The world’s most famous psychologist is perhaps Dr. He earns an estimated. Clinical Psychology By the Numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an above-average job growth rate of 14% for psychologists between 2018 and 2028. Employment levels for clinical, counseling, and school psychologists continue to grow because of the greater demand for psychological services within hospitals, schools, mental health centers, and social service agencies.

Psychology is one of the most expansive, broadly-reaching, and versatile education paths a person can take. While there are numerous jobs that apply directly to the field of psychology, a bachelor’s degree in psychology applies to many industries, including sales, teaching, human resources, and marketing.

While a bachelor’s degree in psychology prepares a person for many different areas, the path to becoming an actual psychologist is a little more complex. In fact, many states reserve the term “psychologist” for individuals who have earned doctorate (Ph.D.) degrees and who have passed state-specific licensing exams post-degree.

Of course, after graduating with a psychology degree, you’ll be faced with unique challenges and daily hurdles that are both frustrating yet rewarding. You’ll help to improve people’s lives and know that every day you’ve done something to make the world a better place, either for a single person or a group of people.

Read on to find out how to become a psychologist and which online psychology degree options will prepare you for your new career.
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Steps to Become a Psychologist

Here are the five steps to becoming a psychologist:

Choose what type of psychologist you’d like to become;
Earn a master or doctorate degree in Psychology;
Complete a two year internship;
Pass the national exam;
Complete your certification if required by your state.

What Type of Psychologist Do You Want to Be?

Let’s take a quick moment to talk about what a psychologist is and what a psychologist is not. Three terms in particular are often confused with psychology. While these terms are related, they are not the same thing as a psychologist. They have their own responsibilities, educational paths, and career trajectories.

Psychiatrist vs Psychologist

One area that is often confused with psychology is psychiatry. While the two have many similarities (and similar names), there is a distinct and important difference between the two: psychiatrist are medical doctors, psychologists are not.

Psychiatrists attend medical school, taking many of the same introductory course that your physician or nurse might take. They are trained in the diagnosis, prevention, and medical treatment of mental disorders. They attend a medical internship and complete a medical residency. They can write prescriptions (a psychologist can only recommend prescriptions) and generally have a deeper training in biology, neuroscience, and chemical imbalances that may impact how a person thinks and feels. Whereas a psychologist may look for behavioral patterns or thought process that effect someone’s actions, a psychiatrist will look for physical issues such as a vitamin deficiency or thyroid problem.

Psychologist vs Counselor

There is a big difference between counselor and psychologist. Like psychologists, trained counselors are focused on mental health, generally need to be certified, and provide services that are often reimbursable under insurance plans. However, counselors most often work with groups of people, including families and couples. While this distinction is not exclusive, if you become a counselor, you’ll likely work with more than one person at a time.

Counselors are also more likely to work with people after a major life-changing, usually traumatizing event. This can include the death of a loved one or a violent experience.

While most psychologists have a doctorate, the typical requirement for a counselor is a master’s degree. Many psychologist are trained in counseling, including group and individual counseling.

School Psychologist Earnings

Psychologist vs Therapist

“Therapist” is a term that is often confused with psychologist, and while the two terms are similar, they are not synonymous. Therapist is a broad umbrella term for anyone who is trained to provide therapy services such as rehabilitation and treatments. Therapists can include psychoanalysts, marriage counselors, social workers, and other specialties, but they do not always have the doctorate training that is required from psychologists.

Therapists strive to provide guidance and support, which is the essential goal of psychologists. However, therapists are more involved in the direct execution of treatment and are, by definition, involved in the enhancements of people’s lives, whereas a psychologist may not actually work directly with people, as they may be more involved with research and experiments.

Psychology Careers

Psychologists study the human mind and human behavior. Research psychologists investigate the physical, cognitive, emotional or social aspects of human behavior. Psychologists in health service fields provide mental health care in hospitals, clinics, schools or private settings. Psychologists employed in applied settings, such as business, industry, government or nonprofit organizations, provide training, conduct research, design organizational systems and act as advocates for psychology.

They can work with everyone from young children to elite athletes to the repeat criminal. Professionals in business or people dealing with difficult family situations may all seek the help of a psychologist, making it one of the most engaging, albeit challenging, careers in the country.

Psychologists apply their knowledge to a wide range of endeavors, including health and human services, management, education, law and sports. They usually specialize in one of a number of different areas: clinical psychology, counseling, school psychology, developmental psychology, research psychology or industrial-organizational psychology.

When you start to take a look at the list of potential job titles for psychologists, it’s easy to see why there can be a large misunderstanding of what they do. After all, a biopsychologist, who performs research on the brain, has a much different career than a clinical psychologist, who assess and diagnoses patients who are dealing with stress or mental illness.

Here is a brief list of psychologist types:

Health psychologist
Community psychologist
Social psychologist
Aviation psychologist
Sports psychologist
Development psychologist
Criminal psychologist

Get the idea? There are lots of potential psychology jobs, and each one gives a psychology major the chance to improve the lives of others.

Is One Specialization Better Than Another?

Because there are so many different branches and sub-branches of psychology, the obvious question becomes: “which one is better?”. The answer really comes down to personal choice. As we’ll demonstrate later, psychologists stand to earn a sizable income, so while some earn more than others, it’s hard to pinpoint one that earns the most. This is especially difficult because the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the authority on earnings and wages, groups all psychologists together.

Therefore, it really comes down to personal preference. If you enjoy sports and athletic training, then a path towards sports psychology may be perfect. If you have always enjoyed business organization, then a career as an industrial psychology could be the right choice.

Psychologist Education

Earning Money Online As A Clinical Psychologist

While many institutions offer bachelor’s degrees in psychology, in order to actually call yourself a “psychologist,” you’ll need at least a master’s degree, and in most cases you’ll need a doctorate.

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Opportunities will be limited for those who hold bachelor’s degrees or less in psychology. Many future psychologists work as supervised counselors in group homes, corrections, prisons, rehab or health centers as they continue their studies to complete a master’s and then a doctorate.

For the most part, the further you progress in your studies, the better your employment opportunities are. There is one exception—in the federal government, candidates having at least 24 semester hours in psychology and one course in statistics may qualify for entry-level positions.

However, the first step in

Earning Money Online As A Clinical Psychologist