What does a senior staff psychologist do?
Senior staff psychologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior staff psychologist resumes:
- 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.
Senior staff psychologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Senior Staff Psychologists are proficient in Social Work, Rehabilitation, and Correctional. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Integrity.
We break down the percentage of Senior Staff Psychologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 28%
Supervised psychologists - Instructor of clinical seminar for psychologists and social workers - Conducted psychotherapy and neuropsychological testing with adolescent boys
- Rehabilitation, 21%
Assisted with integrating the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Approach into New York State's inpatient psychiatric hospital service system.
- Correctional, 8%
Provided clinical, managerial, administrative, and supervisory oversight to the Mental Health Department of Taylor Correctional Institution.
- Mental Illness, 5%
Perform confrontation avoidance and crisis intervention with inmates with severe and persistent mental illnesses.
- Group Therapy, 5%
Developed an empirically based group therapy program.
- Individual Therapy, 3%
Supervised Master's-level therapists (assessments, individual therapy) and reviewed performances.
Common skills that a senior staff psychologist uses to do their job include "social work," "rehabilitation," and "correctional." You can find details on the most important senior staff psychologist responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior staff psychologist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "psychologists must examine the information they collect and draw logical conclusions." Senior staff psychologists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "attend ieps, help with referrals to mental health, write behavior intervention plans and functional analysis of behavior. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior staff psychologist duties is communication skills. Senior staff psychologists responsibilities require that "psychologists must have strong communication skills because they spend much of their time listening to and speaking with patients or describing their research." Senior staff psychologists also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintained ongoing communication with medical & administrative staff re patients' status. "
Integrity. senior staff psychologists are also known for integrity, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior staff psychologist responsibilities, because "psychologists must keep patients’ problems in confidence, and patients must be able to trust psychologists’ expertise in treating sensitive problems." A senior staff psychologist resume example shows how integrity is used in the workplace: "maintain the highest level of ethical conduct in patient care. "
Interpersonal skills. senior staff psychologist responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "psychologists study and help individuals, so they must be able to work well with clients, patients, and other professionals." This resume example shows what senior staff psychologists do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "lead psychotherapy groups focusing on interpersonal skills and offender rehabilitation. "
Patience. Another crucial skill for a senior staff psychologist to carry out their responsibilities is "patience." A big part of what senior staff psychologists relies on this skill, since "psychologists must demonstrate patience, because conducting research or treating patients may take a long time." How this skill relates to senior staff psychologist duties can be seen in an example from a senior staff psychologist resume snippet: "interviewed patients and their families to collect full information on patience's case. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on senior staff psychologist job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in senior staff psychologist duties, since "psychologists need problem-solving skills to collect information, design research, evaluate programs, and find treatments or solutions to mental and behavioral problems." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day senior staff psychologist responsibilities: "provide treatment planning, administer bio-psychosocial assessments, individual supportive solution-focused psychotherapy and group therapy. "
The three companies that hire the most senior staff psychologists are:
- University of Texas System5 senior staff psychologists jobs
- NC.gov3 senior staff psychologists jobs
- One Medical2 senior staff psychologists jobs
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Compare different senior staff psychologists
Senior staff psychologist vs. Clinical fellow
Clinical fellows are doctoral-level health professionals whose interest focuses on biomedical research. They take part in protocol-based clinical research and laboratory research. Their significant role in research leads them to a higher academic degree. Usually, they conduct research for 2-3 hours. They have completed their general residency, and train in health specialties like oncology or cardiology. They examine and treat patients, execute medical procedures, and complete patient charts.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior staff psychologists and clinical fellow. For instance, senior staff psychologist responsibilities require skills such as "correctional," "mental illness," "treatment planning," and "risk assessments." Whereas a clinical fellow is skilled in "patients," "veterans," "autism," and "surgery." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Clinical fellows really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $72,607. Comparatively, senior staff psychologists tend to make the most money in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $92,154.clinical fellows tend to reach higher levels of education than senior staff psychologists. In fact, clinical fellows are 17.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 12.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior staff psychologist vs. Eating disorder specialist
Provosts have a hefty set of educational requirements, including a master's degree in an educational field, tenure as a college or university academic professor, and, in some cases, the prerequisite of a doctorate: all necessary for the $151K yearly salary. Those who choose this career path will be called upon as the university's chief academic officer under the president to create and implement academic priorities as well as allocate resources that will support those priorities.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior staff psychologist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "correctional," "group therapy," and "treatment planning." Meanwhile, an eating disorder specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "community organizations," "community resources," "health professionals," and "community health." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, eating disorder specialists achieve higher levels of education than senior staff psychologists. They're 11.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 12.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior staff psychologists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Jim Sliwinski Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Defiance College
Senior staff psychologist vs. Psychology associate
Clinical psychology interns are responsible for assisting the clinical psychology staff by utilizing their academic knowledge to practical applications. A clinical psychology intern observes the daily operations in a health care facility, shadows medical staff, and prepares reports for clinical psychology processes or psychological research. The interns perform administrative and clerical duties as needed, including responding to the patients' inquiries and concerns, joining psychology professionals on conducting counseling and therapies, and interpreting patients' behaviors and practices.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior staff psychologist resumes include skills like "correctional," "treatment planning," "internship program," and "criminal justice," whereas a psychology associate is more likely to list skills in "patients," "release planning," "autism," and "behavioral management. "
Psychology associates earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $76,964. Comparatively, senior staff psychologists have the highest earning potential in the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $92,154.Most psychology associates achieve a higher degree level compared to senior staff psychologists. For example, they're 24.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 24.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior staff psychologist vs. Clinical psychology internship
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior staff psychologists and clinical psychology interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior staff psychologist might have more use for skills like "social work," "rehabilitation," "correctional," and "mental illness." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of clinical psychology interns require skills like "patients," "group therapy sessions," "behavioral interventions," and "substance abuse. "
The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for clinical psychology interns, with average annual pay of $41,391. Comparatively, the highest senior staff psychologist annual salary comes from the telecommunication industry.clinical psychology interns reach higher levels of education compared to senior staff psychologists, in general. The difference is that they're 13.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 28.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior staff psychologist
Updated January 8, 2025
