What does a children's counselor do?
Children's counselor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real children's counselor resumes:
- Work towards empowering juveniles and their families to support a positive lifestyle by providing strength base intensive intervention and rehabilitation services.
- Develop and attend treatment plan and IEP meetings for adolescents with mental diagnosis.
- Maintain IEP goals and classroom management.
- Provide behavior modification and social skills training to children and adolescents with ADHD and other behavioral and emotional disorders.
Children's counselor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Children's Counselors are proficient in Child Care, Social Work, and Mental Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Children's Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Child Care, 22%
Involved in performing all duties concerned to child care.
- Social Work, 12%
Worked with probation officers and social workers for the welfare of the child while following the facility's mission and regulations.
- Mental Health, 10%
Provide psycho-education on custodial matters including child development and mental health assessment with referrals.
- Crisis Intervention, 8%
Provided intake interviewing and crisis intervention with a diverse population of women and children that have experienced abuse.
- Group Therapy, 7%
Provided individual and group therapy sessions to children, ages 5-17, of battered women in transitional domestic violence shelter.
- Family Therapy, 4%
Updated team on client progress during family therapy, medical management meetings and psychiatric evaluations.
Most children's counselors use their skills in "child care," "social work," and "mental health" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential children's counselor responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a children's counselor to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Children's counselors often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "facilitated groups on anger management, effective communication, and other important life skills. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of children's counselors is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday children's counselor duties, as "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "learned leadership, and group organizational skills. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain children's counselor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a children's counselor rely on this skill, as "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what children's counselors do: "worked with high risk children in groups or individualized settings, concerning crisis intervention, conflict resolutions and anger/stress management. "
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in children's counselor job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what children's counselors do. Children's counselor responsibilities rely on this skill because "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." You can also see how children's counselor duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "anger management and interpersonal social skills). "
The three companies that hire the most children's counselors are:
- Goldbelt Falcon
7 children's counselors jobs
- Cambridge Health Alliance6 children's counselors jobs
- Racker4 children's counselors jobs
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Compare different children's counselors
Children's counselor vs. Counselor internship
When it comes to Counselor Internship, among the primary responsibilities is to assist in dealing with various activities such as preparing and verifying necessary documentation, observing consultations and outreach programs, guide clients and help develop multiple helpful strategies, and provide assessments. Furthermore, one can conduct counseling and consultation only under supervision. It is also essential to track the information gathered and coordinate with assigned personnel to adhere to the company's regulations and policies.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, children's counselor responsibilities require skills like "child care," "social work," "mental health," and "group therapy." Meanwhile a typical counselor internship has skills in areas such as "intake assessments," "substance abuse issues," "mental health issues," and "group therapy sessions." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Counselor interns tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,629. In contrast, children's counselors make the biggest average salary, $45,585, in the government industry.The education levels that counselor interns earn slightly differ from children's counselors. In particular, counselor interns are 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a children's counselor. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Children's counselor vs. Community health counselor
A community health counselor typically provides health and welfare support to the disadvantaged members of a community. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to reach out to community members, coordinating with schools and other institutions, and building positive relationships with the communities that they serve. They may also provide counseling sessions to individuals of all ages, conduct observations and assessments, perform interventions, and identify any signs of abuse or neglect, reporting to the authorities right away. Furthermore, they may refer families or individuals to other social services unit if necessary.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that children's counselor responsibilities requires skills like "child care," "group therapy," "substance abuse," and "child abuse." But a community health counselor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "behavioral health," "patients," "rehabilitation," and "discharge planning."
Community health counselors earn a higher average salary than children's counselors. But community health counselors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $41,674. Additionally, children's counselors earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $45,585 annually.In general, community health counselors achieve higher levels of education than children's counselors. They're 6.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for children's counselors in the next 3-5 years?
Juleen Buser Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University
Children's counselor vs. Mental health counselor
A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a children's counselor is likely to be skilled in "child care," "group therapy," "substance abuse," and "child abuse," while a typical mental health counselor is skilled in "patients," "patient care," "mental health issues," and "rehabilitation."
Mental health counselors make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $52,181. On the other hand, children's counselors are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $45,585.mental health counselors typically earn higher educational levels compared to children's counselors. Specifically, they're 13.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Children's counselor vs. Student support counselor
A student support counselor is responsible for identifying the students' strengths and challenges through one-on-one counseling and establishing solutions to help them overcome difficulties and achieve their educational goals and aspirations. Student support counselors assist the faculty in determining appropriate programs and activities to develop the students' capabilities, especially as a way of preparing them with their career objectives. They also coordinate with the students' families for extended guidance and support for their growth and development.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between children's counselors and student support counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a children's counselor might have more use for skills like "child care," "social work," "family therapy," and "child abuse." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of student support counselors require skills like "student support," "professional development," "financial aid," and "support services. "
In general, student support counselors earn the most working in the education industry, with an average salary of $44,149. The highest-paying industry for a children's counselor is the government industry.In general, student support counselors hold similar degree levels compared to children's counselors. Student support counselors are 3.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of children's counselor
Updated January 8, 2025
