Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 34% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 50% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 44% of the time, stays with people.
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.
75,990 people do this job in the US. $100,580 a year.
Reviewed on October 1, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work13 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet9 h
- Stays with people18 h
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 13 hours become checking its work, 9 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 18 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Write client reports (about 2 h, a person checks); Diagnose disorders (about 2 h, a person checks); Develop treatment plans (about 1 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 53%
- 3%
- 10%
- 34%
- 0%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 34% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 20%. Today's estimate: 34%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.78% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 33rd largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 8 of its 30 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.47% to 0.34% (released February and March 2025); 0.66% to 1% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.84% to 0.78% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.47% | 39 of 708 | 13 of 30 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.34% | 52 of 703 | 12 of 30 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.66% | 29 of 655 | 16 of 30 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.89% | 22 of 672 | 15 of 30 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 1% | 21 of 677 | 15 of 30 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.84% | 31 of 434 | 8 of 30 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.78% | 33 of 447 | 8 of 30 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
42% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Plan psychological service programs, the conversation, 5%
- Gather client information, the in-person work, 5%
- Deliver psychotherapy and other treatments, the in-person work, 4%
- Counsel individuals and families, the in-person work, 4%
- Help clients gain insight and set goals, the in-person work, 3%
- Conduct research and write papers, the conversation, 3%
What becomes checking the machine
48% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it.
- Plan psychological service programs, costly if wrong, 8%
- Conduct research and write papers, costly if wrong, 5%
- Write client reports, severe if wrong, 4%
- Diagnose disorders, a licensed person signs, 4%
- Research counseling techniques, costly if wrong, 4%
- Write competence evaluations for court, a licensed person signs, 4%
What to learn
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 53% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Signing off under your license. Some tasks need a licensed, certified or sworn person to do or sign them. The license, and the judgment it stands for, stays with the person.
- The conversations. About 44% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan, supervise, and conduct psychological research and write papers describing research results.Planning and analysis, writing the papers, and meetings with the research team.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 14% | 3.5 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.4 work months | Documents 80%, conversation 20% | 0%Desk part half by Jan 2029 |
| Plan and develop accredited psychological service programs in psychiatric centers or hospitals, in collaboration with psychiatrists and other professional staff.Program design on paper, worked out in meetings with psychiatrists and staff.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 13% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Documents 60%, conversation 40% | 14%Desk part half by May 2027 |
| Collect information about individuals or clients, using interviews, case histories, observational techniques, and other assessment methods.Interviews and observation in the room, and the case history read.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | In person 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, or reference materials.Weighing interview, test and record findings to reach a diagnosis.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Documents 80%, in person 20% | 80%Desk part half by now |
| Conduct research to develop or improve diagnostic or therapeutic counseling techniques.Study design, analysis and writing, with some data gathered from clients.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Documents 80%, in person 20% | 19%Desk part half by May 2027 |
| Develop, direct, and participate in training programs for staff and students.Designing the training, then teaching it in person.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 36%Desk part half by now |
| Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.Reports written on clients and the required forms kept up.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 5 h | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 97%Half by now |
| Use a variety of treatment methods, such as psychotherapy, hypnosis, behavior modification, stress reduction therapy, psychodrama, or play therapy.Therapy delivered in the room with the client.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min38 min to 1.7 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Counsel individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.Counseling sessions in the room with the client, group or family.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min38 min to 1.7 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare written evaluations of individuals' psychological competence for court hearings.A written evaluation of competence for the court, from the assessment.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | Documents 100% | 52%Half by now |
| Select, administer, score, and interpret psychological tests to obtain information on individuals' intelligence, achievements, interests, or personalities.Giving the test in the room, then scoring and interpreting it.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 48%Desk part half by now |
| Develop therapeutic and treatment plans based on clients' interests, abilities, or needs.Working out a treatment plan from the client's assessment and history.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Clinical and Counseling Psychologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 34% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 50% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (44% to 55% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Clinical and Counseling Psychologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Write client reports (97% of the task's time now); Diagnose disorders (80% of the task's time now); and Develop treatment plans (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Clinical and Counseling Psychologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Deliver psychotherapy and other treatments; Counsel individuals and families; and Help clients gain insight and set goals. Together such tasks are about 12% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Clinical and Counseling Psychologists learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are judgment where errors are severe; reviewing work you did not do yourself; and briefing a model and checking its drafts. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 42% of the working time stays with people, 48% becomes checking a model's work and 1% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Clinical and Counseling Psychologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.78% went to this job's tasks, the 33rd largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 8 of its 30 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 6%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Clinical and Counseling Psychologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 30 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on October 1, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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