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Psychologist vs school psychologist

The differences between psychologists and school 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 $78,431 average annual salary of a school psychologist.

The top three skills for a psychologist include patients, crisis intervention and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a school psychologist are professional development, mental health, and psychological services.

Psychologist vs school psychologist overview

PsychologistSchool Psychologist
Yearly salary$97,803$78,431
Hourly rate$47.02$37.71
Growth rate6%14%
Number of jobs12,51625,457
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 47%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4743
Years of experience-2

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.

What does a school psychologist do?

School psychologists are knowledgeable professionals whose responsibilities include identifying, addressing, and overcoming the educational and behavioral needs of school-aged children. They generally work in schools and focus their observations on children and youth who often face issues related to education, social relationships, decision-making, as well as managing emotions. They help families, counselors, and members of the community understand and solve these issues the children may encounter. Additionally, they provide comprehensive psychological services to help students achieve academic, behavioral, social, and emotional success.

Psychologist vs school psychologist salary

Psychologists and school psychologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

PsychologistSchool Psychologist
Average salary$97,803$78,431
Salary rangeBetween $68,000 And $139,000Between $55,000 And $110,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companySierra CorporationCORA Services
Best paying industryHealth CareEducation

Differences between psychologist and school psychologist education

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

PsychologistSchool Psychologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 47%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Psychologist vs school psychologist demographics

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

PsychologistSchool Psychologist
Average age4743
Gender ratioMale, 35.2% Female, 64.8%Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 3.3% White, 76.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage20%12%

Differences between psychologist and school psychologist duties and responsibilities

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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School psychologist example responsibilities.

  • Work alongside grade-level teachers and lead small math groups for both remedial and advance students.
  • Lead small student groups addressing social skills, friendship-making, divorce, ADHD, organizational skills and homework completion.
  • Provide brief evidence-base individual, couple, and group psychotherapy to veterans refer for mental health treatment.
  • Provide individual and family interventions to geriatric patients in nursing home facilities for long term care and rehabilitation treatment.
  • Participate on the weekly DBT consultation team.
  • Motivate kids to stay in school and improve their social skills.
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Psychologist vs school psychologist skills

Common psychologist skills
  • Patients, 18%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 6%
  • Mental Illness, 5%
  • Clinical Supervision, 5%
  • APA, 4%
Common school psychologist skills
  • Professional Development, 18%
  • Mental Health, 13%
  • Psychological Services, 7%
  • K-12, 7%
  • Crisis Intervention, 4%
  • Autism, 3%

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