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The differences between child life specialists and service counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a child life specialist and a service counselor. Additionally, a child life specialist has an average salary of $55,201, which is higher than the $35,402 average annual salary of a service counselor.
The top three skills for a child life specialist include patients, child development and patient care. The most important skills for a service counselor are social work, crisis intervention, and patients.
| Child Life Specialist | Service Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $55,201 | $35,402 |
| Hourly rate | $26.54 | $17.02 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 90,517 | 44,284 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
The job of a child life specialist is to help children and their families navigate the process of injury, illness, trauma, hospitalization, and disability. These health care professionals perform varied duties that include helping children and their families better understand the procedure and process of their medical experience. They also work on developing strategies to lessen the trauma and improve their understanding of a diagnosis by providing support, guidance, and information to family members. They are also expected to work closely with other members of the health care team in coordinating and managing care.
Service counselors provide guidance to couples, individuals, groups, and families who are going through issues that influence their well-being and mental health. They comprehensively approach their clients by utilizing a "wellness" model that focuses on and motivate the client's potentials. Their duties include inspiring clients to talk about their emotions and experiences, helping them determine their action plans and goals, as well as designing therapeutic methods. Also, they may refer their clients to other services or psychologists.
Child life specialists and service counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Life Specialist | Service Counselor | |
| Average salary | $55,201 | $35,402 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $96,000 | Between $24,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | L.E.K. Consulting | |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a child life specialist and a service counselor in terms of educational background:
| Child Life Specialist | Service Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | SUNY at Binghamton |
Here are the differences between child life specialists' and service counselors' demographics:
| Child Life Specialist | Service Counselor | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |