

What skills help Psychologists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on psychologist resumes?

Brenda Ingram-Wallace Ph.D.Brenda Ingram-Wallace Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor of Psychology; Director of Counseling Services, Albright College

Internships and practicums, where you can work with clients and incorporate some technology aspects, will help recent graduates stand out from their peers. Possessing familiarity with therapeutic computer applications and their utility for various mental health concerns will be a plus.

What soft skills should all psychologists possess?

Dr. Julie Kuehnel

Professor of Psychology, California Lutheran University

Communication, interpersonal skills! This is huge.

What hard/technical skills are most important for psychologists?

Dr. Julie Kuehnel

Professor of Psychology, California Lutheran University

Advanced statistics and experience with current software for data analysis.

What psychologist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kevin Bennett Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University - Beaver

I have three pieces of advice for recent graduates.
Gain Practical Experience and Network. Seek internships, volunteer opportunities, or entry-
level positions in your field of interest. Practical experience is invaluable and can set you apart
from other candidates. Attend conferences, workshops, and networking events in the field of
psychology. Connect with professionals, professors, and fellow graduates. Networking can open
doors to job opportunities and mentorship.
Develop Specialized Skills and Explore Diverse Career Paths. Identify and develop specific
skills that align with your chosen career path. This might include proficiency in research
methods, statistical analysis, counseling techniques, or the use of specific assessment tools.
Psychology offers a broad range of career options. Explore different paths, such as clinical
psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, counseling, research, or academia, to find the
best fit for your interests and skills.
Take Care of Your Well-being. Working in psychology-related fields can be emotionally
demanding. Prioritize self-care and seek supervision or support when needed. Balancing your
personal and professional life is crucial for long-term success. Remember, your career is a
journey, and each experience contributes to your growth and development. Stay curious, be
proactive, and embrace the learning opportunities that come your way.

What type of skills will young psychologists need?

Julia Dodd Ph.D.Julia Dodd Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University

Some of the most useful skills granted by a psychology major are strong scientific writing skills, research design and project management skills, a knowledge of human behavior and emotions that can translate to strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to be a critical consumer of information, such as in reading articles and extracting the meaningful elements while noticing any scientific weaknesses. There are very few careers where an increased understanding of people's thoughts, behaviors, and feelings would not be useful, so psychology graduates are generally well-poised to enter the workforce across a wide spectrum of fields. I believe all graduates entering the workforce could benefit from taking a few psychology classes, even if they aren't psychology majors.

List of psychologist skills to add to your resume

Psychologist skills

The most important skills for a psychologist resume and required skills for a psychologist to have include:

  • Patients
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Rehabilitation
  • Mental Illness
  • Clinical Supervision
  • APA
  • Social Work
  • Psychological Services
  • Veterans
  • Substance Abuse
  • Mental Health
  • Program Development
  • Individual Therapy
  • Group Therapy
  • Psychological Tests
  • Clinical Services
  • Developmental Disabilities
  • Psychological Evaluations
  • Psychological Assessments
  • Family Therapy
  • Consultation Services
  • Mental Health Professionals
  • Intake Assessments
  • Autism
  • Crisis Management
  • In-Service Training
  • Behavioral Interventions
  • Risk Assessments
  • Restraints
  • Eating Disorders
  • Behavior Management
  • Compassion
  • Diagnostic Assessments
  • Chronic Pain
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Psychology Interns
  • Pain Management
  • IEP
  • Personality Disorders
  • Treatment Recommendations
  • PTSD
  • Applied Behavior Analysis
  • ADHD
  • Staff Training
  • Psychological Reports

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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