Career
Clinical and counseling psychologists
Assess and treat people's mental and emotional struggles through testing, therapy and care.
$100,580
Median pay
+11.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
4,100
Openings a year
Doctoral or professional degree
Typical education
7–8 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.
- Document patient information including session notes, progress notes, recommendations, and treatment plans.
- Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, or reference materials.
- Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.
- Counsel individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
7–8 years of education after high school (doctoral or professional degree), for a median of $100,580 a year and 4,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- PsychologySee the degree →
- Experimental PsychologySee the degree →
- Psychology, GeneralCIP 42.0101
- Developmental and Child PsychologyCIP 42.2703
- Clinical PsychologyCIP 42.2801
- Counseling PsychologyCIP 42.2803
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$60,280 · +10.3%
- Marriage and Family Therapists$66,940 · +13.5%
- Mental Health Counselors
- Psychiatrists$281,870 · +7.2%
- Healthcare Social Workers$67,880 · +8.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.