Do Psychologists make a lot of money, and how much schooling is needed?
Question:
Answers:
You have to be insane and have a big ego to get into that field. Are you game?
Other Answers:
It sounds as though all you are interested in is making money. That is a lousy reason to go into a profession, especially the one you are considering. You will need your Masters at least and it usually takes between 2 and 2-1/2 years, depending on how many courses you are taking. Pyschologists make different salaries in different parts of the country and it depends on whom they council and what branch they go into. This is a huge field. Stop worrying so much about money. Your desire should be to help people in this field, not clean up on their misery!
It really varies - depends on where you work and who you work for. If you work as part of a private practice you can live comfortably if you do it full time - but it's a draining job, so many psychologists do other stuff (consulting, teaching, etc.)
To be a real psychologist, you do need a doctoral degree (either a Ph.D., an Ed.D. or a Psy.D.). It usually takes 4 years of full-time coursework after you get your bachelors degree, plus a one-year full-time internship. So basically, a long time.
With a Masters (takes 2 years full-time) you won't do as well - and you can't actually use the term "Psychologist." You'll get a job because insurance companies don't have to pay you as much per billable hour as they would a licensed doctoral-level psychologist.
Once you're in a graduate program, you gotta network. Get to know people and start getting your foot in the door with a bunch of people so they'll hire you into their practice, community mental health organization, or consulting firm.
Of course, this all depends on if you can get into a graduate program in clinical psychology. It's not easy - you need good grades in college and good test scores. Plus, you have to be good with people. Not all easy.
Hope this helps.
If you want to make more money and be able to provide a wider range of services (like consultation, assessment, expert testimony), go for the doctorate (PhD or PsyD). For a Master's, its 4 years of undergrad plus 2 years of graduate school. For a doctorate, its 4 years of undergrad plus 4 years of grad school and 1 year of full-time internship. You then have to practice for awhile under supervision before you can be licensed.
The average salary varies according to experience and the location of the practice. Here is the most recent (2003) APA salary survey.
For a doctorate:
The average salary for a clinical psychologist is about $75,000.
For a Master's degree:
Clinical positions paid about $49,000.
As you can see, its not a get rich quick profession. You can make a decent living with a Master's. I was talking to an MSW student once who told me that Master's tend to make a good deal of money due to volume. Per hour, PhDs and PsyDs charge more than MSWs and LCSWs. So, insurance companies are more likely to refer patients to Masters-level therapists because they are cheaper.
It is a stable field. There will always be problems and people will always need help. It is a little difficult to get into. Graduate schools are highly competitive, as is the internship selection process. The internship process is like the residency process of med school and uses a match. In 2006, 3210 students applied for internships, 2479 were successfully matched, leaving 731 without an internship. These 731 students then had to compete for the 300 remaining positions. So, over half will be unmatched and will have to apply next year, increasing the student pool. However, the number of positions will not have increased at the same rate. So, every year, more and more students will be unmatched.
When you start, you will join someone else's practice or work at a hospital, community mental health center, school, jail...etc. You need to be supervised until you can get enough experience to be licensed. After that, you can go into private practice. I work at a private practice now and its difficult. I do assessment and we charge between $600 and $900 per testing battery. If someone decides to no-show, there's nothing you can do. You're out $600-900 and there isn't time to reschedule someone else. You also have to deal with meddlesome insurance companies and pay a clerical staff.
To start, I had an internship my senior year of undergrad at a well-renowned medical college. I then worked full-time for 2 years with adolescents and the seriously mentally ill. I then applied for grad school and was able to get in based on my grades, recommendations, and experience.
If you're willing to put forth the work, effort, and sacrifice, its worth it. I'm almost done and it almost seems like forever. If you think of it, the process has taken 45% of my life, but worth it.
wow psychgrad gave a really good answer.
i'm doing psychology in australia and i think things are slightly different here.
for example, apparently you can't call yourself a psychologist even until you've done a doctoral level degree over there. i'm not totally sure but i don't think that's the case in australia.
therefore i can still call myself a psychologist ;-)
so, if you are in australia, you need to do a bachelor of science, behavioural science or psychology, which takes 3 years. i did a b psych, and you get basically automatic entry into honours through that - the gpa cutoff is a fair bit lower than if you come in through science/behav sc. for these two you gotta get above a certain gpa, i think around 5.9 or 6 (out of 7).
so that takes 3 years, then you do one year of Honours, which i'm doing now. this involves a year-long research project. i'm doing mine on negotiation, looking at the impact of emotions on behaviour in negotiations, and how participants' level of emotional intelligence might moderate that impact. trials should start next week! so far i've only found out my EI which is only 90!
ok, after that, if i get a first class honours (basically an A+), then i will have a good chance to get into a phd program plus a scholarship to see me through the four years.
if i have a first or a second class, i will be able to get into a masters program. this takes 2 years and although there are vastly fewer scholarships there is usually a form of government support that can be arranged that pays a similar amount. this is because my uni (flinders uni of south australia) has lots of funding due to churning out plenty of research.
so, as psychgrad said, you will be able to offer more services as a phd graduate, but if you just want to do clinical, a masters will be fine and you will be able to reach your goal 2 years earlier! that's what i'm aiming for. although research does interest me, you never know i could carry on looking at EI as a moderator in all kinds of activities.
in australia the government's specified hourly rate for clinical services, last i heard, was $182 per hour. so that's a fair amount of cash if you think about it in terms of a 9-5 5 day a week job. generally however, your job is more varied and you won't fill the week with that many sessions. some therapists can't handle that kind of workload, understandably, and only work maybe 3 days a week 6 hours a day. even so, it's a decent living.
in australia the government has decided that mental health is a sexy issue, so they are promising more funding. this means there are plenty of job prospects as a psych here at the moment. sounds like i timed my run well ;-)
yeah, you generally join someone else's practice and build up a name for yourself, plus experience and confidence, then u can open ure own clinic.
it's a fascinating, broad field. human behaviour, thinking and feeling occurs in all occupations... so you can perform your services as a psych in relation to all of those. one that i thought might be interesting was to work for ASIO, the aussie version of the CIA. profiling foreign leaders etc.
good luck! don't give up hope in the first three years if you think it's just so dry and full of theory. you'll get to the stuff you started out to do soon enough. i got really pissed off at one stage, but it's starting to feel like i'll get there soon.
Sweetie, I don't know how much money they can make, but I wanted to say to you, DON'T let anyone talk you out of whata you want to do with your life. You're living it, not them. And nobody but you knows what the reasons in your heart are. So follow your dream, I'm glad to see that at least some teenagers out there are thinking with a clear head and not running off and dooing stupid things. Stay strong!!
I'm doing the same thing. Although I will hang out a shingle to help folks, I also want to get ahead and therefore will specialize in Industrial (Occupational) Psychology. What that breaks down to is I'll charge companies insane amounts of money to tell them how to make their work environment less hostile and do screenings for their executives. I'll pass the savings on to people who need help but can't afford it. But don't tell the Fortune 500 that's my plan; they may disapprove. ;P
It's like anything else.
If you work for the state the pay won't be all that great.
However, a private practice makes all the difference in the world provided it's succesful.
More Questions and Answers
- is it possible to commit suicide through starvation?
- What is the term of fear of hugging?
- You may say I’m depressed, I say I’m a realist, which am I?
- Im very depressed. I need some advise. Help me please?
- Can't you feel when people are watching you without looking?
- can meditation reduce sleep duration?
- little brother?
- You won't believe what my husband does when he walks in his sleep.?