What Does an Alcohol And Drug Counselor Do?

We looked at the average alcohol and drug counselor annual salary and compared it with the average of a primary therapist. Generally speaking, primary therapists receive $14,068 higher pay than alcohol and drug counselors per year.

While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both alcohol and drug counselors and primary therapists positions are skilled in patients, social work, and crisis intervention.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. An alcohol and drug counselor responsibility is more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," and "drug abuse." Whereas a primary therapist requires skills like "excellent organizational," "patient care," "treatment plan reviews," and "clinical services." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Primary therapists tend to make the most money in the finance industry by averaging a salary of $61,326. In contrast, alcohol and drug counselors make the biggest average salary of $44,333 in the professional industry.

The education levels that primary therapists earn is a bit different than that of alcohol and drug counselors. In particular, primary therapists are 27.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an alcohol and drug counselor. Additionally, they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The next role we're going to look at is the mental health professional profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $3,361 higher salary than alcohol and drug counselors per year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both alcohol and drug counselors and mental health professionals are known to have skills such as "patients," "social work," and "crisis intervention. "

But both careers also use different skills, according to real alcohol and drug counselor resumes. While alcohol and drug counselor responsibilities can utilize skills like "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," "asam," and "discharge summaries," some mental health professionals use skills like "cpr," "excellent interpersonal," "clinical supervision," and "mental health."

On average, mental health professionals earn a higher salary than alcohol and drug counselors. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, mental health professionals earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $49,393. Whereas, alcohol and drug counselors have higher paychecks in the professional industry where they earn an average of $44,333.

In general, mental health professionals study at higher levels of education than alcohol and drug counselors. They're 11.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The mental health specialist profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of alcohol and drug counselors. The difference in salaries is mental health specialists making $1,563 higher than alcohol and drug counselors.

By looking over several alcohol and drug counselors and mental health specialists resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "patients," "social work," and "crisis intervention." But beyond that the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from alcohol and drug counselor resumes include skills like "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," "intake assessments," and "asam," whereas a mental health specialist might be skilled in "mental health," "cpr," "vital signs," and "substance abuse. "

Additionally, mental health specialists earn a higher salary in the government industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $47,531. Additionally, alcohol and drug counselors earn an average salary of $44,333 in the professional industry.

When it comes to education, mental health specialists tend to earn similar education levels than alcohol and drug counselors. In fact, they're 1.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Now, we'll look at behavioral health specialists, who generally average a lower pay when compared to alcohol and drug counselors annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $950 per year.

While both alcohol and drug counselors and behavioral health specialists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, social work, and crisis intervention, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an alcohol and drug counselor might have more use for skills like "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," "intake assessments," and "asam." Meanwhile, some behavioral health specialists might include skills like "substance abuse," "patient care," "vital signs," and "behavioral health" on their resume.

Behavioral health specialists earn a higher salary in the insurance industry with an average of $53,632. Whereas, alcohol and drug counselors earn the highest salary in the professional industry.

The average resume of behavioral health specialists showed that they earn similar levels of education to alcohol and drug counselors. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 0.8% more. Additionally, they're more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.