A behavioral therapist is responsible for supporting patients with various developmental disorders and behavioral difficulties. Behavioral therapists conduct counseling to the patients, identifying their personal and social challenges, and administering treatment plans to modify unusual behaviors. They also coordinate with other medical professionals to plan activities and therapy sessions for patients' needs. A behavioral therapist maintains a record of the patients' progress, help them on developing social engagement, and adjust treatment strategies depending on the patients' noticeable changes.

Behavioral Therapist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real behavioral therapist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Manage behavioral program for each client assign (CPI training).
  • Modele self-help and independent skills to assist autistic and developmentally delay children achieving their establish goals.
  • Assist the BCBA in assessing new clients, supervising line therapists, providing parent training, and formulating client specific programs.
  • Analyze and interpret results through graphing data collect from individual sessions.
  • Work collaboratively with BCBA's and direct line staff to ensure care plan and procedures are being implement consistently and uniformly.
  • Communicate with school administration, school teacher's and teaching assistants with helping create IEP's and behavior plans for individuals.
  • Provide therapy to children diagnose with various forms of autism, including other disorders like ADHD, anxiety disorder, etc.
  • Earn CPR certification and receive de-escalation training.
  • Train parents in conduction of ABA procedures and behavioral modifications.
  • Educate patients and family members regarding diagnosis, and therapeutic treatments.
  • Facilitate sessions with patients in order to improve behavioral functioning capabilities.
  • Implement one-to-one behavior intervention services and IEP educational goals with assign students.
  • Participate in socialization program in a collaborative environment and maintain daily data via graphing, case notes and communication log.
  • Educate and counsele parents and siblings about autism, and help transition families to function independently of a full-time behavioral therapist/nanny.
  • Help start the first non-profit organization providing a therapeutically structure environment for the advancement of school-age children with autism spectrum disorders.

Behavioral Therapist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 15% of Behavioral Therapists are proficient in Autism, Social Work, and Behavior Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Speaking skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of Behavioral Therapists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Autism, 15%

    Educated and counseled parents and siblings about autism, and helped transition families to function independently of a full-time behavioral therapist/nanny.

  • Social Work, 12%

    Maintained consistent contact and collaborated with client's teachers, social worker and staff often.

  • Behavior Analysis, 11%

    Implemented applied behavior analysis strategies in early childhood intervention therapy for children with ASD or other developmental delays

  • Patients, 10%

    Program philosophy was cognitive behavior based; Provided behavioral counseling to patients desiring to improve wellness through non-surgical weight loss.

  • Provide ABA, 6%

    Provide ABA therapy to children and adolescents (ages 3-21) who have varying symptoms associated with ASD.

  • Applied Behavior Analysis, 5%

    Implement behavior modification programs using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to conduct lessons that emphasize cognitive development and emotional coping.

"autism," "social work," and "behavior analysis" aren't the only skills we found behavioral therapists list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of behavioral therapist responsibilities that we found, including:

  • Listening skills can be considered to be the most important personality trait for a behavioral therapist to have. According to a behavioral therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists need to give their full attention to their clients to understand their problems, values, and goals." Behavioral therapists are able to use listening skills in the following example we gathered from a resume: "communicated with teacher, services providers and bcba. "
  • Another trait important for fulfilling behavioral therapist duties is speaking skills. According to a behavioral therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists need to be able to communicate with clients effectively." Here's an example of how behavioral therapists are able to utilize speaking skills: "showed daily data collection and presented analysis through power point reports. "
  • Behavioral therapists are also known for organizational skills, which can be critical when it comes to performing their duties. An example of why this skill is important is shown by this snippet that we found in a behavioral therapist resume: "marriage and family therapists in private practice must keep track of payments and work with insurance companies." We also found this resume example that details how this skill is put to the test: "work with emotionally and behaviorally challenging children, assist with social skills, organizational skills, anger management and other emotional issues"
  • In order for certain behavioral therapist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "compassion." According to a behavioral therapist resume, "marriage and family therapists often work with people who are dealing with stressful and difficult situations, so they must be compassionate and empathize with their clients." As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "involved in the social committee, compassion fatigue, culture committee, and the welcoming committee. "
  • Another common skill for a behavioral therapist to be able to utilize is "interpersonal skills." Marriage and family therapists work with different types of people a behavioral therapist demonstrated the need for this skill by putting this on their resume: "connected with children while teaching them interpersonal and language skills. "
  • See the full list of behavioral therapist skills.

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    What Youth Advocates Do

    Youth advocates are individuals who responsible for maintaining the human rights of youth while assisting them in developing their skills in all areas of life, such as education, health, employment, and relationships. These advocates are required to discuss youth development and involvement with various leaders in the community. They must provide crisis interventions by performing one-on-one and group meetings with young adults. Youth advocates must also work with mental health professionals within the community so that they can guide teenagers with drug or alcohol problems and mental health issues.

    In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take youth advocate for example. On average, the youth advocates annual salary is $3,957 lower than what behavioral therapists make on average every year.

    While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both behavioral therapists and youth advocates positions are skilled in social work, crisis intervention, and iep.

    As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a behavioral therapist responsibility requires skills such as "autism," "behavior analysis," "patients," and "provide aba." Whereas a youth advocate is skilled in "mental health," "foster care," "community resources," and "youth development." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

    Youth advocates receive the highest salaries in the automotive industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $31,171. But behavioral therapists are paid more in the energy industry with an average salary of $41,338.

    The education levels that youth advocates earn is a bit different than that of behavioral therapists. In particular, youth advocates are 3.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a behavioral therapist. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Family Counselor?

    A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.

    Next up, we have the family counselor profession to look over. This career brings along a higher average salary when compared to a behavioral therapist annual salary. In fact, family counselors salary difference is $3,629 higher than the salary of behavioral therapists per year.

    A similarity between the two careers of behavioral therapists and family counselors are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "social work," "applied behavior analysis," and "family therapy. "

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, behavioral therapist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "autism," "behavior analysis," "patients," and "provide aba." Meanwhile, a family counselor might be skilled in areas such as "community resources," "poc," "family support," and "dod." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    On average, family counselors earn a higher salary than behavioral therapists. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, family counselors earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $40,967. Whereas, behavioral therapists have higher paychecks in the energy industry where they earn an average of $41,338.

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, family counselors tend to reach higher levels of education than behavioral therapists. In fact, they're 17.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How an Intensive In-Home Counselor Compares

    An Intensive In-Home Counselor conducts individual counseling sessions for parents and deals with delicate issues like sexual addiction. They also prepare progress reports for clients.

    The third profession we take a look at is intensive in-home counselor. On an average scale, these workers bring in higher salaries than behavioral therapists. In fact, they make a $13,547 higher salary per year.

    By looking over several behavioral therapists and intensives in-home counselor resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "family therapy," "crisis intervention," and "group therapy." But beyond that the careers look very different.

    As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from behavioral therapists resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "autism," "social work," "behavior analysis," and "patients." But a intensive in-home counselor might have skills like "mental health issues," "intensive in-home," "community resources," and "therapeutic interventions."

    Additionally, intensives in-home counselor earn a higher salary in the utilities industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $56,398. Additionally, behavioral therapists earn an average salary of $41,338 in the energy industry.

    Intensives in-home counselor are known to earn higher educational levels when compared to behavioral therapists. Additionally, they're 9.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Mental Health Associate

    As a mental health associate, you will assist the medical team members in diagnosing and treating individuals with mental, developmental, and behavioral conditions. You may be tasked to facilitate individual and group therapy sessions, help patients with their day-to-day activities such as self-care and hygiene, and assist in administering medications prescribed by physicians. Other duties include planning and leading program activities, attending treatment rounds, and assisting with the physical care of patients. The qualifications and skills required for this role include a bachelor's degree in social science or psychology, previous work experience, and certification on basic life support.

    The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than behavioral therapists. On average, mental health associates earn a difference of $1,371 lower per year.

    While both behavioral therapists and mental health associates complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like autism, social work, and patients, the two careers also vary in other skills.

    Each job requires different skills like "behavior analysis," "provide aba," "autism spectrum disorder," and "family therapy," which might show up on a behavioral therapist resume. Whereas mental health associate might include skills like "customer service," "vital signs," "cpr," and "safety checks."

    Mental health associates earn a higher salary in the professional industry with an average of $37,746. Whereas, behavioral therapists earn the highest salary in the energy industry.

    In general, mental health associates reach similar levels of education when compared to behavioral therapists resumes. Mental health associates are 2.2% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.