🤝 Psychology and social care careers

30 careers in Psychology and social care: what they do, prospects, pay, AI impact and where to study.

• 🌷 Palliative Care Worker (Hospice)Helps people with incurable illness live their remaining time free of pain and with dignity: care, conversations, support for the family, granting last wishes. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧓 Care workerLooks after older and bedridden people: helps them eat and wash, turns them, gives medication on schedule, takes them out and keeps them company. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🛋️ PsychotherapistTreats depression, anxiety, panic attacks and the effects of trauma through talking therapy. Long relationships with clients and regular supervision. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧠 Clinical psychologistAssesses mental health and cognitive problems and provides therapy for anxiety, depression and eating disorders, often alongside psychiatrists. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🆘 Crisis and trauma psychologistGoes to disasters, attacks and fires to help survivors and families through the shock, works with grief and panic and supports rescue workers. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔗 Addiction counsellorHelps people recover from alcohol, drug and gambling addiction: groups, one-to-one work, family support and relapse prevention. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ♿ Disability support workerHelps disabled people live independently: goes with them to shops and work, teaches everyday skills and organises activities in supported living. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⭐ Military PsychologistSelects and prepares service personnel, monitors morale in units, helps people cope with combat stress and supports the wounded and their families. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 👥 Health psychologist (hospital)Works in hospitals: supports patients with serious diagnoses and their families, tests memory and thinking after a stroke and helps people cope with illness. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 👨‍👩‍👧 Couples and family therapistHelps couples and families through conflict, divorce, a crisis with a teenager, a new baby or loss. Listens to everyone and teaches them to reach agreement. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚖️ MediatorHelps the sides in a conflict reach agreement without going to court: divorces, neighbour and business disputes, school conflicts. A neutral go-between, not a judge. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧩 Clinical NeuropsychologistUses tests and tasks to check attention, memory, language and thinking to find which brain area struggles in a child with learning difficulties or an adult after a stroke. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🪀 Play Therapist (Child Psychologist)Works with children through play: sand trays, dolls, stories. Helps them cope with divorce, fears, aggression and loss, and advises parents. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌈 Inclusion and Accessibility CoordinatorMakes a school, university or company accessible for people with disabilities and special needs: adapts programmes and workplaces, trains staff, resolves conflicts. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔑 Probation OfficerHelps people leaving prison get back to normal life: housing, work, documents, treatment, family ties. Also supervises them to reduce reoffending. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🏫 School psychologistHelps pupils with anxiety, bullying, exams and subject choices, advises teachers and parents and runs assessments and workshops. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🤝 Social workerHelps older and isolated people and families in difficulty: arranges food, medicine and benefits, goes with them to the doctor and finds a way out of a crisis. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌍 Refugee and Migrant Support CaseworkerHelps newcomers settle in: documents, language, school for children, work, rights and duties. Works in support centres, NGOs, companies and immigration services. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🤰 DoulaSupports a woman through pregnancy and birth: prepares her, helps with massage and breathing during labour and assists in the first weeks with the baby. Not a medic, but a support. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐴 Animal-Assisted Therapist (Equine / Canine)Runs sessions with horses or dogs for children with cerebral palsy or autism and adults after injury: riding builds muscles, a dog helps with speech and calm. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🙌 Volunteer coordinator / charity managerRecruits and organises volunteers, launches charity projects, writes grant applications and reports back to donors. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🎨 Art TherapistHelps people express and work through feelings by drawing, modelling and collage when words are hard. Works with children, teenagers, older people and trauma survivors. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🎵 Music TherapistUses singing, rhythm and instruments in rehabilitation: helps people speak again after a stroke, calms autistic children, eases anxiety and pain. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🎒 Youth WorkerRuns projects, events, clubs and volunteering for teenagers and young people and helps "difficult" teens find their thing. Works in youth centres and local councils. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🏠 Child protection and adoption social workerFinds families for children in care, assesses and trains foster and adoptive parents, protects children's rights and visits families at risk. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🤟 Sign language interpreterInterprets between spoken language and sign language (BSL, ASL and others) in hospitals, courts, universities and on TV, so deaf people can follow and be heard. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🚫 Substance Misuse Prevention SpecialistRuns lessons and workshops in schools, colleges and workplaces on avoiding drug, alcohol and gaming addiction, spotting the warning signs and where to get help. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 📞 Crisis Helpline CounsellorAnswers calls and messages from people in despair: teenagers, abuse survivors, people thinking of suicide. Listens, keeps them on the line, looks for a way forward together. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧭 Careers Adviser / Career CounsellorHelps students and adults decide what work to do: tests, interviews, looking at strengths, the job market and steps to a goal. Like this questionnaire, but in person. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 💻 Online Therapist / CounsellorCounsels clients by video and chat on online platforms: anxiety, relationships, burnout. Manages their own schedule, practice and personal brand. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance

Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.