Clinical Psychologist Salary

If you are fascinated by human behavior and passionate about helping people, you might consider a career in clinical psychology. As a clinical psychology practitioner, you will work directly with various individuals to promote mental health. Read on to learn about your earning potential within the field. Clinical psychologist salary also depends on Clinical Psychologist’ degrees, experiences, and also the institution where they practice.

Psychologist

When hearing the term “Psychologist,,” ” most people think of many things. Many envision a patient lying on a leather couch, recounting their problems.

Others think of school psychologists helping students through their problems. Still, others discount workers in the field as quacks.

While there are many different specializations in psychology, clinical psychologists work with patients confidently, helping them through their problems and doing good while earning a clinical psychologist’s salary.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology focuses on identifying, treating, and preventing various mental health disorders.

As a clinical psychologist, you will provide an outlet for individuals, groups, and families to talk through and deal with issues ranging from personal feelings to significant mental disabilities, including depression and schizophrenia. Clinical psychology encompasses several specialty areas, such as child psychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology.

Clinical psychologists are needed in various settings, including schools, hospitals, the military, private practice, and healthcare organizations, which is also necessary to identify clinical psychologists’ salaries.

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Importance of Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is by far the most popular specialization of all psychologists, comprising over 63,000 jobs in the United States alone. This number suggests a pattern of enormous growth, as only 20,000 such positions existed as recently as 1974.

Such a drastic increase is primarily due to expanding the field’s interests and foci; At the same time, clinical psychologists dealt mainly with severe mental trauma and emotional distress; it now encompasses topics such as sports wellness and gerontology.

Modern practitioners are focused on behavioral, humanistic, familial, and psychoanalytical elements of the mind, working to explain and contribute to their patient’s behavior through treatment in these four fields.

Education Requirements for Clinical Psychologists

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a doctoral degree is usually required to enter the field of clinical psychology. Therefore, aspiring clinical psychologists choose a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) or a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in clinical or counseling psychology degree programs.

As a clinical psychology Ph.D. program graduate, you can pursue careers in teaching, research, or direct patient care. Ph.D. programs typically require 4-5 years of full-time study and extensive coursework in psychotherapy, intervention, assessment, and human development. In addition, independent research is needed to complete a doctoral thesis.

Clinical Psychologist Salary

On average, a clinical psychologist’s salary typically ranges from $48,000 to $82,000, depending on an individual’s qualifications, including education, employment, and prior experience.

The median income for workers in the field is around $64,000, a salary that provides a quick return on a costly educational investment. Those with additional education (typically a Doctorate), several years of experience, and a management role, likely in private practice, can earn substantially more. The highest-earning 10% of clinical psychologists made more than $106,000.

Entry-Level Salaries for Recent Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist Salary

According to the 2009 doctoral employment survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), a recent graduate can expect to earn approximately $50,000-$70,000. In 2019 this earning increased by about 14 percent.

The median starting salary for graduates providing direct human services in clinical psychology was $61,000, while those beginning their careers in school psychology earned a median salary of $58,000. The APA also reported that Ph.D. holders working as assistant professors earned a median annual salary of $56,727, while those working in research earned a median salary of $60,000.

Doctor of Clinical Psychologist Salary (Ph.D. Graduates)

According to the BLS, clinical psychologists earned a median annual salary of $76,810 as of May 2019. Industries with the highest employment opportunities for clinical psychologists include elementary and secondary schools, offices of health practitioners, family services, government agencies, and outpatient care facilities, as reported by the BLS. Top paying states for this occupation include New Jersey, Colorado, California, and New York.

In 2020, the clinical psychologist’s annual salary increase was $76,810- $82,000 (May 2020).

Now, we will show the percent transformation of Clinical psychologists’ and other mental health professionals’ salaries, probable 2018-28 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Psychologists).

You can also check the official website of the United States government for further information. Last Modified Date: Thursday, March 05, 2023.

Code of Ethics for Clinical Psychologists

Of course, along with a clinical psychologist’s salary comes many other benefits – and concerns. For example, employees in the field are responsible for maintaining the code of ethics by helping people through their problems and attempting to correct their behaviors and emotions in ways that benefit the patient. Such practice can be incredibly empowering, adding fulfillment and promise to a job that may otherwise seem full of other people’s problems.

Clinical psychologists must be careful to remain removed from the affairs of their patients. If they are not careful, they may grow attached to patients and influence their behavior in particular ways. Perhaps more practically, clinical psychologists may wind up taking their patients’ problems home with them, leading to stressful mindsets of their own.

Becoming a clinical psychologist is about much more than a salary. Those embarking down the long road to enter into the field must have a passion for getting to the root of their patient’s problems and fixing them. In addition, they must enjoy talking to, listening to, and helping people they may not like as people, but respect and are patient.

In reward, they end each day knowing they are influencing other people for the better, leading them towards more extraordinary things while taking home a clinical psychologist’s salary. Clinical psychology is a fulfilling and highly challenging career that promises practitioners an exciting life.