There are several main types of psychologists, depending on their specialist postgraduate qualifications or training: Clinical, Counselling, Educational, Forensic, Health, Occupational, Neuropsychologist, and Teaching & Research.

Counselling Psychologists apply psychology to working collaboratively with people across a diverse range of human problems. These include helping people manage difficult life events such as bereavement, past and present relationships and working with mental health issues and disorders.

Counselling Psychologists accept subjective experience as valid for each person, explore underlying issues and use an active collaborative relationship to empower people to consider change. Counselling Psychologists utilise a holistic stance, which involves examining the issues brought to them within the wider context of what has given rise to those issues

Counselling Psychologists work within the NHS in general and psychiatric hospitals and GP surgeries; in private hospitals and in independent practice; within education in schools, colleges and universities; in industry and in public and private corporate institutions. Within these settings Counselling Psychologists may work directly with individuals, couples, families, groups or act as consultants.

Clinical Psychologists aim to reduce psychological distress and to enhance and promote psychological well-being. They work with people with mental or physical health problems – which might include anxiety and depression, serious and enduring mental illness, adjustment to physical illness, neurological disorders, addictive behaviours, childhood behaviour disorders, personal and family relationships. They work with people throughout the life-span and with those with learning disabilities

They work largely in health and social care settings including hospitals, health centres, community mental health teams, child and adolescent mental health services and social services. Some work as trainers, teachers and researchers in universities, and some work in the private sector