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Old 01-18-2005, 11:57 PM   #10
Aelia Jusa
Iron Throne Cult
 
Tetris Champion
Join Date: August 23, 2001
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Age: 42
Posts: 4,867
If you want to be a psychologist (as opposed to a counsellor or therapist - i.e., actually call yourself a psychologist and be registered or accredited or whatever they call it with the APA), then AFAIK in America you need a PhD in clinical psychology to practice. This is different from other countries; for example in Australia you can do a masters or equivalent supervised practice and you have sufficient qualifications to register and practice. So that is a big undertaking and not something that you could combine with a bunch of other degrees, so I think you should consider it carefully. Having said that, psychology is a very interesting field so if you did a minor (I think that's what they're called in the US?) in it rather than an entire degree then you would gain a lot of useful information and skills (esp the statistical component) that make you employable and will keep you interested as you study other areas.

I can't say what exactly the job prospects for psychologists vs. psychiatrists are. The two jobs and the areas you study are quite different. You will have skills as a clinical psychologist that a psychiatrist does not have, for instance, psychologists are trained in psychological assessments and are capable of using them for diagnosis and to guide treatment, where psychiatrists have much less training in these areas. This makes psychologists important in forensic work; for example, doing psychological assessments of competency in legal situations. Psychiatrists have a medical background, and as such are permitted to prescribe drugs, which psychologists are not.

As for pay, it depends on where you work and what sort of clients you have. Working in hospitals or outpatient facilities aren't going to get as much money as having a private practice. Forensic cases are much more lucrative than clients who present themselves, because in legal cases, the legal firm pays the fees so they can afford more, whereas individual clients may not be able to pay as high fees.
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