Adolescent Psychology

The actual definition of an adolescent psychiatrist "is a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of

Osteopathy who specializes in the diagnosis and, if indicated, the treatment of disorders of

thinking, feeling, and/or behavior affecting children, adolescents, and their families."

For someone to become an adolescent psychiatrist it takes on average nine to ten years of

special training and schooling. It requires graduating from high school, then going to college and

getting a bachelors degree in either art or science, then four years of medical school, with a year

of interning, followed by three years of training at a resident level in medicine and neurology,

and then two years of college dealing with training and internships dealing with children,

adolescents, and their families. Even though it is not required one can take the American Board

of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) examination which will give one more certification and put

then higher up on the professional ranking also with being certified with the ABPN examination

one is expected to be able to diagnose and treat all problems within the patient.

The degrees one must have to become an adolescent psychiatrist are the following either:

and Bachelors in art or science and a Medical degree. An adolescent psychiatrist also has the

degree to council and diagnose adults and children as well, not just adolescents. An adolescent

psychiatrist can also do family, group, and couple psychotherapy.

In America the job opportunities for an adolescent psychiatrist are excellent. In 1980 the

government requested the statistics for the need of adolescents psychiatrist in America by the

Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee and they "projected a need in 1990

for 9,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists, with a supply of only 4,100 (a ratio of 45.6%). The

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report was even more urgent: it projected a need in the year 2010 for 32,075 child and adolescent

psychiatrists, but a supply of only 3,942 (a ratio of only 12.3%)." There are many opportunities

in high schools, they are needed to try and to help the students go through all the drama and

stress that they may go through during their high school term. Another place is at colleges for

many different reasons one reason is to help the college students if they are stressed out about the

classes they are taking, or being home sick, or if they do have a disorder or disorders. Most of the

time adolescent psychiatrist that have their practice at a college usually don't charge a great

amount of money an hour or a session because they realize that the students can't afford to go

anywhere else. Another place is a privately owned practice, it is also one of the most common

fields for adolescent psychiatry, because an adolescent psychiatrist can have a more of a one on

one relationship with the patient and get to know the case and situation in a more in depth level.

In juvenile courts is another place where adolescent psychiatrist are needed. They are needed to

try and to help keep them to stay mentally stable and calm before they go to court. There is a

great shortage of psychiatrist in juvenile courts because a lot of people do not want to get involve

in the cases and they don't want to deal with the stress or the intensity of it all. Adolescent