16+ Pros And Cons Of Being A Psychologist (Explained)

A psychologist is a professional that studies abnormal and normal mental states, cognitive, perceptual, social processes, behavior, and emotion by observing, experimenting with, recording, and interpreting how people relate to each other and to their surroundings.

They help clients and patients learn to overcome their mental health challenges. Psychologists often specialize in the study of mental processes and behavior, use their knowledge to diagnose and cure patients with weak learning disabilities, behavioral challenges, and mental disorders.

Advantages of Being a Psychologist	Disadvantages of Being a Psychologist
The reward of helping people overcome their challenges	Dealing with billing issues and Insurance is a hassle
Flexible work schedules	Setting up their own practice can be challenging
High earning potential	Dealing with clients on a daily basis can be emotionally draining
Ability to work for self	Their work schedule will be erratic at times
Opportunity to meet new people every day	One will need to devote time to finding new clients
Psychologists learn about the human psyche

Advantages of Being a Psychologist

The reward of helping people overcome their challenges

Most psychologists state that they like their careers as they are able to assist their patients to upgrade the quality of their lives.

Some people in the world have to face disabling mental disorders and disabilities. Psychologists assist people to learn to cope with their disabilities and disorders and overcome emotional and mental challenges.

Working as a psychologist becomes stressful at times; it’s also a very respectful and fulfilling occupation.

Flexible work schedules

Though some psychologists have to practice for longer hours, once they have established their own practice their schedule gets very flexible.

One is able to set their working hours, they can come and go when they want and have sufficient vacation time. Many psychologists enjoy the aspects of their job they like the most as they are able to spend time with their friends and family.

However, psychologists working in clinics and hospitals do not have that much flexibility in their job schedule, still, they have ample time with their family and hobby activities.

High earning potential

According to the online surveys available an average psychologist working full time makes between USD 60,000 and USD 120,000 per annum.

Some psychologists who work part time definitely make less but still their income is a respectable amount in comparison to several other professionals.

Some of them are able to start and run successful private clinics that may earn up to USD 250,000 per annum while psychiatrists, a field linked to psychology, earn between USD 140,000 and USD 180,000 per annum. Consequently, the field attracts talent from society.

Ability to work for self

Being a psychologist is a great professional choice for those with a dream to start their own business.

Several psychologists went on to start their own private therapy clinic after they gained sufficient experience in their profession and have established themselves as successful professionals.

As per online surveys, about 40 percent of psychologists are self-employed most of them own and run their own clinics. Being self-employed gives one complete control over their time and their earning potential.

Opportunity to meet new people every day

A psychologist works with clients from all realms of life, backgrounds, cultures and. They help a large number of people of various backgrounds to overcome emotional and mental obstacles.

And though sometimes one may face setbacks, the benefits of helping adults, children, and elders in achieving their full potential will make one forget the challenges faced by them.

Psychologists can help people in difficult times in their lives.

There are situations in life where the world seems to collapse around them and they simply feel helpless and do not know what they have to do.

In these situations, guidance from a skilled psychologist may put people back on their life track which would have apart from that could have given up. They can literally enhance the quality of life of several people if they know what they are doing.

Psychologists learn about the human psyche

Being in psychotherapy, one will also learn how the human psyche works in reality. It will be very helpful not only for their career as a psychologist but also in their personal life.

With the knowledge gained, one will be much better able to deal with clients as they often know what their intentions are much before they tell one.

Consequently, one will develop a very reliable understanding of whether someone is telling the truth or lying to one.

This can be of great help to one in their social life as one can decide better on whom they want to rely on for valuable things and what people they want to exclude from their social network.

Disadvantages of Being a Psychologist

Dealing with billing issues and Insurance is a hassle

Whether one is employed at an established mental health office or operates their own therapy practice, they will have to deal with insurance, paperwork, and billing issues.

If one decides to start their own clinic, they will need to learn how to bill insured clients or employ someone to handle this task for them.

Setting up their own practice can be challenging

Setting up their clinic from ground zero can be a very tough task. One needs to think about simple tasks like searching for suitable office space, buying equipment, procuring supplies, and maintaining a client base.

Other issues which one needs to consider include things like health insurance, malpractice insurance, document management, billing practices, and tax obligations.

Dealing with clients on a daily basis can be emotionally draining

Even though one of the biggest awards of becoming a psychologist is the chance to truly guide people, the routine strain of dealing with the tougher issues their clients face will be emotionally exhausting.

In order to avoid the risk of burnout, it is required to devise ways to deal with stress. One must learn to create a division between their personal life and work life is a required first step. Practicing established stress management techniques is also of utmost help.

Their work schedule will be erratic at times

Although one might establish routine work hours during the day, as a psychologist one will find that they are expected to deal with client issues at odd times.

Many clients are not able to meet with them during their normal business hours due to their own hectic work schedules; this means one will have to reschedule their own plans around to set time for these persons.

In a few cases, one might be called during late hours or even weekends to attend to clients which need guidance or who are facing critical situations. Therefore, flexibility is a very important skill for a psychologist to develop.

One will need to devote time to finding new clients

As about a third of all psychologists are self-employed and run their private clinics. While it can be a standard situation for people who love to work for themselves, it also means that a large chunk of money, time, and resources has to be spent on finding new clients.

A way to accomplish it is to establish relationships with mental health providers and other medical professionals so that they will directly refer clients to their practice.

Hosting a support group, online sessions, social events, and advertisement in the local media are other marketing options.

Many professionals enjoy running their own clinic, but few feel that this takes away valuable time which could be dedicated to therapy work.