I honestly don’t know how we are supposed to survive before being fully licensed. I already took a cut with doing an internship and full class load last year of school then unless you are able to get a full caseload out the gate. I’m on snap assistance and Medicaid. It doesn’t seem fair for the kind of work we do and trying to help a very serious epidemic.
Nope. Been working in the field 11 years now with basically no raises bc insurance companies don’t increase reimbursement.
I'm fully licensed with 25 years of experience. The answer was, is and always will be "no" and the only ones that will tell you different are supervisors praying they can replace you immediately so they don't have to go back to counseling.
I wanna preface this by saying, my situation is definitely unique. But, I also would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that there is a chronic devaluation of pre-licensed and associate licensed therapist. Where we over work and under pay (or in interns cases, NOT pay them). Cuz they’re earning their ‘dues’. Giving our profession the unspoken permission to mistreat us. Which has to end.
That said, I’m in private (not my original intention. As I’ve worked in CMH and community health and non profits, in a non practitioner capacity for almost a decade). I make over $70k/yr as an LAC, with the potential to make much more upon full licensure. So, I do feel like I’m being compensated adequately in this case. With a manageable caseload. But I’m the exception, when I should be the rule.
No. I’m a resident in counseling and I only get paid when clients show up. Lots of cancellations equals no pay and as a single father in this economy it’s made me want to walk away from it more times than I can count, unfortunately.
No, I don’t think associate therapist make the right money at all! They provide the counseling services and the organizations they work for still get a large amount of money per session and associates only get a small percent $25-$35 an hour usually after a masters degree practicum internship, and all that is required to be an associate.
My answer would be no!! Not for all the schooling, training, supervision we have to get to become licensed.
No, I’m intern and actually paying for my “workload”
I know executives making 7 figures who don’t feel like they make enough. No one ever says “I don’t need a raise. I make plenty already.”
Never has… been an LPC 27 years
"Value" reflects you and your wants/ideology...no one else. This is not a cookie cutter answer.
Yup. I work full-time in a macro social work position ($88k + benefits) and run a telehealth private practice on the side. For me, going full-time in private practice would be a fast track to burnout, it’s a lot of work if you’re doing it well.
That said, between both roles I make around $125k and still have time for self-care. There are ways to make this work.
I keep a caseload of ~20 clients and see 8–12 per week, and I also use an AI note-taking assistant through my platform, which helps significantly with workload management.
When I was pre-licensed I worked in an agency setting. The pay was ok at the time but I put in a lot of time and was able to complete my hours in 1.5 years. I stayed for about a total of 8 years and worked my way up to clinical supervisor and I was making over six figures. I decided to leave after starting my practice and expanded to group. I haven’t hit six figures because I wanted to pay more than most and miscalculated expenses. I miss just doing my task and leaving at the end of the day.
I work in community mental health and the pay is subpar for the workload.
Hahaha nope. 56k, 4 days a week. But all the stress of my job overwhelm me so much that I don't have room for the people I love. I just lost a friend to addiction. I wish I had had more patience at the end.
