A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

Clinician Responsibilities

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

  • Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
  • Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
  • Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
  • Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
  • Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
  • Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.
  • Used ASAM patient placement criteria to determine which level of care clients would be place into at admittance into addictions program.
  • Demonstrate patience and compassion in an often stressful and difficult environment.
  • Complete initial assessment and provide DSM diagnosis with referral for medication evaluation as needed.
  • Create and implement psycho-educational groups pertaining to methadone and substance abuse and behavioral health.
  • Participate in utilization management, employ CARF standards and assist as needed in re-accreditation processes
  • Complete psychological assessments and evaluations, utilizing DSM diagnosis, in regulation with county requirements.
  • Develop a comprehensive vocational evaluation of patients, base on interview data and vocational testing and makes appropriate treatment recommendations.
  • Facilitate after care plans for all patients with appropriate community outreach/resources, medication management, therapeutic appointments, and dietetic sessions.
  • Provide clinical information and feedback to CBFS direct care staff feedback regarding the person-centered rehabilitation and recovery model.

Clinician Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 26% of Clinicians are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Problem-solving skills.

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

  • Social Work, 26%

    Helped develop a multidisciplinary team for Complex Limb reconstruction patients involving physical therapy, social worker, therapeutic recreation and radiology.

  • Patients, 14%

    Facilitated after care plans for all patients with appropriate community outreach/resources, medication management, therapeutic appointments, and dietetic sessions.

  • Patient Care, 4%

    Organized and prioritized complex clinical information in the service of enhancing patient care for an annualized caseload of approximately 450 patients.

  • Individual Therapy, 4%

    Provide intensive psychotherapy in group and individual therapy to elders with treatment resistant illness using CBT t and introspective psychotherapy techniques.

  • Mental Health, 4%

    Performed utilization review and/or initial authorization determination of mental health and substance use services provided in inpatient and/or diversionary care settings.

  • Mental Illness, 3%

    Facilitate the rehabilitation and recovery of clients with a diagnosis of major mental illness via in-home therapeutic and case management services.

"social work," "patients," and "patient care" aren't the only skills we found clinicians list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of clinician responsibilities that we found, including:

  • Communication skills can be considered to be the most important personality trait for a clinician to have. According to a clinician resume, "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives" clinicians are able to use communication skills in the following example we gathered from a resume: "created and instructed a communication skills i group for male and female elderly clientele with chronic mental illness. "
  • Another commonly found skill for being able to perform clinician duties is the following: emotional skills. According to a clinician resume, "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Check out this example of how clinicians use emotional skills: "assess and diagnose consumers with severe mental illness, developmental disabilities, severe emotional disruption and/or drug and alcohol use disorders. "
  • Clinicians are also known for problem-solving 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 clinician resume: "social workers need to develop practical and innovative solutions to their clients’ problems." We also found this resume example that details how this skill is put to the test: "use the solution focused brief therapy model with children and families to preserve placements, and suffer from mental illness. "
  • In order for certain clinician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "organizational skills." According to a clinician resume, "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "fostered supportive relationships with collateral contacts and inter-organizational care coordination. "
  • Another common skill for a clinician to be able to utilize is "interpersonal skills." Social workers need to be able to work with different groups of people a clinician demonstrated the need for this skill by putting this on their resume: "instructed and managed group therapy sessions for addictions and recovery, life skills, interpersonal communication andpersonal growth. "
  • See the full list of clinician skills.

    The three companies that hire the most prestigious clinicians are:

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    What Intensive In-Home Counselors Do

    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.

    In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take intensive in-home counselor for example. On average, the intensives in-home counselor annual salary is $8,722 lower than what clinicians make on average every year.

    While their salaries may differ, one common ground between clinicians and intensives in-home counselor are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like mental health, mental illness, and community resources.

    There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a clinician responsibilities require skills like "social work," "patients," "patient care," and "individual therapy." Meanwhile a typical intensive in-home counselor has skills in areas such as "family therapy," "intensive in-home," "at-risk youth," and "out-of-home placements." This difference in skills reveals how truly different these two careers really are.

    Intensives in-home counselor tend to reach lower levels of education than clinicians. In fact, intensives in-home counselor are 17.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Substance Abuse Counselor?

    Substance abuse counselors act as a support system for people with drug and alcohol problems and other behavioral issues. They help the patients control their behavior until they achieve a full recovery. The mental health counselors aid patients to overcome their chemical dependencies and become self-sufficient individuals. Part of their duty includes meeting clients to evaluate their health and substance issues while creating goals and treatment plans. They teach clients coping mechanisms, refer them to support groups, and engage them in group therapy sessions. Once the patient is stable, they help them re-establish their careers and give updates and reports of progress to the courts. Requirements for the job include a master's degree in counseling and social work.

    The next role we're going to look at is the substance abuse counselor profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $17,081 lower salary than clinicians per year.

    Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Clinicians and substance abuse counselors both include similar skills like "social work," "patients," and "individual therapy" on their resumes.

    While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that clinician responsibilities requires skills like "patient care," "mental health," "clinical services," and "clinical supervision." But a substance abuse counselor might use skills, such as, "substance abuse treatment," "excellent interpersonal," "criminal justice," and "treatment programs."

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, substance abuse counselors tend to reach lower levels of education than clinicians. In fact, they're 16.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Mental Health Therapist Compares

    The job of mental health therapists is to guide individuals, groups, couples, and families with problems that are impacting their well-being and mental health. Their duties and responsibilities include encouraging clients to talk about their experiences, examining issues that may affect mental health such as substance abuse and bullying, and assisting clients in defining their goals and action plans. Mental health therapists are also responsible for developing therapeutic processes, referring clients to other services or resources like psychologists, and helping them adjust to life changes.

    The mental health therapist profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of clinicians. The difference in salaries is mental health therapists making $9,891 lower than clinicians.

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

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from clinician resumes include skills like "patient care," "individual therapy," "treatment services," and "risk assessments," whereas a mental health therapist might be skilled in "community services," "excellent interpersonal," "dsm," and "treatment modalities. "

    Mental health therapists are known to earn higher educational levels when compared to clinicians. Additionally, they're 8.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a 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.

    Mental health counselors tend to earn a lower pay than clinicians by about $10,679 per year.

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

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "mental illness," "clinical services," "clinical supervision," and "therapeutic services" are skills that have shown up on clinicians resumes. Additionally, mental health counselor uses skills like cpr, family therapy, therapeutic environment, and vital signs on their resumes.

    Mental health counselors reach lower levels of education when compared to clinicians. The difference is that they're 10.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    What a Clinician Does FAQs

    Does A Clinician Need A Medical Degree?

    Yes, a clinician needs a medical degree. The qualifications for becoming a clinician require completing higher education in a field of expertise and taking comprehensive exams to become licensed. To pursue a career as a clinician, a person must earn a medical degree, complete a residency, and obtain board certification and a license.

    How To Get Clinical Experience

    To get clinical experience, you have many options. Here are three of the most common examples:

    Shadow a doctor

    This is perhaps one of the most common ways to get clinical experience. This allows students to witness a doctor give direct care to patients firsthand, giving them an overall picture of what the profession is actually like.

    What Is The Difference Between A Doctor And A Clinician?

    The difference between a doctor and a clinician is in their level of education. Simply put, clinicians are all healthcare providers who deal directly with patients, while doctors are clinicians who focus on a particular specialty involving non-surgical treatment.

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