Psychology for children: what is it and what are its areas of intervention?

These are the characteristics and functions of child psychology.

Psychological assistance services are always adapted to the target population, as in the case of children.

With this article we will try to answer the question of what is psychology for childrenThe main applications that this science has to help children in different situations, making a distinction of each one of them and explaining them in depth to be able to understand the difference.

What is psychology for children?

When we speak of psychology for children, we refer to all those applications of general psychology, destined to understand the difference. applications of the general psychology, destined to be applied in minor people. The psychology of children and adolescents, who due to their characteristics and conditions require a specific methodology and processes adapted to their evolutionary level, is a science dedicated to the study and analysis of behavior and thought processes carried out by people, both individually and in groups.

To understand this issue, we must first know the definition of psychology itself, which is the science dedicated to studying and analyzing the behavior and thought processes carried out by people, both individually and in groups and in very diverse contexts.

Therefore, there will be different ways of studying these behaviors depending on different variables, being the age of the subjects one of the most important ones. Even within minors, it is not possible to generalize, since there are very different evolutionary moments from early childhood to adolescence and, therefore, child psychology must be adapted to each case.

In this case, the task of psychology is to study the child population in order to conclude what similarities and differences can be found and also to develop methodologies that are designed to solve all or at least partially the problems that have been identified.

It will be a critical task, in that sense, in child psychology, to analyze and distinguish all the variables at the genetic and environmental level that may be having some kind of influence on these anomalies. some kind of influence on these anomalies, whether at the emotional, learning, social or developmental level of their abilities.

Both aspects, that of biology, with its possible genetic predispositions towards one or other characteristics, and that of the environment, which includes the environment and the type of upbringing of parents and other adults of reference, interact to shape the way in which the child will behave and the way in which he or she will think. Hence, it is important for child psychology to have an in-depth knowledge of both aspects.

Different functions of child psychology

After a general introduction to child psychology, we can now focus on the different ways in which this branch of science can be applied, in a practical way, to achieve an improvement in the lives of people, in this case minors.

We will now review some of the main ways in which this branch of science can be we will review some of the main ways in which psychology can help children in different contexts.

1. Psychological disorders

The first form of child psychology intervention is the one dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of different psychopathologies. This is probably the most popular branch or at least one of the most recurrent when we think of the ways in which this science can be applied to children.

A health psychologist specializing in children will have the ability and psychometric tools to evaluate the child psychologically to discern if there is a possibility that the patient is suffering from a psychological disorder. Once such an ailment has been detected, the professional will draw up a treatment plan.

Of course, this therapeutic intervention will also be regulated, this therapeutic intervention will also be regulated to adapt to the evolutionary stage of the child and his or her personal characteristics.. Generally, this work requires the continuous collaboration of the child's parents, as they will have to follow the guidelines set by the specialist to continue the work at home and thus achieve progress in the shortest possible time.

The expert in child psychology must also coordinate with the school to obtain information about the child's situation in the school and any other information of interest that may be useful for diagnosis and treatment, in search of the maximum benefit for the child. This collaboration between the professional and the institution can be very useful.

2. Organic diseases

There are organic diseases that can generate alterations at a physical and/or psychological level. When they are of the second type, we are in front of another field of action of psychology for children. Likewise, the psychologist will have to evaluate the scope of this ailment in the minor..

The evaluation work, as when talking about psychopathologies, should be carried out in a way adapted to the child's capacities, both for the stage of development in which he/she is and for the alterations that the organic disease may have caused at a psychological level.

After the evaluation, a therapeutic program should be a therapeutic program to try to minimize as much as possible these sequelae, to correct them in their totality if possible, and even to anticipate the development of these sequelae, if the development of these sequelae has not yet occurred.If the damage has not yet occurred but it is foreseen that it will happen if measures are not taken to avoid it.

Likewise, the psychologist will have a didactic work with the parents or tutors of the affected minor, providing them with the guidelines to be able to give the best care to the child and that in this way its affectation at psychological level is reduced, at least partially.

3. School support

The figure of the school counselor represents another of the lines of action of child psychology. It is a specialization of psychology, aimed at fulfilling a series of purposes in the field of schools and institutes. One of them is to identify what educational needs exist among students, and whether or not they are being met.

They must also give guidelines at the psycho-pedagogical level to the team of teachers of the institution, and to the families of the students. Of course, their work with regard to the students themselves will be of vital importance. They must identify possible problems that may threaten the achievement of educational objectives so that they can be resolved as soon as possible.

If some of the children have special needs, the counselor will also have the mission of coordinating the resources required so that these students can receive education in a way that is adapted and appropriate for them, achieving the best use and development of their abilities.

In short, the figure of the school counselor, as one of the representatives of one of the areas of child psychology, has the following functions counseling and coordination functions between the students themselves, their families and the educational team.

4. Sports psychology for children and adolescents

Another field of child psychology, which is also booming, is sports psychology for children and adolescents. Sports performance in a given discipline, both in children and adults, will depend on their physical capabilities for such activity but also on psychological factors.

The sports psychologist will be the professional in charge of working with these factors, trying to eliminate all the limitations that the person, in this case the child or adolescent, may have, and that are limiting their development in the sport they practice. It is not only a matter of reducing the limitations, it is also essential to enhance the positive capabilities that the child already possesses.

As in other scenarios of psychology for children, it will be essential that the expert evaluates the child to know the specific characteristics of their case, because each one will be different and will need a specific and personalized action plan to achieve the fulfillment of the objectives set.

Therefore, the individual differences of each child will determine how the work of the sports psychologist will be approached. This work will be especially delicate when dealing with young children, whose emotional management skills are in very early stages of development.

In such cases, the work of child psychology must be focused on that the children learn to develop their capacities to achieve a good performance in sport, but enjoying it and without being overwhelmed by the pressure, which can sometimes be more than the pressure of the sport which can sometimes be more than they can bear.

The sports psychologist should teach them to relativize the results and that their passion does not become a source of anxiety, but a source of fun and joy.

Although there are other ways in which psychology for children can be applied, the ones we have reviewed in these paragraphs are some of the most important ones, in which the professionals of this science work to improve the lives of children.