What does a Counselor do?
Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.
Counselor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real counselor resumes:
- Maintain a safe program through ongoing CPI training.
- Utilize de-escalation skills (CPI) when necessary.
- Instill confidence, improve all components of writing and reading, and study strategies.
- Arrange ESL tutoring and perform as liaison between students, parents, and school administrators.
- Advise students into their major field of study, and assisting them with choosing the correct curriculum.
- Operate a full service litigation office that evolve from general litigation to criminal litigation to federal criminal trials.
- Focuse practice on the representation of dentists and health care professionals in malpractice litigation and general business matters.
- Redirect behaviors with various activities including walking, volunteer work, mathematics, and recreational activities within the community.
- Work towards empowering juveniles and their families to support a positive lifestyle by providing strength base intensive intervention and rehabilitation services.
- Provide transportation to consumers to doctor visits, ISP visits, community and social activities.
- Develop, write and present ISP's, semi-annual agreements and other assessments in consultation with other residential staff.
- Conduct cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) at home settings.
- Provide case management services to participants in LOC-2 CBT group counseling.
- Serve as lead counsel in AAA arbitration matters and jury trial matters.
- Involve in informal child counseling and supervision SED children.
Counselor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Counselors are proficient in Patients, Crisis Intervention, and Substance Abuse. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Compassion, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 13%
Dedicated personalized coordination minimizing escalations with inter-department associates to obtain appropriate records as they relate to reimbursement of the patients case.
- Crisis Intervention, 12%
Provided crisis intervention, treatment and resource referrals, supervised consultations and managed care clinical assessments for Employee Assistance Programs nationwide.
- Substance Abuse, 12%
Utilized collaborative, narrative, and cognitive-behavioral therapeutic interventions toward providing clients with insight regarding substance abuse issues.
- Social Work, 10%
Coordinated, developed, and maintained psychological treatment plan by communicating with primary therapist, social worker/probation officer and school administration.
- Community Resources, 4%
Utilized professional and community resources to greater independence and overall enhance quality of life of individuals.
- CPR, 4%
Earned certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
"patients," "crisis intervention," and "substance abuse" are among the most common skills that counselors use at work. You can find even more counselor responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a counselor to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what counselors do because "school and career counselors and advisors interpret student records, schoolwide data, and assessments to match interests and abilities with potential careers. ." Additionally, a counselor resume shows how counselors use analytical skills: "focus on relapse prevention strategies for youth who have successfully completed data residential and outpatient programs. "
Compassion. Many counselor duties rely on compassion. "school and career counselors and advisors often work with people who are dealing with stressful and difficult situations, so they must be able to empathize with their clients and students.," so a counselor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways counselor responsibilities rely on compassion: "maintain patience, compassion and strong desire to help those with disadvantages. "
Listening skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of counselors is listening skills. This skill is critical to many everyday counselor duties, as "school and career counselors and advisors need to give full attention to students and clients in order to understand their problems." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "use therapeutic and active listening skills to assist clients with problems or crisis situations. "
Speaking skills. counselor responsibilities often require "speaking skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "school and career counselors and advisors must communicate effectively with clients and students." This resume example shows what counselors do with speaking skills on a typical day: "identified crisis situations and addressed them appropriately. "
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in counselor job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what counselors do. Counselor responsibilities rely on this skill because "school and career counselors and advisors must be able to work with people of all backgrounds and personalities." You can also see how counselor duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "provide teaching of life skills, interpersonal communications, anger management, relapse prevention and recovery dynamics. "
Choose from 10+ customizable counselor resume templates
Build a professional counselor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your counselor resume.
Compare different counselors
Counselor vs. Elementary school counselor
An elementary school counselor is primarily in charge of providing support and counseling to students as they navigate through their academic, social, and personal lives. Their responsibilities typically revolve around developing and executing programs for students' welfare, conducting student evaluations and interviews, mediating on various issues, and assisting students in preparing and processing scholarship applications. Furthermore, there are instances when an elementary school counselor must refer students and parents to social services and conduct interventions when necessary. Should there be any signs of abuse or neglect, It is essential to report to the authorities right away.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between counselors and elementary school counselor. For instance, counselor responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "substance abuse," "cpr," and "family therapy." Whereas a elementary school counselor is skilled in "professional development," "math," "kids," and "public schools." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, elementary school counselors reach higher levels of education than counselors. Elementary school counselors are 7.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real counselor resumes. While counselor responsibilities can utilize skills like "substance abuse," "social services," "support services," and "direct care," community health counselors use skills like "behavioral health," "rehabilitation," "direct patient care," and "mental health."
Community health counselors may earn a higher salary than counselors, but community health counselors earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $41,674. On the other hand, counselors receive higher pay in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,750.In general, community health counselors achieve higher levels of education than counselors. They're 5.3% 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 Counselors in the next 3-5 years?
Juleen Buser Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University
Counselor vs. Alcohol and drug counselor
A drug & alcohol counselor treats addicts in either one-on-one or group settings. They help by educating and developing possible treatment plans for patients to support them in coping with their addictive personalities. A drug and alcohol counselor will evaluate to determine the progress has been successfully made towards recovery. They help patients better understand and overcome their addictions. Counselors help through offering support, rehabilitation, and guidance by using various techniques. Drug & alcohol counselors seek to help an addict find the source of their addiction.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a counselor is likely to be skilled in "substance abuse," "cpr," "support services," and "direct care," while a typical alcohol and drug counselor is skilled in "rehabilitation," "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," and "asam."
Alcohol and drug counselors make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $44,333. On the other hand, counselors are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $37,750.Most alcohol and drug counselors achieve a similar degree level compared to counselors. For example, they're 4.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Counselor vs. Student services counselor
Student Services is a part of the school program that focuses on helping students in their studies. A Student Services Counselor handles this task and is the contact person for all students who need help or who have problems and issues requiring solutions and answers. In a culturally diverse population in schools, it is the student service counselor's job to connect each student to relevant student service programs available in the school. Ultimately, the welfare of the students and their success in school is the goal of this position.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between counselors and student services counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a counselor might have more use for skills like "patients," "substance abuse," "cpr," and "family therapy." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of student services counselors require skills like "customer service," "student services," "rehabilitation," and "mental health. "
Student services counselors enjoy the best pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $45,469. For comparison, counselors earn the highest salary in the education industry.student services counselors reach similar levels of education compared to counselors, in general. The difference is that they're 4.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of counselor
Updated January 8, 2025
