Post job

Behavior technician vs therapist

The differences between behavior technicians and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a therapist has an average salary of $55,943, which is higher than the $38,026 average annual salary of a behavior technician.

The top three skills for a behavior technician include autism, applied behavior analysis and behavior analysis. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Behavior technician vs therapist overview

Behavior TechnicianTherapist
Yearly salary$38,026$55,943
Hourly rate$18.28$26.90
Growth rate9%17%
Number of jobs47,541159,770
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 68%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age3441
Years of experience--

What does a behavior technician do?

The job of a behavioral technician is to offer mental health services to patients who struggle with behavior-related problems. Behavior technicians uphold the highest standard of quality of care. They are the ones who enforce learning programs like self-help, communication, and play skills. It is their duty to incorporate medical care training for parents, so caregivers or family members can support and teach skills during family activities. One must be good in written and verbal communication, can work with team members, and develop good interpersonal relationship skills to be a good technician.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Behavior technician vs therapist salary

Behavior technicians and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Behavior TechnicianTherapist
Average salary$38,026$55,943
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $49,000Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying CityUrban Honolulu, HISan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyErnst & YoungChildhelp
Best paying industryEducationGovernment

Differences between behavior technician and therapist education

There are a few differences between a behavior technician and a therapist in terms of educational background:

Behavior TechnicianTherapist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 68%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Behavior technician vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between behavior technicians' and therapists' demographics:

Behavior TechnicianTherapist
Average age3441
Gender ratioMale, 26.5% Female, 73.5%Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage15%12%

Differences between behavior technician and therapist duties and responsibilities

Behavior technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage and target behaviors using the ESDM, ABA, PRT and SCERTS model.
  • Teach family members and teachers different ways to achieve cooperation with child and transfer skills to ensure an efficient learning environment.
  • Have RBT credential from the BACB.
  • Work with kids with autism * run programs apply individually for each child
  • Provide ABA services to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
  • Facilitate intensive in-home ABA services to children with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
  • Show more

Therapist example responsibilities.

  • Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
  • Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
  • Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
  • Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
  • Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
  • Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.
  • Show more

Behavior technician vs therapist skills

Common behavior technician skills
  • Autism, 25%
  • Applied Behavior Analysis, 19%
  • Behavior Analysis, 8%
  • BCBA, 5%
  • Developmental Disabilities, 4%
  • Social Work, 4%
Common therapist skills
  • Social Work, 23%
  • Patients, 12%
  • Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Mental Health, 4%
  • Patient Care, 3%

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs