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Counselor supervisor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Carla Alphonso,

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical counselor supervisor skills. We ranked the top skills for counselor supervisors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.9% of counselor supervisor resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a counselor supervisor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 counselor supervisor skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how counselor supervisors use patients:

Dispensed medication and coordinated supervision of patients abusing behavior altering drugs.
Supervised staff in a residential setting for mentally ill adults * Assisted patients with tasks of daily living and personal hygiene

2. Substance Abuse

Here's how counselor supervisors use substance abuse:

Coordinated and provided community-based substance abuse treatment and AIDS-HIV prevention counseling/case management to adults throughout Dallas.
Facilitated substance abuse groups and the prevention chemical abuse program for adolescents.

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 counselor supervisors use mental health:

Supervised other counselors and provided counseling services within a specified treatment plan for mental health consumers in a personal-care living environment.
Implemented effective methods of incorporating family unit into youth mental health treatment plan.

5. Crisis Intervention

Here's how counselor supervisors use crisis intervention:

Display good judgment and utilize counseling skills to effectively engage in crisis intervention.
Performed DUI evaluations, intakes, crisis intervention and community education countywide.

6. Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision refers to how practicing nurses get professional and moral support from their experienced colleagues. The practice aims to promote their ability to make a concrete decision that values the patient's well-being.

Here's how counselor supervisors use clinical supervision:

Promote and assist Rehabilitation Counselors in professional development through clinical supervision; identifying and providing needed training curriculum.
Provided clinical supervision for staff providing detoxification services, outpatient counseling, and intensive outpatient group counseling.

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7. Group Sessions

Here's how counselor supervisors use group sessions:

Counseled teens individually and in group sessions to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life and making positive changes.
Supervised interns and master level counselors, conducted group sessions and family sessions with children and parents.

8. Individual Sessions

Here's how counselor supervisors use individual sessions:

Implemented and facilitated family group and individual sessions.
Led small group, family, and individual sessions to accomplish goals.

9. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how counselor supervisors use direct supervision:

Check all forms for accuracy and completeness as well as complete written evaluations on all direct supervisions within a timely manner.
Provided direct supervision, tracking, reporting and evaluating - 50+ operators.

10. State Regulations

State regulations are the rules made by the state authorities under a specific Act. When a government intervenes in the private market to implements policies, they are known as state regulations. These policies help in achieving the economic, political, and social targets which might not be able to achieve otherwise.

Here's how counselor supervisors use state regulations:

Oversee ongoing program and individual need assessment in compliance with city and state regulations.
Document services according to Federal/State regulations and agency policies and procedures.

11. 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 counselor supervisors use group therapy:

Administered individual and group therapy.
Specialized in counseling adolescents, women and in providing family and group therapy; supervised counseling staff and graduate student interns.

12. Behavioral Issues

Behavioral issues are the tendencies of individuals displaying unpleasant behavior as a result of sickness or addiction.

Here's how counselor supervisors use behavioral issues:

Counseled participants in regards to emotional and behavioral issues Problem Solving Homework help and tutoring in all subjects
Provided a safe, stable living environment while supervising adolescent girls with severe behavioral issues in a residential treatment facility.

13. Direct Care

Direct care is the act of identifying people with special needs and offering the necessary care for them.

Here's how counselor supervisors use direct care:

Led the direct care team and routinely managed behavioral crises utilizing physical restraint certification as needed
Direct care and supervision of adolescents with multiple behavior disorders and Complexes at treatment facility.

14. Treatment Programs

Here's how counselor supervisors use treatment programs:

Developed treatment programs for abused and neglected adolescent Collaborated with outside agencies to develop employment opportunities

15. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an often necessary skill in business, employed for processes such as contract negotiations, legal matters, and even personal, emotional situations and conflicts. It is the ability to find and create an appropriate and peaceful solution to some sort of dilemma or argument in which two or more parties are involved. The resolution itself must benefit and satisfy all parties and this is what makes it so difficult to reach a peaceful point sometimes.

Here's how counselor supervisors use conflict resolution:

Guided conflict resolution as required.
Charged with the supervision of 8 supervisors in areas of budgeting, scheduling, and conflict resolution.

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What skills help Counselor Supervisors find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on counselor supervisor resumes?

Dr. Carla Alphonso

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 counselor supervisors possess?

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Associate Professor, Augustana University

Cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills are important, including openness to work with people with varying religious views. The ability to easily connect with others and put people at ease in your presence is valuable in working with clients and collaborating with a treatment team. As more and more agencies interact with the medical field, spiritual leaders, and other holistic approaches to health, counselors need to see their role in an interdisciplinary approach to healing and work effectively with other departments. With teletherapy/virtual therapy, just the simple difficulty of creating eye contact when one's camera is not directly aligned with their viewscreen can complicate important connections in the therapeutic relationship. Learning to effectively connect through screens is essential.

What hard/technical skills are most important for counselor supervisors?

Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.

Associate Professor of the Practice, Program Director, Master's Program in Mental Health Counseling, Boston College

-Differential diagnosis to determine whether a person is experiencing an adjustment problem related to everyday life stressors or mental illness
-Knowledge and application of developmental and personality theory to human behavior.
-Experience in using multiple evidence-based psychotherapy models
-Psychological assessment, especially in neuropsychological testing
-Research design and implementation to study
-Program development
-Curriculum design and teaching skills

What counselor supervisor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Melissa Boas

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 counselor supervisors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.

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?

List of counselor supervisor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a counselor supervisor resume and required skills for a counselor supervisor to have include:

Patients
Substance Abuse
Mental Health
Social Work
Crisis Intervention
Clinical Supervision
Group Sessions
Individual Sessions
Direct Supervision
State Regulations
Group Therapy
Behavioral Issues
Direct Care
Treatment Programs
Conflict Resolution

CPR
Community Resources
Community Agencies
Family Therapy
Service Delivery
Staff Training
Community Services
Discharge Planning
Law Enforcement
Developmental Disabilities
Incident Reports
at-Risk Youth
Disciplinary Actions
Therapeutic Services
Role Model

Performance Evaluations
Independent Living
Individual Therapy
Professional Development
Anger Management
Crisis Situations
Domestic Violence
Discharge Summaries
Group Supervision
Stress Management
Behavioral Problems
ADHD
Residential Treatment Facility
Court Hearings

Updated January 8, 2025

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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