Career Path: Clinical Psychology

When most people think about a psychologist, they think of someone listening to a person lying on a couch. However, the name psychologist covers a lot more than just that. There are army psychologists who help recovering veterans, researching psychologists who develop new ways of treatment, and even psychologists dedicated to the slowing of age through mental health! The kind of psychologist that most people think of is specifically called a “Clinical Psychologist.” They work on assessing mental problems and giving therapy. Many have a specific field, such as those who work exclusively with people who have Alzheimer’s or Down’s syndrome.

Requirements and Expectations

To become a licensed psychologist requires a total of 10 years of schooling (4 for a bachelor’s degree, 2 for a masters, and 4 for a PhD), 1 year of internship (for the PhD), and 1 year of post-doctoral supervision. An average clinical psychologist earns about $65,000 – 95,000 dollars annually, more if you run your own private practice.

Being a psychologist requires good social skills, as you must be able to get the person to open up and talk about what is wrong. It also requires good writing skills as you will have to write reports to get patients the treatment they need.

Universities with Prestigious Programs in This Area

• Stanford
• Cal Berkeley
• UCLA
• Harvard
• Yale
• Michigan
• Princeton