19-3031.02 - Clinical Psychologists

Updated 2012

Summary Report for:
19-3031.02 - Clinical Psychologists

Diagnose or evaluate mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests, and formulate and administer programs of treatment.

Sample of reported job titles: Child Psychologist, Clinical Director, Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Therapist, Forensic Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Psychologist Manager, Pediatric Psychologist, Psychologist

View report: Summary Details Custom

Tasks

Interact with clients to assist them in gaining insight, defining goals, and planning action to achieve effective personal, social, educational, and vocational development and adjustment.
Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, and reference materials.
Use a variety of treatment methods, such as psychotherapy, hypnosis, behavior modification, stress reduction therapy, psychodrama, and play therapy.
Counsel individuals and groups regarding problems, such as stress, substance abuse, and family situations, to modify behavior or to improve personal, social, and vocational adjustment.
Discuss the treatment of problems with clients.
Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.
Consult with or provide consultation to other doctors, therapists, or clinicians regarding patient care.
Obtain and study medical, psychological, social, and family histories by interviewing individuals, couples, or families and by reviewing records.
Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling or treatments and the accuracy and completeness of diagnoses, modifying plans and diagnoses as necessary.
Select, administer, score, and interpret psychological tests to obtain information on individuals' intelligence, achievements, interests, and personalities.

Tools & Technology

Tools used in this occupation:

Desktop computers

Electromyography EMG units or accessories — Biofeedback equipment

High capacity removable media drives — Universal serial bus USB flash drives

Notebook computers — Laptop computers

Personal computers

Technology used in this occupation:

Accounting software — MPMsoft billing software

Analytical or scientific software — Comprehensive Affect Testing System CATS *; Noldus Information Technology The Observer; Statistical software; Testing software

Medical software — Anasazi Software Client Data System; ICANotes; Trinity Software Solutions BEACON; UNI/CARE Pro-Filer

Spreadsheet software

Word processing software — Microsoft Word

* Software developed by a government agency and/or distributed as freeware or shareware.

Knowledge

Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Therapy and Counseling — Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills

Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.

Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

Work Activities

Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.

Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.

Work Context

Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?

Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?

Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?

Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?

Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?

Spend Time Sitting — How much does this job require sitting?

Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?

Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?

Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company?

Letters and Memos — How often does the job require written letters and memos?

Job Zone

Title	Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Education	Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Related Experience	Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Job Training	Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Job Zone Examples	These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include librarians, lawyers, aerospace engineers, wildlife biologists, school psychologists, surgeons, treasurers, and controllers.
SVP Range	(8.0 and above)

Education

Percentage of Respondents	Education Level Required
84	Doctoral or professional degree
16	Master's degree

This occupation may require a background in the following science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational disciplines:

Life Sciences — Clinical Child Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Developmental and Child Psychology; Psychology, General; School Psychology

Interests

Interest code: ISA

Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Work Styles

Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.

Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.

Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.

Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.

Work Values

Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Related Occupations

19-3031.01	School Psychologists
19-3031.03	Counseling Psychologists
19-3039.01	Neuropsychologists and Clinical Neuropsychologists
21-1011.00	Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
21-1012.00	Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors
21-1013.00	Marriage and Family Therapists Bright Outlook
21-1014.00	Mental Health Counselors
21-1022.00	Healthcare Social Workers
21-1023.00	Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
25-1066.00	Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

Wages & Employment Trends

National

Median wages data collected from Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists.
Employment data collected from Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists.
Industry data collected from Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists.

Median wages (2012)	$32.53 hourly, $67,650 annual
Employment (2010)	154,000 employees
Projected growth (2010-2020)	Faster than average (20% to 28%)
Projected job openings (2010-2020)	82,300
Top industries (2010)	Self-Employed Educational Services

State & National

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012 wage data and 2010-2020 employment projections . "Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2010-2020). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

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Sources of Additional Information

Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

Psychologists . Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition.

Summary Report for: 19-3031.02 - Clinical Psychologists