Doing psych work only part time?

[ClinPsycMasters]

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As I said in other threads, I do cognitive screening/neuropsych assessments a few days a week (less often these days.) I don't think I can go for a PhD. I have been considering social work and less seriously, human resources.

However, I was just thinking that doing psychotherapy all day long can be very taxing for me. I am a pretty sensitive guy and hearing about people's problems can be emotionally exhausting, and I have a tendency to take my "work" home with me. Yet I love to be able to help people and I love psychology.

So I figured another option would be to do something else on the side, like graphic design or something like that. I have a creative side to me and that's the only career I can think of right now that can provide some financial security (my current job is very low paying) and is flexible enough. It can also provide variety, satisfy my need for creative expression, and give me something to fall back on, given current economic conditions.

Anybody else here has experience with graphic design? Also, does anybody who is currently working in a helping profession, do other type of salaried work on the side?

 

[teo3099]

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[Therapist4Chnge]

Graphic design work can be feast or famine...mostly the latter unless you have a lot of connections or a steady referral base. The problem you'll run into is a surplus of people already in the part-time market, as there are a glut of Graphic Design/Art/Computer Science/Photography/etc majors and grads who work on the side. If you had an established career in the area and leveraged some of those contacts for some extra $ it is doable, but if you are trying to break into the industry and do psychology....that will be rough. There are some business/social networking websites that allow artists to find more freelance work, though it isn't consistant nor particularly good money.

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I had a feeling it was too good to be true--or the exception and not the the norm--after someone told me they made $3000 a month doing graphic design "on the side." Must keep looking for other options.

 

[teo3099]

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[ClinPsycMasters]

huh, that's possible. 🙂

In any case, I don't think I'll be able to do psych full-time. Either a switch to something like human resources or finding a creative yet financially rewarding job on the side is in order.

 

[docma]

This is an interesting thread topic though and could be a place to get folks to think more outside the box/conveyor belt mindset that sometimes afflicts students in progress.

I actually entered the field (ages ago) because it offered more part-time possibilities than I felt I saw in prep school teaching/administration. For women or men who want a profession that can be practiced around the demands of parenting, psychology practice has definite advantages as one can perhaps even more readily find part-time teaching/practice/supervision/testing positions. But none of these will bring solid benefits or high income and students with large loan debt need these coming out of school. Perhaps APA could set up an alliance with other professional groups (ABA, MBA schools) and provide a matching service so that psychologists could partner with their grads who can secure ridiculous first year salaries but have no time to find mates...? (joking..in reality grads in those markets are also struggling in this economy)