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Clinician vs psychologist

The differences between clinicians and psychologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a psychologist has an average salary of $97,803, which is higher than the $60,150 average annual salary of a clinician.

The top three skills for a clinician include social work, patients and patient care. The most important skills for a psychologist are patients, crisis intervention, and rehabilitation.

Clinician vs psychologist overview

ClinicianPsychologist
Yearly salary$60,150$97,803
Hourly rate$28.92$47.02
Growth rate9%6%
Number of jobs105,02312,516
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4547
Years of experience4-

What does a clinician do?

A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

What does a psychologist do?

Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.

Clinician vs psychologist salary

Clinicians and psychologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

ClinicianPsychologist
Average salary$60,150$97,803
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $103,000Between $68,000 And $139,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyPace UniversitySierra Corporation
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between clinician and psychologist education

There are a few differences between a clinician and a psychologist in terms of educational background:

ClinicianPsychologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachNorthwestern University

Clinician vs psychologist demographics

Here are the differences between clinicians' and psychologists' demographics:

ClinicianPsychologist
Average age4547
Gender ratioMale, 24.3% Female, 75.7%Male, 35.2% Female, 64.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 4.2% White, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage15%20%

Differences between clinician and psychologist duties and responsibilities

Clinician example responsibilities.

  • Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
  • Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
  • Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
  • Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
  • Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
  • Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.
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Psychologist example responsibilities.

  • Supervise mental health staff, including the overseeing of the provision of mental health services in a correctional facility.
  • Provide EMDR therapy for clients with trauma and anxiety.
  • Perform tests to diagnose autism in children or tests for the detection of autism at an early age.
  • Provide supervision and mentoring for APA Pre-Doctoral interns.
  • Supervise clinical activities of doctoral level psychology interns in APA accredit internship program.
  • Evaluate veterans for psychological disorders that may have resulted secondary to their military service for compensation purposes.
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Clinician vs psychologist skills

Common clinician skills
  • Social Work, 26%
  • Patients, 14%
  • Patient Care, 4%
  • Individual Therapy, 4%
  • Mental Health, 4%
  • Mental Illness, 3%
Common psychologist skills
  • Patients, 18%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 6%
  • Mental Illness, 5%
  • Clinical Supervision, 5%
  • APA, 4%

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