If you’ve ever been an intern as a therapist, you know that you will need to plan how to live on a therapist intern budget.
Because it doesn’t pay well. And sometimes it doesn’t even pay at all!
How Much Did I Get Paid As A Therapist Intern?
If you’re not a therapist, let me paint the picture for you.
I remember for my full-time predoctoral internship I earned a “stipend” of $300 per month. Mind you, I was also paying my school around $3,000 per semester to earn internship credits for my intern hours. When you factor in that my internship was 45 miles away, the $300 stipend wasn’t even enough to cover gas.
In other words, I worked-full time for a year and I made $3600 that year. Meanwhile, I paid my school at least $6000 to earn credits for that work.
When you factor in that I was also pulling weekly all-nighters to finish my dissertation, there was just no wiggle room left to pull in income from anywhere else.
So, I was already working full-time and I was STILL accruing school debt. Dang.
To the person who’s not a therapist, they may be thinking: yeah, but you’re an intern, you aren’t paid because you are learning as a trainee.
And yes, on one hand I was still participating in weekly individual and group supervision, which was incredibly valuable. But, I also already had more than 2000 direct client hours under my belt before ever starting this internship.
I was helping clients with interventions I’d now been familiar with for a few years of hands-on work. And in exchange for 4 hours a week of supervision, I was working for free while getting a stipend that didn’t even cover my gas for the month.
I am sharing my story not to complain, but rather to paint the picture of how hard it is to make ends meet.
The Tight Budget Continued
Even once I had graduated and had become a postdoc intern, I completed my hours by working at two different private practices. At one of these practices, I calculated that I was earning between $10-13 an hour depending on the week.
It’s been only 10 years since I was making $10 an hour, and I’ve since been fortunate to find a lot of financial success in my career. But I want to acknowledge that it hasn’t always been like that.
Are you currently an intern, or are you thinking about pursuing grad school, and you are worried about the finances? That’s a legitimate concern. Generally speaking, the pay is abysmal.
But, I think there are some things you can do to prepare.
Tips For Surviving On A Therapist Intern Budget
I think there are a number of ways to go about this, all depending on your life situation. But I want you to know that you have options.
So, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are a few ways to go about making ends meet on a therapist intern budget.
1) Intern Part-Time & Build Income Elsewhere
- Take a more part-time approach while you earn a livable income somewhere else.
- It can be painful to move the finish line further into the future when you just want to be done and diving into your career. But, this option can be a viable route to access the training you want as a therapist while living within your means.
- Because, let’s be real, almost any job pays more than most therapy internships.
- When I was an intern, the legal minimum wage was $15 an hour. I could have worked at a fast food restaurant and earned more money than I did as a therapist.
- And for most therapists and therapist trainees, our skills are applicable in many contexts that will pay more than minimum wage.
- There is NO shame in supplementing your income elsewhere.
- From my perspective, aside from finding an internship that already pays a livable wage, this is the path that can offer the greatest mental stability for most folks in training.
- You can enjoy the time that you’re training rather than speeding through it for the sake of survival.
2) Choose Internships With Higher Pay
- Be picky about your internships & how much they pay.
- I would put this option first on the list, but it’s easier said than done! Otherwise we might all choose this path.
- Though they can be hard to come by, there are some internships that pay more than others.
- For example, there were some predoc internships that earned closer to $40k per year. And though $40k is still not a livable income in my area, I would have accepted that amount in a heartbeat over the $3600 I got.
- This option is especially viable if you are willing to relocate. Then, you can apply to internships in various locations that offer better pay. And, you could also choose to live in an area with a lower cost of living.
3) Complete Trainee Hours In Private Practice
- I know the option to work in private practice as an intern varies from state to state, so please learn about the applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
- That said, in my state of California where there’s a clear path for interns to work in private practice as an employee. But, earning a decent income in this context is easier said than done.
- This is the route I took, and I worked in two practices part-time with two polar opposite experiences.
- So I’ll name some variables to consider. Because depending on the answers, your pay is going to vary a lot.
- Questions to ask before jumping into interning at a private practice:
- What rate do interns charge? What cut of the rate do I receive?
- Will I be reimbursed at the same rate for cancellations/no shows?
- Do you accept insurance? Who is in charge of billing?
- Will I be paid for denied insurance claims?
- Will I do my own marketing or will my caseload get filled?
**Storytime #1: I Should Have Asked The Questions!
- The reason I encourage you to ask the questions above, is because of my experience.
- I completed my postdoc hours at two different part-time private practices.
- At one of the practices I worked at, the sliding scale slid down to $45 per cash-pay session. But I didn’t get the full story when I interviewed. All I learned was that the rate was $90 per session and I would get a 50% cut.
- I thought, “sweet! I’m going to earn $45 per hour. Not bad as an intern!”
- But I also spent 3-5 hours a week on hold with insurance contesting denied claims. If a claim was denied, I only got 50% of the copay, which was usually $20-$30 at the time.
- If a client canceled or no-showed, I didn’t get paid for that time.
- SO when all was said and done, instead of earning $45 an hour, I was actually earning closer to $10.
- I could have figured this out if I asked a LOT more questions in the interview.
- One win of this practice is my supervisor filled my practice for me within just a few weeks.
Storytime #2: A Different Practice, A Different Experience
- Meanwhile, at the other practice that I worked at part-time, my rate was $120 per session and I kept a 60% cut.
- The clients were all cash pay and my sliding scale slid down to $60 per session.
- I earned way more money per session at this practice, but I also had to do all my own marketing.
- At the time I had no idea what I was doing and it took me more than a year to fill my practice.
- Because of this, I wound up earning the same total amount at both practices because one was full but paid little, and the other was a slow trickle but paid well.
4) Delay Internship & Save Up
- Again, I know it never feels good to pump the brakes.
- But there’s no shame in slowing down if it’s the difference between a healthy life while gaining your hours or being in absolute survival mode.
- If you can swing this option, you can always take a moment to earn income somewhere that pays a little better outside of the field.
- You have the option to consider downsizing your budget or your home in preparation, while saving money that you may need to dip into as an intern.
5) Loan Forgiveness
- Though this doesn’t necessarily boost your income as an intern, it can help provide some peace of mind.
- It will help knowing you’re working towards forgiving your student debt so early in your career.
- Here’s a link to an article that lists what types of loan forgiveness are options.
6) Budget, Budget, Budget!
- This is stating the obvious. If you have a limited budget, you have to budget.
- By the time most of us are completing our intern hours, most of our friends who aren’t therapists are earning quite a bit more than we are. I remember!
- Getting invited to eat out or watch a movie sent a shockwave of stress through my body. How do I tell them that I can’t afford it without them throwing me a pity party? I didn’t want to burden my friends with my own extremely tight budget.
- Checking your budget on some regular basis can help you stick by it. Looking at your budget once a week or once a month can help you maintain your goals.
- There are now apps that can help you do this!
I’m SURE there are far more tips than these to help you survive the tight therapist intern budget. But whatever route you choose, I hope you know you have options.
If the route you’re taking right now isn’t working, it’s ok to consider other options until you find what’s best.
More On Money
If you are interested in hearing more about how your emotions may be affecting your financial health, watch this video interview with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin.
We cover topics such as: How do you cope with financial guilt and financial insecurity? And how to deal with student loans.
And, if you want to get a jump start on building wealth early in your therapy career, check out this article with tips!
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