Army Psychologists

Explore the Army Psychologist career...

Treating a soldier's anxiety, whether it's in an eight-wheeled armored combat tank patrolling the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, or at a U. S. base processing center where troops are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, an Army psychologist quickly assesses how to deliver the best intervention, and then proceeds to apply the most appropriate treatment.

For the soldier on the tank, that will involve a brief, solution-focused therapy. For the soldier ready to deploy, the psychologist teaches the soldier a cognitive-behavioral strategy, such as a deep breathing or muscle relaxation technique. But after assessing the base soldier, the Army psychologist might also conclude that the soldier is exhibiting more severe symptoms, those related to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and advise military leaders to keep the soldier in the states for more intensive psychological treatment.

Yet another Army psychologist works at a Veterans hospital, helping service members from any one of the U.S. Armed Services cope with the loss of limbs, eyesight, hearing or memory. Or using exposure therapy, a psychologist working at a military hospital helps soldiers unable to work or even leave their houses. These soldiers are jittery from loud noises, crying babies, or mounting financial stress, or hear comments from bosses and coworkers about their "recent vacation in Iraq" or the 1500 e-mails, received during their deployment, waiting to be answered.

Some soldiers simply need to talk and vent - like the soldier on "burial duty" in the U.S., for example. Day after day, this soldier buries two to four fellow soldiers, standing at the gravesides with grieving families, watching parents, children, and spouses say good-bye to their loved ones. That soldier needs someone to hear his or her stories of grief and pain in the same way that the grieving family members require emotional support. Army psychologists know how to listen, and help soldiers - and families - process their grief.

Working as a military psychologist means enlisting in the Army or the Army National Guard, or as a civilian, working for a military hospital or clinic. In all cases, a diversity of issues specific to military life applies to working with warriors or their families - who struggle daily with the deployment of a parent, or the emotional or physical injuries of one returning home. Army psychologists apply their expertise across a wide-range of behavioral concerns in family practice, couples therapy, individual interventions, and pre-deployment prevention programs.

Besides clinical and counseling psychology, other specialty areas exist for Army psychologists. Some specially trained psychologists work as part of a larger training program for military members called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE. This program applies to U.S. Special Operations soldiers - those trained to undertake the most dangerous missions in combat, making them the most likely to become captured. SERE trains American service members for possible brutal treatment, focusing on survival and evasion. Using cognitive-behavioral strategies, Operational psychologists teach soldiers how to resist interrogation.

Many of the Army's Operational psychologists serve on one of the Army's bases where Special Operations training takes place, such as at the U.S. Army's JFK Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Working with the Army's leadership, they help identify the most qualified soldiers for this elite service, and also develop assessment tools to rate the selected soldiers performance during training.

Two ongoing wars since 2001, and the surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by President Barak Obama in December 2009, has increased the need for more Army psychologists. To meet the increased need, the Army has increased recruitment efforts by offering expanded loan-repayment programs, signing bonuses, and bonuses for extended active duty, according to the 2007 article "Transforming Military Mental Health" in The Monitor, an American Psychological Association journal.

The article stated that the Army was down 20% from its full complement of Army psychologists. It also stated that the Army was increasing its number of psychology internships. Additionally, civilian government contractors have increased their recruiting efforts.

By December 2009, the Army had kept to its goals of recruiting more psychologists; however it still reported being down 14% from its full staffing requirements, according to data from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.

For those considering an Army career as a psychologist, or working as a civilian psychologist with soldiers and their families, the current job shortage and rising mental health needs of those serving the country make this a great time to enter the field. Get started by requesting information from schools offering degrees in psychology. Make sure the program you enroll in has been accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Enrollment officers at the schools will tell you if their program is accredited or not.