I'm an international student and graduating tomorrow with a B.S. in Psychology, although I got accepted by a master program - Community counseling in Seattle Area, but I don't see my future going to be bright, because the average mental health counselor make around 40K a year... how could I survive in a city with such income.. The program and living cost might cost me 90K in the next couple years... I'm thinking to find a job in my country instead of entering a wrong path, but again with a B.S in psychology you can't do much with it. I know it's too late but is there are any ways I could change my career?
frustrated
- Thread starter ken5438
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That's a pretty broad question; are you specifically interested about changing career paths in mental health, or are you just wondering globally?
As for the income, $40k is certainly a livable wage, although you'd likely need to take out student loans to cover tuition/school costs while earning the masters.
As for the income, $40k is certainly a livable wage, although you'd likely need to take out student loans to cover tuition/school costs while earning the masters.
I do like mental health field but now days i became more realistic because of the money issue, I do wondering globally. I'm regarding not having a minor in bio or business, otherwise i might have a chance to go to neuropsyc or I/O psyc.
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That 40 - 50 salary range is one of the reasons that I pursued a doctorate with a 85 - 100 range.
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Neuropsych isn't going to be directly helped with a minor at the bachelor's level; it's an area of practice that requires doctoral-level education as well as specialization and continued education via two-year postdoctoral training. I/O folks will generally have either a masters or, less frequently (but often required if you're wanting to be a professor), a doctorate.
with only Psychology major in undergrad (I only took 1 or 2 bio classes), i think it will be hard to get in a master/doc program in neuropsyc or I/O psyc
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Most folks who go into neuropsych or I/O majored in psychology as undergrads. Having classes like biology, chemistry, neuroscience, etc., can be useful, but they aren't required.
There are few options in my mind right now. 1. off school and work for 1 years, think about the other ways. 2. stay at undergrad for 1 more year for prepare to apply a different program 3. go for the master program and become a mental health counselor couple years later. what would be the better choice for me right now?
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I don't think anyone can tell you what the better choice would be. That depends on who you are and you would know yourself better than us. We can only tell you what some of the career options look like, it's up to you to see what fits with you. For me the best option was to become a psychologist, I make good money doing what I love and i get to continue to learn and develop in a new and rapidly growing science. I do assessments, testing, consultation, teaching (should be doing some writing, behind on that
). I get six weeks vacation and work 8-5 with one week out of four on-call. I work in a medical setting that would not hire Master's level counselors to do my job. What I like best about my career path is that I have options. Heck, at one time I was thinking of becoming a neuropsychologist and I could still pursue that if I wanted. As a psychologist, I see lots of doors open and very few closed. But again, that is what works for me, you might be better off in sales where you might actually make more money (I worked in sales for about ten years during my education)
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p.s. when I said you might be better at sales, I was just throwing that out there as an example. It wasn't a recommendation.
