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Children's counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Dr. Carla Alphonso,
Kacie Blalock Ph.D.
Children's counselor example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical children's counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for children's counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.9% of children's counselor resumes contained child care as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a children's counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 children's counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Child Care

Child care means the care, supervision, or guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than 24 hours. Childcare could be either center-based such as a daycare or a nursery or home-based care such as nannies or family daycare.

Here's how children's counselors use child care:
  • Involved in performing all duties concerned to child care.
  • Assisted the CPM with child care related administrative responsibilities.

2. Social Work

Here's how children's counselors use social work:
  • Worked with probation officers and social workers for the welfare of the child while following the facility's mission and regulations.
  • Developed contracts with clients and parents to help maintain the treatment plan client had set up with therapist and social worker.

3. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how children's counselors use mental health:
  • Provide psycho-education on custodial matters including child development and mental health assessment with referrals.
  • Conduct mental health assessments and diagnosis appropriately.

4. Crisis Intervention

Here's how children's counselors use crisis intervention:
  • Provided intake interviewing and crisis intervention with a diverse population of women and children that have experienced abuse.
  • Created monthly progress reports, behavioral modification reports, incident reports, and therapeutic crisis intervention reports.

5. Group Therapy

Group psychotherapy or group therapy is the practice of treating a group of clients together in one sitting throughout multiple sessions. This practice allows people to receive encouragement and support from their peers who are taking the same group therapy.

Here's how children's counselors use group therapy:
  • Provided individual and group therapy sessions to children, ages 5-17, of battered women in transitional domestic violence shelter.
  • Conducted individual, family and group therapy sessions for children and adolescent victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

6. Family Therapy

Here's how children's counselors use family therapy:
  • Updated team on client progress during family therapy, medical management meetings and psychiatric evaluations.
  • Facilitated family therapy and play therapy for children and adolescents, ranging from five to seventeen years of age.

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7. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how children's counselors use community resources:
  • Facilitated referrals to community resources and ensure proper documentation is provided as required.
  • Refer juveniles to community resources for services such as job-placement, legal aid, housing, medical treatment and financial assistance.

8. Substance Abuse

Here's how children's counselors use substance abuse:
  • Supervised and provided intensive case management to juveniles with serious mental illnesses and/or substance abuse diagnosis.
  • Provided therapeutic activities and interventions for children from substance abuse homes.

9. Child Abuse

When a child who is under 18 is mistreated by an adult, it is considered child abuse. There are many forms of intentional harm and mistreatment for example physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, medical abuse, and neglect in providing adequate basic life necessities.

Here's how children's counselors use child abuse:
  • Trained and certified in CPR, First Aid, Child Abuse, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and Blood Born Pathogens.
  • Work under the supervision of a licensed MFT in the Child Abuse Prevention Intervention Treatment program.

10. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how children's counselors use cpr:
  • Participated in CPR certification, Fire Safety certification, and Safety something certification.
  • Earned certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

11. Safety Planning

Safety рlаnnіng іѕ a рrосеѕѕ оf evaluating the rіѕkѕ and bеnеfіtѕ of various орtіоnѕ аnd identifying ways tо rеduсе the rіѕkѕ should an adverse event arise. This іnсludеѕ planning fоr a futurе crisis, rеvіеwіng оnеѕ орtіоnѕ, аnd mаkіng dесіѕіоnѕ аbоut whаt to dо nеxt.

Here's how children's counselors use safety planning:
  • Facilitate educational groups for children, teens, and parents for violence prevention and safety planning.
  • Case management, restraining orders, safety planning, legal referrals, community referrals.

12. Child Development

Here's how children's counselors use child development:
  • Conducted classes in parenting techniques and child development so that mothers might regain custody of their child(ren).

13. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how children's counselors use community agencies:
  • Coordinated services with various community agencies and supervised interns.
  • Coordinate services to community agencies for psychiatric/psychological evaluations with families, school and the Division of Youth and Family Services.

14. at-Risk Children

Here's how children's counselors use at-risk children:
  • Provide nutrition and organized activities to at-risk children.
  • Served as counselor and mentor to at-risk children.

15. Social Services

Here's how children's counselors use social services:
  • Provided supervision and care of abandoned, neglected and abused children in protective custody of the Santa Clara Social Services Agency.
  • Facilitated school enrollment and transition of children, linking clients with the necessary community and social services agencies.
top-skills

What skills help Children's Counselors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on children's counselor resumes?

Dr. Carla AlphonsoDr. Carla Alphonso LinkedIn profile

Professor of Sociology, Presbyterian College

Skills involving data collection and analysis remain important, and are one of the qualities that help sociology majors to stand out compared to their peers. Communication skills, especially strong writing skills but also confident, effective public speaking, are helpful in today's job market. Sociology students are also well-positioned in terms of problem solving and critical thinking skills. Many jobs that our students enter need applicants who are solutions-focused, and sociology helps students in that area.

What soft skills should all children's counselors possess?

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Associate Professor; Director, Master of Counseling, Louisiana State University at Shreveport

Soft skills that are essential for counselors include emotional intelligence, empathy, multicultural competency, interpersonal abilities, and authenticity.

What hard/technical skills are most important for children's counselors?

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Associate Professor; Director, Master of Counseling, Louisiana State University at Shreveport

It is important that counselors are able to effectively take notes and summarize progress, interpret assessments, memorize and recall information, and keep clear yet concise records.

What children's counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Melissa BoasMelissa Boas LinkedIn profile

Director of Professional School Counseling, Assistant Professor, Lancaster Bible College

I believe the most important skill to enhance if taking a gap year is self-awareness. Understanding oneself and why and how self-awareness directly relates to future career decision making is instrumental in ensuring the right decisions are made. Self-awareness is extremely beneficial in all areas of life not just in choosing a career pathway.

What type of skills will young children's counselors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.Chris Hennington Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

School Counseling Program Coordinator, Lubbock Christian University

School counselors will be tasked with the usual school counseling responsibilities while also encountering trauma that students experience outside of school and in school. Being well versed in trauma response is going to be a vital aspect of being a school counselor. Kids are experiencing more trauma, but we are getting better at recognizing and treating trauma as well.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about children's counselor

List of children's counselor skills to add to your resume

Children's counselor skills

The most important skills for a children's counselor resume and required skills for a children's counselor to have include:

  • Child Care
  • Social Work
  • Mental Health
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Group Therapy
  • Family Therapy
  • Community Resources
  • Substance Abuse
  • Child Abuse
  • CPR
  • Safety Planning
  • Child Development
  • Community Agencies
  • at-Risk Children
  • Social Services
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Domestic Violence
  • Therapeutic Environment
  • Direct Care
  • CPI
  • Crisis Management
  • Behavior Modification
  • Law Enforcement
  • Physical Care
  • Group Sessions
  • Behavioral Issues
  • Incident Reports
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Eating Disorders
  • Behavioral Problems
  • Sexual Assault
  • ADHD
  • Role Model
  • Community Outreach
  • Independent Living
  • Individual Therapy
  • Crisis Situations
  • Anger Management
  • Emotional Support
  • Child Protective
  • Therapeutic Interventions
  • SED
  • Social Development
  • Art Therapy
  • IEP
  • Residential Facility
  • Court Hearings
  • Summer Program

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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