What Does a Behavioral Health Specialist Do?

We looked at the average behavioral health specialist annual salary and compared it with the average of a licensed social worker. Generally speaking, licensed social workers receive $12,197 higher pay than behavioral health specialists per year.

Even though behavioral health specialists and licensed social workers have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, social work, and substance abuse in the day-to-day roles.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A behavioral health specialist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "vital signs," "behavioral health," "cpr," and "direct care." Whereas a licensed social worker requires skills like "msw," "lsw," "state regulations," and "emotional factors." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Licensed social workers really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $56,730. Whereas behavioral health specialists tend to make the most money in the insurance industry with an average salary of $53,632.

On average, licensed social workers reach higher levels of education than behavioral health specialists. Licensed social workers are 15.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Now we're going to look at the community health counselor profession. On average, community health counselors earn a $1,504 lower salary than behavioral health specialists a 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 behavioral health specialists and community health counselors are known to have skills such as "patients," "social work," and "rehabilitation. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that behavioral health specialist responsibilities requires skills like "substance abuse," "patient care," "direct care," and "support services." But a community health counselor might use skills, such as, "direct patient care," "therapeutic milieu," "mental health disorders," and "behavior modification."

Community health counselors may earn a lower salary than behavioral health specialists, but community health counselors earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $41,674. On the other side of things, behavioral health specialists receive higher paychecks in the insurance industry where they earn an average of $53,632.

On the topic of education, community health counselors earn similar levels of education than behavioral health specialists. In general, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The mental health worker profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of behavioral health specialists. The difference in salaries is mental health workers making $3,727 lower than behavioral health specialists.

While looking through the resumes of several behavioral health specialists and mental health workers we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "patients," "social work," and "substance abuse," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from behavioral health specialists resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "patient care," "behavioral health," "direct care," and "behavioral interventions." But a mental health worker might have skills like "direct supervision," "patient safety," "direct patient care," and "therapeutic environment."

Additionally, mental health workers earn a higher salary in the professional industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $39,268. Additionally, behavioral health specialists earn an average salary of $53,632 in the insurance industry.

Mental health workers are known to earn lower educational levels when compared to behavioral health specialists. Additionally, they're 11.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Mental health counselors tend to earn a higher pay than behavioral health specialists by about $4,663 per year.

While their salaries may vary, behavioral health specialists and mental health counselors both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "patients," "social work," and "rehabilitation. "

Each job requires different skills like "substance abuse," "mental illness," "behavioral health," and "behavioral interventions," which might show up on a behavioral health specialist resume. Whereas mental health counselor might include skills like "substance abuse issues," "therapeutic environment," "intake assessments," and "persistent mental illness."

Mental health counselors earn a higher salary in the health care industry with an average of $52,181. Whereas, behavioral health specialists earn the highest salary in the insurance industry.

In general, mental health counselors reach higher levels of education when compared to behavioral health specialists resumes. Mental health counselors are 7.7% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.