Delineating Psychology as an Academic and Applied Discipline

It is suggested that while psychology is well-known as an academic discipline and an applied science, rehabilitation professionals, economists, and attorneys lack specific knowledge about the different types of professionals in psychology. Moreover, it is suggested that these same professionals are not adequately able to differentiate professional psychologists from other mental health professions. As such, the purpose of this paper is to offer a historical account of psychology as both an academic discipline and applied science, distinguish between the diverse types of psychologists and psychological scientists, and, lastly, segregate or describe the various types of mental health professions. It is a goal that rehabilitation professionals will be able to utilize this information to both direct services for clients, but also select applicable experts for court and testimony purposes.