A psychologist’s job may not be one of the world’s highest paying jobs at the start, however, with experience, practice and knowledge, one can expect to earn well in due course of time. Find out the psychologist salary range and their job descriptions according to types, in this article.
The human mind is a treasure of feelings, thoughts, expressions, emotions, love, hatred, etc. It is deeper than the oceans, higher than the mountains, and as endless as the horizon! Psychology is the study of this endless and vast human mind. Every person in this world thinks differently. Of course, you will find some similarities, but you won’t get two human beings with exactly the same thoughts, style and opinions! Psychology is so vast that even an experienced psychologist with 30 years of experience learns something new each day.
Now coming to the technical facet of a psychologist’s job. A psychologist is an authorized person who studies the human mind and behavior to give treatment and solutions to people suffering from emotional, behavioral and mental problems. Psychology, as an area of study and research, has excelled so much, that experts have classified it into different sections like counseling psychology, health psychology, developmental psychology, school psychology, etc.
All these branches deal with the study of various aspects of human behavior and problems. If you are interested in a career in psychology, the educational requirements, job description, and the salary range have been mentioned in the following paragraphs.
Psychologist Educational Requirements
Becoming a psychologist is a long procedure and requires study on an array of subjects, which are vast areas of research and development in themselves. Here are the steps involved to become a psychologist.
- Stepping into the field of psychology demands a bachelor’s degree in psychology. With this, one can qualify as an assistant to some established psychologist.
- Now, the next step is to get a master’s degree in the same. Masters in psychology can land you a job as an assistant to a doctoral-level psychologist, or you can work as an industrial-organizational psychologist.
- Further, you need to get a doctoral degree from a leading university, to begin your independent practice, or even work for schools, colleges and NGOs, as a counselor.
- For a psychologist, it is necessary to get a certification and license from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). This requires passing a certification exam.
- You also need to keep yourself updated on the recent developments in psychology to be well-known as a renowned psychologist. In fact, some states have made it mandatory to pursue education courses for periodical renewal of the license.
Types of Psychologists and Salary Range
Being a psychologist is obviously a tough job, to say the least. To give the correct solution and treatment, you have to be careful at every step, and deal with patients with extreme care and attention.
Given below are the job descriptions of the different types of psychologists, along with their salary range.
Counseling Psychologist
Working in the field of human counseling is indeed a difficult and challenging job. Counseling psychologists mainly work in hospitals, multinational organizations, non-government organizations and universities. Job details of a counseling psychologist include treatment and effective counseling on areas such as educational development, career issues, social conduct and behavior, emotional problems and business concerns, by talking to the patient and asking relevant questions to him. This is followed by preparation of reports and case studies for future references.
Salary Range: $50,000 – 60,000
Health Psychologist
Often, we know the consequences and causes of many diseases, but still we neglect certain precautionary measures and do not follow personal hygiene to prevent them. This happens either due to purposeful ignorance or lack of interest. This is when health counselors come into the picture! Their job description entails counseling on healthy living, inculcating the importance of personal hygiene, and educating people on various diseases. The core area of work also includes creating awareness in people about bad habits such as smoking, unsafe sex, and alcoholism.
Salary Range: $40,000 – 50,000
Developmental Psychologist
Developmental psychologists counsel people on the problems faced during the various developmental stages like infancy, childhood, teenage, early adulthood, middle age and sunset years. Problems and solutions obviously vary at different stages in life.
Salary Range: $40,000 – 60,000
Forensic Psychologist
Not many people opt for a career in forensic psychology, as this job requires a distinct way of thinking and analyzing things. Working with mentally imbalanced offenders, studying and analyzing a criminal’s mind and attitude, and criminal justice system form a vital part of the job description of forensic psychologists.
Salary Range: $40,000 – 60,000
School Psychologist
Many children face mental and emotional problems in their tender years. These problems can be related to studies, family or anything in general. School psychologists communicate with the child, his teachers, friends, and most importantly his parents, to come up with advice that can help the child overcome his problems. Sometimes, school psychologists also need to carry out workshops and developmental programs that would help prevent such problems and improve the sense of social as well as personal responsibility in children, to make them good citizens in the future.
Salary Range: $40,000 – 50,000
Neuropsychologist
Neuropsychologists are specialized in the brain-behavior relation, and hence work with people who have medical, psychiatric, and cognitive and learning disorders. They work on the basis of brain scans and various experimental tasks that determines their treatment, which can also have an impact on research for other drugs and the future.
Salary Range: $60,000 – 80,000
Sports Psychologist
Sports psychologists basically study and determine how certain psychological factors affect the performance of an individual in sports. They use their psychological skills for performance improvement of an individual or a team as a whole. They mostly work alongside coaches, teachers, and parents, to continuously show improved results.
Salary Range: $50,000 – 60,000
Relationship Counselor
A relationship counselor simply counsels two or more parties that are into a relationship of any kind, be it marriage, family, employer-employee, etc. Their job is mainly all about reconciliation and minimizing distress between the concerned individuals or parties. Areas of concentration are communication, problem-solving, and making sure the atmosphere between the concerned parties is conducive for betterment and growth.
Salary Range: $40,000 – 50,000
Substance Abuse Counselor
As the name suggests, this kind of counselor deals with those that are suffering from substance abuse. They work through individual sessions and group programs, which can go on for a long time, in order to free their patients from any substance addiction or abuse.
Salary Range: $35,000 – 45,000
Industrial Psychologist
A psychologist specialized in this field does a lot of research to determine how behavior and performance can be improved by means of hiring, training and continuous feedback. They are very important in times of change in an organization, and that is something that every organization goes through in the quest to improve all the time.
Salary Range: $70,000 – 80,000
(Salaries mentioned are annual, approximate, and vary depending on location, employer, and years of experience.)
I hope the information on the salary range, job description and educational requirement of psychologists proves useful for you. Being a psychologist is extremely challenging, as one has to deal with more than one aspect of the human mind. So if you aspire to become a successful psychologist, you need to be observant, sensitive and patient, along with strong communication and analytical skills. All the best!