How do I make money with a B.S. in Psychology?

[L210]

I have a BA in social science with an emphasis on psychology and criminal justice. I work for a government agency in the criminal justice field. Your best bet would probably be a non-profit or a government agency. You should check the websites of nearby cities, counties, and the state.

There is parole/probation and various human services jobs in juvenile detention facilities. As others have mentioned, there is adult/child protective services. I'm registered as a licensed chemical dependency counselor intern. However, I have not found any internships in my area. Substance abuse counselors only make around $35k, but the internship is two years and only requires an associates degree in most states.

Other options would be to look into child life specialist and behavioral therapist training programs so that you can become licensed. You can also start an alternative teacher certification program and take the social studies test. It's probably not that hard to study up and pass the tests to become certified in other areas. Like others have said, I really think you should just apply to PhD programs because many of them offer free tuition and a stipend for working as a TA or RA. There are some direct entry and second degree BSN and MSN programs. At the graduate level, you can become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. It's a lot cheaper and takes a lot less time than medical school. Psychiatrists are mostly pill pushers anyway forcing people to pay extra for therapy from a psychologist or other mental health professional.

Oops! I didn't realize this thread was so old. Maybe this post will help someone else.