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Boston Career Explorer

Life, Physical, and Social Science

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

Assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests. Help individuals with distress or maladjustment understand their problems through their knowledge of case history, interviews with patients, and theory. Provide individual or group counseling services to assist individuals in achieving more effective personal, social, educational, and vocational development and adjustment. May design behavior modification programs and consult with medical personnel regarding the best treatment for patients.

Also called: Case Manager, Clinical Psychologist, Counseling Psychologist, Counselor, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Psychologist

Median pay in Greater Boston
$121,270
$58.30/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
1,920
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+4.7%
190 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Doctoral or professional degree
plus Internship/residency

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$60,090$86,470$121,270$164,150$233,890

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.
  • Document patient information including session notes, progress notes, recommendations, and treatment plans.
  • Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, or reference materials.
  • Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.
  • Counsel individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.
  • Interact with clients to assist them in gaining insight, defining goals, and planning action to achieve effective personal, social, educational, or vocational development and adjustment.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure92 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 98
  • Language-model AIOE 97
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 81

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is higher, and AI tools are being used some in this work today. Tools can help with session notes, progress notes, reports, and paperwork. Assessing risk, diagnosing, and counseling people in crisis depend on a trained professional's judgment and relationship with the client.

Likely to change

  • Drafting session and progress notes
  • Writing reports and routine paperwork

Still relies on people

  • Assessing risk of harm face to face
  • Building trust during counseling sessions

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

34 programs near Boston (plus 42 graduate)

Related occupations

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