What’s it like being a child psychologist?

C

carlcockatoo

New member
So i recently received a BA Degree in psychology, and have the plan of going to UAB for medical/clinical psychology PhD in 2025 with a concentration on child development. I want to be a child psychologist, at least that’s what i think and J wanted an idea on what it is like.

how much money do you make a year?

what does a typical week look like?

can i specialize in trauma?

could i be child forensic interviewer?

i have soooo many questions but these are gen main questions i have. im currently getting an associates degree in child development as well, both so i can have more knowledge in the files but also gives me the opportunity to find small jobs along the way.
 
@carlcockatoo Just FYI, PhD programs are much different than undergraduate or masters programs where you can just “plan on” going there.

First you need to develop your research interest. PhDs, even in clinical psychology, are research degrees. So plan on doing research and, if not loving research, being at least interested in your topic area. Ways people develop their interests include getting research experience (eg volunteer as an undergrad research assistant or get a paid research assistant job after undergrad - it’s not uncommon to do both as clinical programs are highly competitive!)

After developing your research interest is finding professors in clinical phd programs with overlapping interest who are accepting students for the cycle you want to apply. This information isn’t usually available before September-ish of the application cycle. It’s possible that you identify a professor at UAB doing research that overlaps with your interest, but they are not accepting students. In that case, you should not apply to UAB that cycle.

You may also consider PsyD programs as I know that some of those offer a child/forensic focus (Denver’s PsyD program comes to mind) - those still can involve some research but higher acceptance rates and it isn’t common to guarantee funding so you would have to pay for some or part of your tuition unlike most PhD programs where you usually don’t pay any tuition but instead get a stipend (funding to be a teaching assistant or graduate research assistant).
 
@sifer Oh! i see okay. Despite having an internship class my teacher didn’t really explain this stuff to us so i wasn’t exactly sure what is best for me. i will certainly look into PsyD programs. I think that’s why UAB was so appealing was because of the stipend.
 
@carlcockatoo Pretty much all clinical psych PhD programs that are accredited by APA offer a stipend so that shouldn’t stand out to you as an appealing aspect of a PhD program. Only time I’d really suggest considering the stipend amount is when you are thinking about the cost of living in an area and whether or not you can survive on the stipend offered.
 
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