What does a phsycologist do, how much do they usually make, and can you have your own business with a degree?

Question

Tell me everything that you know about what a phsycologist does and what someone would have to do to become one.

Answer 1

A psychologist is a scientist and/or clinician who studies psychology, the systematic investigation of the human mind, including behavior and cognition. Psychologists are usually categorized under a number of different fields, the most well-recognized being clinical psychologists, who provide mental health care, and research psychologists, who collect information on people's minds.

In the professional world 'psychologist' has two meanings. In the broadest of these two meanings, psychologist refers to anyone with an advanced degree in clinical psychology, counseling, industrial psychology, educational psychology, or one of several other subfields, and who makes professional contributions based upon that training, be it as a therapist, counselor, researcher, teacher, or consultant. This sense of the word is independent of licensing.

The narrower sense of the word 'psychologist' refers to licensing and to a legal context. In the United States and Canada, 'psychologist' is a protected professional title. In this sense, the title of psychologist means that the mental health professional has a doctoral degree (usually a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed. D.) in clinical, counseling, industrial, or eductional psychology and has also met state or provincial licensing criteria. Those criteria typically include a period of post-doctoral practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, a licensing exam, and continuing education requirements.

Most states exempt from licensing school psychologists who practice within employment by a school district - such psychologists must be certified by their state or province department of education.

old stats (on wikipedia):
These statistics are from the United States information dated 2002 unless noted otherwise.

Employed psychologists: 139,000
¼ self-employed
3/10 employed by educational institutions (in positions other than teaching)
Median income for clinical psychologists: US$81,170
Median income for industrial/organizational psychologists: US$93,710

Answer 2

A psychologist can diagnose, counsel and refer individuals who have mental problems or dysfunctions ranging from mild to severe. Modern Psychologists follow a scientist-pratitioner model whereas they are both scientists and counsellors. Psychologists work in both private and public sectors and can make anywhere from Nothing in the non-profit occupations to upwards of $120,000 a year and more for private practice marital counselling work. Most make between $70-85,000 a year. You can have your own practice, but you must understand that to use the word Psychologist to define yourself you must meet an educational requirment in your state or province, which usually requires getting at least a Masters degree, usually a PhD. You are not able to be licensed to practice Psychology with a Bachelors degree in Psychology.