Most children have carefree, uneventful childhoods. They do not experience life changing events. Unfortunately though, there are those children who have had negative emotional experiences that can leave them emotionally scarred for life. These are the children who receive help from child psychologists.

Child psychologists have got the training and ability to deal and uncover problems that children may be hiding.  They are also trained to deal with emotional and behavioral aspects of the negative experiences the child has had. They are trained to gain the trust of the children, so they can unravel any secrets they children might be hiding. For this, you have to be innovative, while keeping it realistic. For example some children might respond well to the use of puppets to help them open up to the therapist. When the children open up and reveal their inner thoughts, it is easy for the psychologist to understand the issues, the roots of the problems and from thereon recommend modes of therapy. They are also in a better position to advice the parents on their children’s problems and advice them on how to handle the situation.

To be a successful child psychologist, you will have to be patient, caring, innovative, and definitely have a love for children. It is advisable to train under a seasoned professional, to enable them to pick up practical methods, as what is learnt in class isn’t always enough.

They also need to be able to perform research and document the scientific evidence collected, as well as find correlations between behavior and different factors. The research conducted also provided us with information on cognitive and mental abilities.