How to Become Forensic Psychologist ?

There is an intersection that lies between the psychology of a human being and the criminal justice system. This intersection is in turn termed as the Forensic psychology. There is a need to interact with the judges and other legal people of the country for a forensic psychologist. The reformulation of the psychological findings into a language that is legally understood by all is termed as forensic psychology.

There are many branches in psychology like the

1. clinical psychology
2. social psychology
3. organizational psychology

in which the forensic psychologist can be trained upon. The general duty of any of these forensic psychologists is to provide the sentencing recommendations and the treatment recommendations to the judges or the lawyers of the court. These psychologists also have the practice to learn police law and other enforcement laws.

Here in this hub , we can have a detailed discussion about the prerequisites in order to become a successful forensic psychologist.

There are some basic qualifications that one would require in order to become a forensic psychologist.

Requirement for Psychologist ?

• One among them is to have a doctoral degree in psychology. One would need to earn a doctoral degree in the field of psychology with any of the accredited programs that are being recommended for the same.
  
• There is also professional license and certification given in order to practice the forensic psychologist practice. So, one would need to acquire that license in order to practice the same within the state.
  
•  The next mandate is that one would need to successfully complete a postdoctoral education. The field in which this needs to be done is –forensic psychology.
  
• The process for applying for the certification and the license needs to be done only after you show proof that you have an experience for about 1000 hours in the field of forensic psychology. So, totally there would be a requirement of 7 years of study after completing the usual under graduation degree in psychology.

How to Apply ?

In order to apply for the certification process, one would need to submit the application form which is available at American Board of Forensic Psychology website. The other proofs with regards to the completion of studies can be mailed to the ABFP office along with the fee for the certification.

Forensic Psychology Examination

There will be a written and an oral examination which would need to be cleared comfortably. There would be around 200 questions in the written examination and the time given to complete the same is 210 minutes. The ABFP has set 70 percent as the eligibility criteria to pass these examinations.

Also there is a requirement to submit some samples of studies to check the relevant experience and professionalism that one has in forensic psychology. These samples will be reviewed and questioned during the oral examination. The notification with regards to the results will be received in around 5 weeks. Finally when you have cleared then you will be awarded the diploma in ABFP.

This job is considered most respected because the professional opinion of the forensic psychologists is of great value within the legal courtroom. It is because of this only there is a huge filtering process that would happen during the examinations. There must not be even a single mistake made during the selection and hence the most experienced people in the relevant field are called for to judge the proceedings.