Social Worker vs. Counselor vs. Psychologist

Social Work

Social workers typically work in an organization to impact social change or help connect people to resources to improve their lives. In addition to individual or family counseling, they advocate for social justice, both at the systems level as they pursue changes in policy and at the individual level through helping people obtain tangible services.

Potential work settings for social workers include social service organizations, health systems, or other nonprofit organizations. If you decide to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), you’ll have the opportunity to work in medical settings or in group or private practice as a licensed provider.

Counselor

If you see yourself providing psychotherapy in a private or group practice to individuals, families or groups, a career as a counselor may be your best option. A master’s degree in counseling leads to licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), opening the door to diagnose and treat people with a wide range of mental health problems, including trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance use problems.

You also have the option to take additional classes and accrue supervised experience to earn a license in marriage and family therapy (LMFT) at the same time you’re earning your LPC. Counselors licensed as LPCs or LMFTs often work in private practice offices, mental health centers, or other nonprofit organizations.

School counseling is a third career option under the counseling umbrella. School counselors typically work in K-12 schools to provide counseling and career guidance.

Psychologist

If you want training in psychotherapy but also want to go deeper, consider becoming a psychologist. A career in psychology can give you the opportunity to conduct psychological assessments to determine the underlying causes of problems, conduct and publish research to move the field forward, teach at a university, or do government advocacy or consult for organizations.

Potential work settings for psychologists include outpatient clinics, hospitals and healthcare organizations, universities, and government agencies.

Most behavioral health graduate programs prefer that you have an undergraduate degree in social work or psychology. But the courses you took may be more important than what you majored in.

All three of these graduate programs require foundational courses in human development, psychology, statistics and research. After that, each individual program is likely to have specific prerequisites. Even if you don’t have the specific prerequisites, you should still apply because you can often complete any missing courses before beginning the program.

There may be some variation in program length, depending on your undergraduate degree and how many credits you want to take each semester.

The master of social work (MSW) degree is typically the shortest program of the three. Earning an MSW will likely take you one year or less if you have a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) from a CSWE-accredited program, or two years if you majored in something else. If you plan to earn your LCSW, you’ll need 3,500 hours of supervised clinical experience after you graduate, and then will need to take a qualifying exam.

A master’s degree in counseling will take between two and three years, depending on how many credit hours you take each semester. After graduation, you’ll need an additional 2,000 hours of supervised clinical experience and take a qualifying exam to obtain your license.

The doctor of psychology (PsyD) degree takes the longest to complete. You’ll have four years of academic coursework and then one year of a full-time internship. In most states, you’ll need 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience (usually 1,500 hours during your program and 1,500 hours after graduation), and have to take a qualifying exam to get your license.

Salary typically aligns with your scope of practice or the range of your skills. The MSW degree is a one- or two-year degree and allows you to work for an agency, government or nonprofit organization. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that social workers with an MSW earned $61,000 to $75,000 in 2022.

If you add the LCSW, you have a broader set of skills and can bill and receive reimbursement for your services, so you may have a higher average income. Social workers with this higher credential typically earn between $70,000 and $84,000.

The LPC license allows you to provide a range of counseling services and specialized care, like substance abuse or working with special populations, including children and families. Counselors earned $60,000 to $85,000 in 2022.

The PsyD degree trains you to provide the widest range of services and allows you to develop skills that are unique to a doctoral degree. As a result, the profession has greater income potential. Psychologists had the highest salary range, according to the BLS, at $90,000 to $140,000 annually.

For many licensed mental health professionals, their income depends on the type and amount of work they choose. If you choose a private or group practice, you’re likely to be reimbursed by the client’s insurance plan for each hour of therapy you provide. In that setting, you’ll have more flexibility and can vary your income according to how many hours you want to work.

Alternatively, if you work for an agency your salary is likely to be stable, but you may not make as much money as you would in private practice. The flexibility in type of work, schedules and income potential provides a practical benefit as you work to empower others to transform their lives.