Personality Psychologists
As everyone can relate to, one’s personality dictates many of the events that happen throughout each individual’s day. Motives, emotions, and thought processes lead to actions taken, which make up who we are as people. This practicality of personality has led psychologists to analyze the connections that personalities and psychology have. As a result, personality psychologists became the ideal profession to mend this bridge.
WHO ARE THEY?
As the name infers, personality psychologists apply aspects of one's personality to the psychological field. According to an article made by students of the University of New Hampshire, personality psychologists are psychologists that pursue the knowledge of how an individual’s major psychological systems, such as motives, emotions, and the self, coexist together to form daily life patterns one portrays. Most personality psychologists have PhDs in Psychology, with an emphasis in social, clinical, or personality psychology. As writers of Psychology School Guide put it, personality psychologists often work in private offices, along with working in mental health centers, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals. Personality psychologists in research often work for government agencies, universities, or private research organizations.
Within these locations, personality psychologists assist those who experience difficulties due to personality issues. These difficulties may include impulsive decisions, such as gambling or substance abuse, which can lead to personality psychologists to suggest cognitive therapy for those individuals. They also help those with a dysfunctional belief system to overcome their hardships, as they eliminate harmful beliefs the client may have by having clients describe and interpret previous life experiences. For example, personality psychologists often help those with Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP) may think of themselves as bad people, but with the assistance of personality psychologists, they can help change the way those with BPD think of themselves. Personality psychologists help those in need of help at any time, as choices made by personalities often have no pattern or schedule. In an article written by Kendra Cherry of Very Well Mind, personality psychologists want to understand how personality influences individuals to act the way they do, along with analyzing how one’s personality varies and relates to a totally separate individual.
Personality psychologists help those in need of their help clients once a week on average, to possibly every couple weeks in less severe cases. Going in further depth, an example of a personality psychologist’s role in helping those would be meeting a client in an office, and asking an individual a series of questions, in order to better understand the motives that lie within the individual’s personality. The psychologist will attempt to understand why the client struggles with BPD (for example), and how they can use their personality to better help the client persevere through the disorder. Using this method, the personality psychologist can better help their clients through this series of asking questions and analyzing the individual.
In conclusion, personality psychologists illustrate a multitude of skills that better analyze the personality in their method of helping their clients. Personality psychologists study the personality of an individual, and make calculated assumptions of how they can better help an individual struggling with a condition/disorder. Although there are many facets of life that dictate how we act and what we do, personality psychologists have still been able to use personality and help a variety of individuals.