Excerpt from a blog post:
Quote:
The average mental health therapist in the wealthy State of Massachusetts, in the wealthy city of Boston, gets paid a measly $35,000 a year. Not exactly rollin’ in it are we? I know that’s how much I was being paid prior to going into private practice so I can definitely confirm that’s the reality. My therapist friends who are not in private practice tell me that’s how much they still make and these are seasoned therapists. By the way, most therapists are not in private practice. Back when I worked for an agency, most of my coworkers were collecting food stamps, living in government subsidized housing, and couldn’t afford their own health insurance. In other words, they were collecting welfare. And that sweet $35k I was making? It took more than 40 hours per week to make that happen. I was often working 60 hour weeks because if a client cancelled their appointment you don’t get paid so I had to overbook. Therapists also typically work evenings and weekends. We also have many hours of paperwork that we don’t get paid for. Clients can also be very demanding, wanting us to call and email them in-between sessions, all time that we don’t get paid for. Let’s also add to this our student loans, licensing fees, malpractice insurance, mandatory continuing education we have to pay for, so many unpaid meetings, and association fees. All this and the average therapist only makes $35,000 a year.
You might hear this and think “Why would anyone become a therapist?” We do it because we love the work and people take advantage of that. I also wonder if because there is such a popular belief that therapists are overpaid that some people go into it thinking that it would be an easy lucrative profession only to have their mind blown shortly after graduating. The only way to survive being a therapist is to either marry someone with a good job or go through the rigors of private practice. Meanwhile you have to listen to your in-laws complain about how you’re being overpaid and burdening society. The reality is that therapists are probably one of the most underpaid and under-appreciated professions in this country. I worked with child and family therapists whom decided that the demanding nature of the job as well as the low pay meant that they would never be able to have children of their own. There are child therapists who can’t afford to have children. That’s the reality of the situation.
|
The most under-appreciated and under-paid profession | Marina Williams, LMHC
Just wondering what you think?
There are many, "you're never going to get rich doing this," jobs and therapy is one of them for most.
Also, wages and pay scales are determined by not only the value of the service, but the number of people who *want to do that job* compared with the demand for the service.
This is why garbage men can make good money -- you have to offer more pay to make someone *want* to do that job. With therapy, lots of people are willing to do that job for low pay, and if one isn't willing to do it, someone else will take his place.
Do you think therapists are under appreciated and underpaid?