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Career Profile

Counseling Psychologist
What They Do
Just the Facts
Assesses and evaluates individuals' problems through the use of case history, interview,
and observation and provide individual or group counseling services to assist individuals
in achieving more effective personal, social, educational, and vocational development and
adjustment.
Related Careers
This career is part of the Human Services cluster Counseling and Mental Health Services
pathway.

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A person in this career:

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Collects information about individuals or clients, using interviews, case histories,

observational techniques, and other assessment methods.
Documents patient information including session notes, progress notes,
recommendations, and treatment plans.
Counsels individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal
with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.
Develops therapeutic and treatment plans based on clients' interests, abilities, and
needs.
Supervises interns, clinicians in training, and other counselors.
Advises clients on how they could be helped by counseling.
Analyzes data such as interview notes, test results, and reference manuals to
identify symptoms and to diagnose the nature of clients' problems.
Consults with other professionals, agencies, or universities to discuss therapies,
treatments, counseling resources or techniques, and to share occupational
information.
Evaluates the results of counseling methods to determine the reliability and validity
of treatments.
Refers clients to specialists or to other institutions for noncounseling treatment of
problems.

Regulatory Affairs Manager

Supply Chain Manager
Clinical Psychologist
Educational Psychologist
Industrial-Organizational
Psychologist

Multimedia
Watch a one-minute video showing
what it's like to work in this career
or related careers

Clinical, Counseling, and School

Psychologists
watch video
Get QuickTime Player

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:
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You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books,
papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
Exposed to hazardous situations involving possible injury such as cuts, bites, stings, and minor burns more than once a

month
Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time

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Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

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Seeing clearly up close

Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

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Irregular hours
Weekend work

Specialty and Similar Careers

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
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Behavioral Analyst -- Utilizes original research and experimentation to identify factors in the environment or biology that
lead to patterns in behavior.
Clinical Psychologist -- Diagnoses and evaluates mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation,
interview, and psychological tests.
Psychotherapist -- Works with individuals, couples, families and groups to help them overcome a range of psychological
and emotional issues.
Child Custody Evaluator -Family Psychologist --

Is This For You?

Interests:
The following categories describe the work interests (compatible with Holland's Model) of
people who tend to succeed in this career:

Your Interests:
The last time you took the
Interest Profiler your results
were:

Social You are a "helper". You like being around people and helping them with problems.
Socializing is fun for you.
Investigative You are a "thinker". When you have a problem, you like to analyze it and look
Investigative
at different ways to solve it. You like to work by yourself, and you don''t like explaining your
Social
ideas to other people.
Take the Interest Profiler again.
Artistic You are a "creator". You enjoy things like art, music and books, and express your

feelings easily. You don''t like rigid rules and structure.

Work Values:
Work values are aspects of work that are satisfying to you. The following work values
are generally associated with this career.

Achievement It's very important to you that your work allows you to use your best
abilities. You want to see the results of your work and get a feeling of accomplishment.
Your Work Values:
Independence It's very important to you that your work allows you to make decisions
on your own. You want to try out your own ideas and work with little supervision.
Now that you know the work values
Recognition It's very important to you that your work satisfies your need for prestige
for this career, would you like to find
and leadership opportunities, as well as opportunities for advancement.
your personal work values?
Relationships It's very important to you that you have friendly co-workers. You
would like to be of service to others without compromising your sense of right and
Try the Work Values Sorter.

would like to be of service to others without compromising your sense of right and
Try the Work Values Sorter.
wrong.

Working Conditions It's very important to you that your work satisfies your needs in
areas like salary, job security and your working style preferences, such as working alone,
staying busy all the time or having variety in your work tasks.
Tell me more about Work Values ...

Aptitudes:
Aptitudes reflect a person's ability to acquire skills and knowledge.

The following aptitudes are important for success in this career:

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General learning ability

Verbal aptitude
Numerical aptitude
General learning ability Top 10%
Verbal aptitude Top 10%
Numerical aptitude Middle third
Spatial perception Bottom 10%
Form perception Middle third
Clerical perception Middle third
Eye-hand coordination Bottom third
Finger dexterity Bottom 10%
Manual dexterity Bottom third

Tell me more about Aptitudes ...

Skills You Need

Basic Skills
The following skills are important for this
career:
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Reading comprehension medium

(Level 5)
Active listening high (Level 6)
Writing medium (Level 5)
Speaking medium (Level 5)
Science medium (Level 3)
Critical thinking medium (Level 5)
Active learning medium (Level 5)
Learning strategies medium (Level
3)
Monitoring medium (Level 5)

These skills are necessary but not as

important:
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Mathematics low (Level 1)

Tell me more about Basic Skills ...

Transferable Skills

Your Basic Skills:

Now that you know the basic skills for this career, would you like to find your
personal basic skills?
Try the Basic Skills Survey.

Here's a list of skills used in this career that are also

used in other careers.

High level of skill required

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Your Transferable Skills:

Analyzing social science data

Counseling and advising people
Explaining social science concepts
Interviewing people to obtain information
Operating computers to record and analyze
social science data
Planning and giving information and help
Researching social sciences

Now that you know the transferable skills for this career, would you like to
find your personal transferable skills?
Try the Transferable Skills Checklist.

Tell me more about Transferable Skills ...

Workplace Skills
Workplace skills are practiced activities that help people become successful in all kinds of careers. Here's a list of the workplace
skills that are used in this career.

Medium level of skill required

High level of skill required

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Judgment and decision making

Service orientation
Social perceptiveness

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Complex problem solving

Coordination
Instructing
Management of personnel resources
Negotiation
Persuasion
Systems evaluation
Time management

Tell me more about Workplace Skills ...

Improve Your Skills:

Skills are wonderful because you can always improve them! All it takes is a little hard work and motivation.
So if you see that a career requires more skill than you currently have, don't worry it's always possible to learn more skills.

What To Learn
High School
What high school courses should you take if you're interested in this career?
Get your answers from the Human Services cluster Counseling and Mental Health Services pathway.

Beyond High School

Here's a list of programs that you should consider if you're interested in this career:
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Psychology, General

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Counseling Psychology
Family Psychology
Applied Behavior Analysis

Education Level
Education training and experience are required at different levels for success in different occupations.
Doctoral degree
Most clinical, counseling, and research psychologists need a doctoral degree. Psychologists can complete a Ph.D. in psychology
or a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree. A Ph.D. in psychology is a research degree that culminates in a comprehensive
exam and a dissertation based on original research. In clinical, counseling, school, or health service settings, students usually
complete a 1-year internship as part of the doctoral program. The Psy.D. is a clinical degree and is often based on practical
work and examinations rather than a dissertation.

Extra Requirements
Psychologists who practice independently must be licensed. Licensing laws vary by state and type of position. The American
Board of Professional Psychology awards specialty certification in 13 areas of psychology, such as clinical health, couple and
family, psychoanalysis, or rehabilitation. Although board certification is not required for most psychologists, it can demonstrate
professional expertise in a specialty area. Some hospitals and clinics do require certification. In those cases, candidates must
have a doctoral degree in psychology, state license or certification, and any additional criteria of the specialty field.

For additional information, visit these websites:

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http://www.abpp.org

Money And Outlook

California Earnings
Average Annual Wage
$80,450
Entry Annual Wage
$39,130
Experienced Annual Wage $116,050
Average Hourly Wage
$38.68
Entry Hourly Wage
$18.81
Experienced Hourly Wage $55.80
Median Hourly Wage
$39.11

California Regional Earnings

California Metropolitan Areas Wages
Region
Bakersfield-Delano MSA
Chico MSA
Fresno MSA
Hanford-Corcoran MSA
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD
Merced MSA

Average
$96,500 or $46.39/hr
$72,100 or $34.66/hr
$77,770 or $37.39/hr
$93,440 or $44.92/hr
$72,730 or $34.97/hr
$87,570 or $42.10/hr

Entry Level
Experienced
$39,450 or $18.97/hr $116,680 or $56.10/hr
$27,030 or $13.00/hr $115,370 or $55.47/hr
$40,200 or $19.33/hr $112,390 or $54.03/hr
$23,120 or $11.12/hr $116,670 or $56.09/hr
$35,950 or $17.28/hr $108,900 or $52.35/hr
$61,910 or $29.76/hr $114,690 or $55.14/hr

Modesto MSA
$57,890 or $27.83/hr $26,670 or $12.82/hr $94,820 or $45.59/hr
Mother Lode Region
$78,930 or $37.95/hr $32,180 or $15.47/hr $113,790 or $54.71/hr
North Coast Region
$88,780 or $42.68/hr $47,020 or $22.60/hr $116,680 or $56.10/hr
Redding MSA
$68,660 or $33.01/hr $42,370 or $20.37/hr $97,090 or $46.68/hr
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA $83,700 or $40.24/hr $46,930 or $22.56/hr $116,270 or $55.90/hr
Salinas MSA
$99,670 or $47.92/hr $69,050 or $33.20/hr $134,850 or $64.83/hr
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward MD
$77,750 or $37.38/hr $37,740 or $18.15/hr $121,990 or $58.65/hr
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA
$114,560 or $55.08/hr $91,740 or $44.11/hr $119,440 or $57.42/hr
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta MSA $82,000 or $39.42/hr $40,680 or $19.56/hr $97,610 or $46.93/hr
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA
$79,750 or $38.34/hr $44,380 or $21.34/hr $114,410 or $55.00/hr
Stockton MSA
$84,540 or $40.64/hr $49,780 or $23.93/hr $113,790 or $54.71/hr
Vallejo-Fairfield MSA
$102,320 or $49.19/hr $67,320 or $32.36/hr $122,220 or $58.76/hr
Northern Mountains Region
$76,130 or $36.60/hr $51,380 or $24.70/hr $113,780 or $54.70/hr
Visalia-Porterville MSA
$98,600 or $47.41/hr $77,950 or $37.48/hr $119,170 or $57.29/hr
El Centro MSA
$92,140 or $44.30/hr $75,600 or $36.35/hr $113,790 or $54.71/hr
Madera-Chowchilla MSA
$105,150 or $50.55/hr $79,870 or $38.40/hr $116,680 or $56.10/hr
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA
$92,330 or $44.39/hr $63,830 or $30.69/hr $115,480 or $55.52/hr
Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville MSA $79,420 or $38.18/hr $44,080 or $21.19/hr $115,640 or $55.60/hr
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos MSA
$81,230 or $39.06/hr $37,550 or $18.06/hr $116,360 or $55.94/hr
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA
$86,960 or $41.81/hr $53,930 or $25.93/hr $118,280 or $56.86/hr
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA
$72,370 or $34.79/hr $42,020 or $20.20/hr $119,920 or $57.66/hr
Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine MD
$83,930 or $40.35/hr $41,610 or $20.01/hr $118,450 or $56.95/hr
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD $90,970 or $43.74/hr $42,980 or $20.66/hr $140,490 or $67.54/hr
View Map

National Earnings
The earnings information below is for the occupational group Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists. The occupation
Counseling Psychologist is part of this group.

Average Annual Wage $72,710

Average Hourly Wage $34.96
Average Annual Range $39,020 to $112,380
Note: variations in salaries reflect differences in size of firm, location, level of education and professional credentials.
Where do these numbers come from?

California's Employment and Outlook (State-wide)

Stable
Annual growth rate is estimated to be 14%
Job Openings 1,130 estimated annual job openings
Employment 24,600 were employed in this occupation
Outlook

California's Regional Employment and Outlook

Regions with increasing outlook (over 20% growth rate expected)

Region
Eastern Sierra Region
Los Angeles-Long BeachGlendale MD
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
MSA
Yuba City MSA

Annual
Openings
(growth)

Projected
Employment
Growth Rate

Annual Openings
(replacement)

Annual
Openings

10

100%

7,070

22%

155

223

378

900

22%

20

28

48

40

25%

Regions with stable outlook (0 to 20% growth rate expected)

Region
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward MD
Chico MSA
Fresno MSA
North Coast Region
Northern Mountains Region
El Centro MSA
Bakersfield-Delano MSA
Hanford-Corcoran MSA
Madera-Chowchilla MSA
Modesto MSA
Merced MSA
Salinas MSA
Napa MSA
North Valley Region
Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine MD
Riverside-San BernardinoOntario MSA
Sacramento-Arden ArcadeRosevile MSA
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos
MSA
San Francisco-San MateoRedwood City MD
Stockton MSA
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles
MSA
Redding MSA
Vallejo-Fairfield MSA
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
MSA

Employment

Annual
Openings
(growth)

Projected
Growth Rate

Annual Openings
(replacement)

Annual
Openings

2,580
80
920
160
90
70
690
130
130
240
110
210
240
50
1,740

15%
12%
16%
12%
11%
0%
14%
8%
8%
12%
9%
10%
8%
20%
16%

40
1
15
1
1
1
11
1
1
3
1
2
2
1
29

81
2
29
5
3
2
22
4
4
8
3
7
8
2
55

121
3
44
6
4
3
33
5
5
11
4
9
10
3
84

2,000

11%

22

63

85

1,340

9%

13

42

55

2,230

18%

40

70

110

1,130

12%

14

36

50

180

11%

210

5%

50
250
270

0%
20%
7%

5
2

2
8
8

2
13
10

470

17%

15

23

Regions with decreasing outlook (negative growth rate expected)

Region
Mother Lode Region

Employment
100

Projected
Growth Rate
-10%

Annual
Openings
(growth)

Annual Openings
(replacement)
3

Annual
Openings
3

View Map

National Employment and Outlook

Outlook

stable
The employment change from 2012 to 2022 is estimated to be +11.3%.
(The National average for all occupations is +10.8%)

Job
very small number
Openings
A total of 5590 average annual openings are expected for this occupation between 2012 and 2022.

(The National Average for all occupations is 4,638 openings)

Employment small occupation
This was a small occupation in the United States, employing 145,100 workers in 2012.

(The National average for all occupations is 133,353 workers)

Growth Average growth
Employment of counseling psychologists is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations.
Demand for counseling psychologists will increase as people continue to turn to psychologists to help solve or
manage their problems. More psychologists will be needed to help people deal with issues such as depression
and other mental disorders, marriage and family problems, job stress, and addiction. Psychologists also will be

needed to provide services to an aging population, helping people deal with the mental and physical changes that
happen as they grow older. Through both research and practice, psychologists are also helping other special
groups,suchasveteranssufferingfromwartrauma,othertraumasurvivors,andindividualswithautism.
SelfIn 2012, 27.2% of the people in this occupation were self-employed.
Employment
Large concentrations of this occupation are found in these industries
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Industries

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Self-employed workers, all jobs (NAICS000600) (34%)

Offices of mental health practitioners (except physicians) (NAICS621330) (7%)
Hospitals, private (NAICS622000) (6%)
Individual, family, community, and vocational rehabilitation services (NAICS624100-300) (5%)

Connections
Associations
American Psychological Association
750 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
http://www.apa.org/about/students.aspx

Internet Sites
American Board of Professional Psychology
http://www.abpp.org
American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/about/students.aspx
Myfuture.com
http://www.myfuture.com

Related Career Information Sources

O*NET-SOC occupation
Counseling Psychologists 19-3031.03
http://www.onetcenter.org/online.html
SOC occupation
Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists 19-3031
http://www.bls.gov/soc/socguide.htm
Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm

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