How To Become A Senior Staff Psychologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior staff psychologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Jim Sliwinski Ph.D.,

Dr. Joey Collins

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior staff psychologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $47.75 an hour? That's $99,313 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 26,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior staff psychologist?

Dr. Jim Sliwinski Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Defiance College

I encourage all undergraduate psychology majors to consider graduate school. A bachelor's degree in psychology is becoming much more of a pre-professional program. That's not to say that there are not many jobs out there for individuals who only have a bachelor's, but full-time jobs, with benefits, are becoming harder to come by.

ScoreSenior Staff PsychologistUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $99,313

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.20%

Asian 3.34%

Black or African American 6.18%

Hispanic or Latino 10.44%

Unknown 3.44%

White 76.39%

Gender

female 52.27%

male 47.73%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior staff psychologist

Explore senior staff psychologist education requirements

Most common senior staff psychologist degrees

Bachelor's

46.6 %

Doctorate

33.7 %

Master's

16.6 %

Start to develop specific senior staff psychologist skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	27.63%
Rehabilitation	20.61%
Correctional	8.32%
Mental Illness	4.73%
Group Therapy	4.70%

Complete relevant senior staff psychologist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior staff psychologists 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 senior staff psychologist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior staff psychologist resumes.

Research senior staff psychologist duties and responsibilities

Provide psychological therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder, deficit/hyperactive disorder, specific learning disorder and others mental diagnosis.
Provide consultation regarding appropriate placement/treatment of juveniles in the DJJ system.

Get senior staff psychologist experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior staff psychologist. The most common roles before becoming a senior staff psychologist include clinical psychology internship, psychologist team lead and internship.

Prepare your senior staff psychologist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior staff psychologist 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 senior staff psychologist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior staff psychologist resume templates

Build a professional senior staff psychologist 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 senior staff psychologist resume.