SHOULD I BECOME A THERAPIST? What kind of jobs PAY A LOT OF MONEY?

Depends what level you're looking at. Psychologists are PhDs, psychiatrists are medical doctors. Psychotherapists are likely more what you're looking at re: providing life advice. http://www.psychotherapyontario.org/ Most psychotherapists have advanced training, not necessarily medical or high-level academic in nature (e.g. psychology, sociology, sexuality studies, social work, etc.) Certainly would require more than an BA in psychology though, usually a MA in counselling or clinical practice. The money is OK, but depends how much people are willing to pay for things. Where I'm from (Ontario, Canada) psychotherapy isn't covered under public insurance so people have to pay out of pocket or get covered by private insurance, which means therapists have to actively market themselves to voluntarily sign up and pay for sessions vs. getting referrals covered by public insurance. Private insurance only covers clinical practices run by psychiatrists and psychologists too, which means any billable time goes to pay them as well. Psychiatrists and psychologists get paid more, simply because they have more advanced training. And a psychotherapist that doesn't actively promote their practice isn't going to do well - it's a job you can do 5 hours a week and get paid poorly, or multiple hours a week and do pretty well. $350K is really out of the ballpark though - the only therapists who can make anything close to that are also probably authors, motivational speakers, and otherwise media-savvy public figures. At that point, though, they're less medical practitioners than media figures.

You'll have to define " A LOT of money". What's a lot for you might not be a lot for someone else. The most money typically goes to Psychiatrists. That's an MD degree plus residency. Psychologists with PhDs will probably make the most on the non-medical route. State laws apply as to whom can call themselves a therapist in mental health, so you'll want to thoroughly research this. Edit: $350k isn't going to be incredibly realistic for a "therapist". To even approach that, you'll need a special situation, like doctor to celebrities, working for a super high end/expensive rehab, or selling a line of books to go with your mantra. $350k is more than most physicians make, much less ones that aren't surgeons. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but you'll really have to buckle down and figure out circumstances where this becomes even remotely realistic as a therapist. Listening to patients is part of every specialty. Looking through your other answers, you appear to still be very young with a ton of maturing and education necessary before you are at a place where you deciding this. Whatever you choose, Good Luck.