How To Become A Child Psychiatrist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a child psychiatrist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A child psychiatrist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating behavioral and thought disorders in children. They use their knowledge on many factors, including biological and psychological factors, in order to devise a treatment plan for a child with behavior and thought disorders.

Their role as a child psychiatrist is to diagnose mental illness and emotional problems in children and adolescents. They develop treatment plans, which may include psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, hospitalization, and medication. They may use psychotherapy to evaluate a child's behavior and make a diagnosis. Becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist usually requires completion of an internship (which may include pediatrics and pediatric neurology), two to three years of general psychiatry residency, and two years of CAP specialty training.

The wait is worth it, because the monetary compensation is generous for this profession. The average hourly pay for a child psychiatrist is $111.45, which amounts to $231,820 annually. The career is expected to grow in the near future and create new opportunities across the United States.

ScoreChild PsychiatristUS Average

Salary

10.0

Avg. Salary $249,711

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.10%

Asian 19.37%

Black or African American 3.95%

Hispanic or Latino 6.17%

Unknown 2.42%

White 67.99%

Gender

female 51.16%

male 48.84%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a child psychiatrist

Explore child psychiatrist education requirements

Most common child psychiatrist degrees

Bachelor's

32.0 %

Certificate

24.0 %

Doctorate

20.0 %

Start to develop specific child psychiatrist skills

Skills	Percentages
Adolescent Psychiatry	33.57%
Psychopharmacology	19.32%
Mental Health	18.50%
Medication Management	15.47%
Medical Education	4.82%

Complete relevant child psychiatrist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New child psychiatrists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a child psychiatrist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real child psychiatrist resumes.

Research child psychiatrist duties and responsibilities

Perform psychotherapy, psychopharmacology and drug detoxification.
See frequently hospitalize patients on outpatient basis as part of multidisciplinary team.
Implement individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments to stabilize patients during their hospitalization.
Conduct full neurological evaluation, including lab, MRI & /or EEG.

Prepare your child psychiatrist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your child psychiatrist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a child psychiatrist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable child psychiatrist resume templates

Build a professional child psychiatrist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your child psychiatrist resume.