It’s been 2 days of research and I’m still on the hunt for the best way to get the title of Jungian Analyst in Canada. In summary, OAJA wants a Masters (or equivalent) to get in, but I was starting to question how much it would be worth it, income-wise. I did a very loose ROI calculation yesterday, but I needed to do more digging to find out what we could expect to charge. I imagine the fee structure would be different for a Jungian Analyst with a provincial license as a Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Psychologist or Doctor versus a Jungian Analyst who isn’t licensed by the province, and whose only qualification is their diploma in Jungian Analysis.
So I decided to do some digging. First I wanted to find out how much you make as a Counsellor vs. a Registered Psychologist in Saskatchewan. I looked at the first 21 listings on Psychology Today that randomly came up on the first page, and I only took into consideration the profiles that listed their rates. So here I’m comparing the rates of Counsellors vs. Registered Psychologists:
The average rate for everyone who is NOT a Psychologist (in white) is $138.08/session.
The average rate for everyone who IS a psychologist, or who has a PhD in Psychology (in beige) is $187.50/session.
That is a 50$ difference per hour, and I could be wrong, but I imagine the Registered Psychologist designation will bring more clients into your office than if you have a Psychotherapy or Counsellor designation, meaning you can make more money overall.
However, I just can’t imagine that tacking on a Jungian Analyst designation is going to do much to increase your fees beyond those averages. My ex from New York has been to a lot of therapy and has paid big-city New York City prices, and he said prices tend to be around $250 USD/ session, which is $336.84 CAD/session, which to me sounds bonkers. Do Jungians get that kind of money?
So I decided to look up the websites of Jungian Analysts listed on the OAJA website. Bear in mind, this is only the therapists who have websites, and I’ve highlighted in beige the very few who have posted their fees:
As you can see, there are only 5 therapists who posted their fees (thank-you!). The average between the five is $141.42 CAD which is only a raise of $3.34 CAD from being a provincially-licensed psychotherapist (Ontario) or Counsellor (Saskatchewan).
I also wanted to highlight the four people who either DON’T have a Masters, or who just didn’t mention the Masters on their websites. Some context is important here. Most of these 28 members are senior citizens and I believe OAJA only became a much more formal organization in 2015, where I think the entry requirements became more stringent (that’s just the impression I’m getting off their website), so it’s quite possible that in the “olden days”, it was easier to get into the program without a Masters. Based on their photos on their website (sorry guys- I hope I’m not insulting anyone!), it looks like Therapist 7 is the only one who is not a senior citizen out of these 4. I also doubt that #11 doesn’t have a Masters- you often need a Masters to be as busy as he describes as an Urban Planner. Therapist #4 I’m up in the air about. So really, the ones I’m most sure about are Therapists 7 and 19. (19 has a ton of experience working in the school systems, so she came in knowing how to talk to people).
So I’m concluding three things:
- If you’ve just got 1-2 clients a day, it’s not financially lucrative to be a Jungian Analyst. But maybe you’re well-connected, you are also a licensed psychotherapist or psychologist and you take insurance, you teach on the side, or maybe you just publish or present at a lot of workshops and connect well with the public, then hopefully you are filling up your calendar and booking 3-4 people a day. Or perhaps you’re retired and you still want to keep busy and have a positive impact on peoples’ lives- then the Jungian Analyst designation would supplement your retirement income nicely and fulfill you in other ways than financial. Overall, these people are doing it for the meaning.
- If you’re coming in without a Masters, a good substitute for one is a career of working with people, or a ton of certifications plus lots of experience …. working with people.
- I found one therapist who works with tarot, astrology and the I-ching! Yay, I think that’s wonderful! I’m curious why I only found one, given Jung’s openness to divinatory practices.