Pediatric Psychologist

Pediatric Psychologist Schooling & Degree Guide [Guide for 2026]

Last Updated:
January 6, 2026

Pediatric psychology was “unofficially” founded by Lightner Witmer during the early 1900s. However, it was not “officially” recognized by American Psychological Association until 1968.

Lightner Witmer, often referred to as the “Father of Clinical Psychology,” spent the majority of his early years of practice working with medical doctors in an effort to find effective ways to manage and/or improve child behaviors.

Pediatric psychology (a combination of medicine and psychology) is considered a “slow progressing” discipline. The goal of pediatric psychology is to promote the health, well-being, and development of adolescents (i.e. children, pre-teens, and teens) and their families. Evidence-based methods are typically used to assist this process.

Pediatric psychology encompasses a wide-variety of areas. These areas include: developmental, contextual, and psychosocial factors that can contribute to pediatric psychological and physical issues.

It also includes: the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric medical conditions (i.e. mental illnesses and developmental disorders), prevention of pediatric medical conditions (physical and psychological), educating the general population on pediatric health conditions, promoting health-related behaviors, advocating for child and family public policies, and improving pediatric healthcare delivery services.

Pediatric psychologists have a variety of duties, which may depend on their employment setting. Many pediatric psychologists work for healthcare systems, such as hospitals, to provide psychological services to child patients.

Typically, pediatric psychologists will attend to the needs of critically ill children, such as those that have cancer or another life‑threatening illness. In this context, a pediatric psychologist may offer individual counseling to children to help them cope with the stressors of their illness, or they may provide group counseling to numerous patients in the pediatric area of a hospital.

Other pediatric psychologists choose to open a private practice. In this setting, much of what a pediatric psychologist does revolves around helping children overcome mental, emotional or behavioral difficulties.

For example, a pediatric psychologist might engage in therapy with a child that is struggling with his parents’ divorce. The next client one might see might be a teenage girl that’s struggling with body image issues. The next client might be a teenage boy that has ADHD that is causing him a great deal of distress at school.

Though each of these clients has different needs, the approach would be similar – the pediatric psychologist would use therapeutic techniques that help the child explore his or her problems and identify solutions to overcome those problems.

Pediatric psychologists commonly work for government agencies as well, including agencies like the Department of Family Services. In this capacity, pediatric psychologists evaluate children that may not live in a suitable home.

For example, if child neglect is suspected, the Department of Family Services might ask a pediatric psychologist to interview and assess the child. This might involve simply talking to the child to try and elicit any information about possible trauma, or it might involve more structured steps, such as administering a questionnaire or a mental health exam to determine what if any neglect the child may have suffered.

If neglect is suspected, the pediatric psychologist would work with other members of an intervention team to rectify the situation immediately. There may also be duties related to skill‑building in this context as well.

For example, a pediatric psychologist might teach parents behavioral training methods to help them better handle their child’s behavior and work towards developing a better relationship with their child.

Pediatric psychology fills a substantial gap in health services for children. Medical concerns in children are doubtless particularly…