...My concerns are, for the most part financial. It is difficult to find honest information about salaries. Will the salary I can earn be sufficient to pay for four extra years of schooling? What about the job outlook? Once a student receives a PhD., is he or she relatively guaranteed a position? What is the future of the psychology profession? LM
Applying to graduate school is both confusing and scary. Not having guarantees doubles the anxiety. With a doctorate in a clinical field your income can vary from less than $30k (if you work for a poor county) to well more than $100k if you do private practice and work hard. This depends in part on the area of specialization you choose and your ability to foster referrals and build a practice. Your salary should be enough to pay for the cost of schooling -- remember, many doctoral programs pick up tuition and may also pay you a stipend -- but the money should not be the primary motivator. There are other ways to make more money faster.
With managed care, the job outlook is unclear. There are a variety of contradictory predictions out there. Some people predict a move to master's level practitioners, while others say there will be a move towards briefer modes of treatment, although the same range of practitioners will be in demand. This will probably be clearer by the time you are ready to go into practice. Although some markets are glutted -- California is one of these places -- there is still a demand for psychologists. Rural areas like mine continue to be underserved.
Despite the uncertainty of my comments, people will still want and need mental health care. There will still be people who prefer to pay their way so others don't have access to their mental health records. And, if you do good work, people will seek you out. Take care, JMS
