Salaries for Mental Health Therapists (Chicago: debt, income, work)

[phxgirl1009]

Hello, I am looking for info on salaries for masters-level therapists in the Chicago area. Thanks!

[jessiegirl_98]

I can tell you...not much. There are a lot of Ph.D.'s/Psy.D.'s and professional programs that place people for free who have masters while working on PhD. Just an example, as a masters level therapist (who almost has a Ph.D., but was working on the way), I made $25/hr at a low income hospital (only for hours the client showed). So you would be looking at low $20Kish. If you have a license and work in a private practice, I'm assuming it would be higher, but still, not terribly high.

[phxgirl1009]

Thanks for your response. To clarify, do you mean approx $20 per each billable client hour OR a flat salary in the low 20k range per year?

[ljwelch]

Can you give me an idea on what the Ph.D.'s/Psy.D.'s would make in that area?

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by phxgirl1009

Thanks for your response. To clarify, do you mean approx $20 per each billable client hour OR a flat salary in the low 20k range per year?

So if you make $20 per hour and only have 20 clients that show a week (which can equate to quite a few "work hours") that's low $20K. Again, private practice might be more.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by ljwelch

Can you give me an idea on what the Ph.D.'s/Psy.D.'s would make in that area?

First, which one Ph.D. or Psy.D? Clinical? how much experience? What type of clients?

[phxgirl1009]

okay, the equation makes sense now...sounds like you were doing contract work...? how many yrs ago was this, with regard to the salary? in arizona, (where i'm from) contract work pays about $35 for each hour that a client shows up for therapy...thanks again so much for all of your help.

[ljwelch]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

First, which one Ph.D. or Psy.D? Clinical? how much experience? What type of clients?

sorry don't really know yet this will be my son's field his dream is psy.d.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by phxgirl1009

okay, the equation makes sense now...sounds like you were doing contract work...? how many yrs ago was this, with regard to the salary? in arizona, (where i'm from) contract work pays about $35 for each hour that a client shows up for therapy...thanks again so much for all of your help.

about 1 month ago Again, there are some places that pay more, but they really can get free help and don't have to!

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by ljwelch

sorry don't really know yet this will be my son's field his dream is psy.d.

How old is your son? I would love to talk to him about why the PsyD vs. PhD., what that means, what he shoudl be doing to prepare etc. Feel free to direct message me. Long story short, most PsyD's find themselves in about $150-200K of debt and start at about $30K, whereas PhD's get their schooling paid for and then have more options when they exit...