Salary
Average Salary: $69,280
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $2,892,000
Clinical, school, and counseling psychologists earn a median wage of $65,000 a year. The amount of money you earn depends on a number of factors, but especially your particular industry or field (source).
For example, psychologists working for themselves or with other health practitioners make $70,000 or more, elementary or secondary school psychologists and state government psychologists make right around the average of $65,000, those in outpatient care centers make $60,000, and individual or family service psychologists earn only around 55,000 or less on average (source).
Psychologists bill their patients by the hour. Their hourly rate depends on many different factors, such as the cost of living in their area or the extent of their experience. Getting treatment isn't cheap. The average rate of a visit is between $100-$150. Some psychologists have a sliding scale for a patient, which means they charge whatever their patient can afford at the time. Over time, the rate goes up as the patient gets back on their feet.
Healthcare insurance companies will sometimes pay for visits. Generally, insurance companies pay for mental problems that are recognized as a disorder and not something like relationship problems. However, insurance companies don't make it easy for people to get mental health treatment. Sometimes, patients have a deductible of up to $1,000 to $2,000, which means the insurance company will pay for visits when the bills have exceeded that amount.
Also, insurance won't pay for hospitalization or in-house rehabilitation treatments for disorders such as anorexia or drug addiction. They allot a certain amount of money. When a patient exceeds that amount of money for their care, they're asked to leave the hospital. The United States spends $600 billion each year on law enforcement, healthcare, damages, prevention efforts, and subsidized treatment. Perhaps better healthcare plans could alleviate some of these costs.
If you're a superfan of the green, you may want to aim to become an industrial psychologist, which can net you upwards of $80,000 a year (source). An industrial psychologist matches employee personalities with jobs, researches the workplace, advises managers, gives psychological tests to workers, and interprets statistics.
The industrial psychologist field is actually growing much faster than the average for all other psychology careers, because companies are growing at a faster rate. Furthermore, workplaces are becoming more diversified, particularly since the passing of the Fair Rights for Dogs and Cats Act in early 2012. Who knew they wanted to join the workforce? Especially the cats?
Welfare cat.