How To Become A Counseling Program Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a counseling program leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a counseling program leader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.78 an hour? That's $36,986 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCounseling Program LeaderUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,986

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 5.23%

Black or African American 11.80%

Hispanic or Latino 14.34%

Unknown 5.58%

White 62.39%

Gender

female 56.78%

male 43.22%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a counseling program leader

Explore counseling program leader education requirements

Most common counseling program leader degrees

Bachelor's

65.1 %

Master's

15.9 %

Associate

9.5 %

Start to develop specific counseling program leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Kids	24.00%
Developmental Disabilities	19.89%
ADHD	11.41%
Mental Health	10.74%
Substance Abuse	8.36%

Complete relevant counseling program leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New counseling program leaders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a counseling program leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real counseling program leader resumes.

Research counseling program leader duties and responsibilities

Conduct daily clinical documentation audits, manage consumer financial accounts, provide oversight and approval for all treatment and discharge planning.
Work within leadership to leverage existing ideas and experience to develop solutions to move forward in ministry initiatives.
Provide program management and leadership for development projects, including project alignment to business objectives, prioritization and change management.
Conduct daily clinical documentation audits, manage consumer financial accounts, provide oversight and approval for all treatment and discharge planning.

Get counseling program leader experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a counseling program leader. The most common roles before becoming a counseling program leader include internship, counselor team lead and volunteer.

Prepare your counseling program leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your counseling program leader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a counseling program leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable counseling program leader resume templates

Build a professional counseling program leader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your counseling program leader resume.