Private Practice

[isupsych253]

I've had trouble trying to find legitimate information regarding clinical psychologists in private practice. I know a good friend of the family who does very well in private practice, but I had a couple questions:

-Is private practice the "ultimate goal" for most practicing clinical psychologists?

-What is the average age or ideal age for private practice psychologists? (I would assume it is mostly older, experienced psychologists)

-What is the typical salary for private practice psychologists? I always hear psych professors/grad students say the Ph.d in psychology is the lowest paid doctorate degree, is this true? Or is there potential for a pretty good living? (And no, I'm not making any career decisions based on the salary, I'm just trying to get information from REAL people who know)

Thanks for your knowledge!

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[ThirdLittleBird]

I would like to add...

What are the pros of having a private practice?

but moreso

What are the cons of being having a private practice?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

1. Most clinical psychologists will provide some % of clinical services to patients (typically psychotherapy), though I wouldn't say that private practice is the goal.

2. Many private practitioners do it part-time, so the age range is quite variable. A full-time private practitioner probably runs a bit older because it can be quite difficult to build a substainable private practice when you first get licensed. Many folks who go this route join an existing group practice to learn the in's and out's.

3. The topic of salary has been talked about ad nausem on here, with a number of threads on the first page...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=810986
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=810707

 

[reluctantPhd01]

A lot of these things are also very variable depending on your location (city vs. rural vs. suburbs) and your speciality.