What is a Crisis Counselor?

Unforeseen circumstances often occur, and while some lead to trauma, others do not. A crisis counselor is a specialized mental health counselor who helps manage a crisis by providing psychological first aid. They have received specialized training on how to help people live through trauma. A crisis counselor can work in a variety of settings, including clinics, crisis support lines, and emergency rooms. You will also find them in military camps and as part of a humanitarian body. Due to the nature of the job, their duties may vary depending on where they work.

Crisis counselors must be licensed and have at least a master's degree in counseling. Some of the functions a crisis counselor performs include situation analysis, continual support, identifying and suggesting solutions to the problem, and giving stress reduction techniques. Although their schedule is flexible, they must have great communication and interpersonal skills.

What Does a Crisis Counselor Do

There are certain skills that many crisis counselors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed time-management skills, communication skills and problem-solving skills.

How To Become a Crisis Counselor

If you're interested in becoming a crisis counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.8% of crisis counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 22.9% of crisis counselors have master's degrees. Even though most crisis counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Crisis Counselor

Top Crisis Counselor Jobs Near You

Crisis Counselor Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a crisis counselor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as therapist, progress to a title such as case manager and then eventually end up with the title director of social services.

Top Careers Before Crisis Counselor

Internship (51,064 Jobs)

15.8 %

Case Manager (84,959 Jobs)

8.7 %

Counselor (77,536 Jobs)

8.1 %

Top Careers After Crisis Counselor

Internship (51,064 Jobs)

12.2 %

Case Manager (84,959 Jobs)

10.6 %

Therapist (159,770 Jobs)

10.0 %

Average Salary for a Crisis Counselor

Crisis Counselors in America make an average salary of $51,142 per year or $25 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $69,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $37,000 per year.

Average Crisis Counselor Salary

$51,142 Yearly

$24.59 hourly

$37,00010%

$51,000Median

$69,00090%

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Crisis Counselor

There are several types of crisis counselor, including:

Counselor

Role:

While there are several different types of counselors, in general they spend their time helping people overcome and understand specific problems. Although, not every counselor is going to have a couch, as depicted by TV, most do work in private office settings.

The scope of the types of counselors seems to be never-ending. From school counselors to family and marriage counselors, and even mental health counselors, people who go into this field have a range of what area they want to focus on.

Average Salary: $36,225
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Residential Counselor

Role:

Residential counselors work in social care facilities such as homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, retirement homes, and the like. Their main responsibility is to maintain the structure of the environment or program and oversee the residents' daily activities.

Residential counselors are typically expected to have a degree in psychology, social work, or a related field. They keep an eye on the mental and emotional state of the people under their care and make sure everyone lives by the rules of the facility. They give a hand with transportation and come up with fun and engaging activities for the residents to do while spending quality time together.

As a residential counselor, your responsibilities do not revolve around generating profit, and this is reflected in the median annual salary of the position, which is $29,592. This is a bit less than half of what the average yearly living expenses amount to across the U.S. Caring for each other apparently is not the most lucrative business. It is, however, very rewarding on a personal level.

Average Salary: $34,117
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Youth Counselor

Role:

Becoming a youth counselor may be one of the hardest things you ever do in life. But not because the educational road to get there is long and strenuous. Rather, it's the day-to-day stuff that may get you down.

As a youth counselor, you'll spend a lot of your day interacting with children and teenagers. More times than not, these kids have been put through the emotional ringer. You'll have cases that deal with childhood depression, ADHD, and even abuse.

While it's a tough career, the work you're doing is so important. Watching those kids' mental health improve and being a support for them is especially rewarding.

Average Salary: $36,754
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Crisis Counselor Jobs

Number Of Crisis Counselor Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	3,820	$52,269
2	Massachusetts	2,670	$50,534
3	Florida	1,823	$44,523
4	New York	1,585	$63,507
5	Texas	1,508	$48,514
6	Illinois	1,392	$47,425
7	Pennsylvania	1,390	$50,244
8	Washington	1,007	$60,163
9	Georgia	989	$41,799
10	New Jersey	861	$53,077
11	Michigan	829	$57,684
12	Maryland	806	$50,100
13	Virginia	739	$54,800
14	Minnesota	736	$50,155
15	Arizona	733	$57,089
16	Ohio	733	$52,562
17	Colorado	667	$48,564
18	Indiana	600	$50,284
19	North Carolina	529	$47,638
20	Connecticut	472	$62,681
21	Tennessee	425	$46,671
22	Missouri	424	$55,082
23	Wisconsin	422	$51,519
24	Oregon	416	$59,816
25	South Carolina	408	$40,690
26	Iowa	343	$45,635
27	Louisiana	322	$45,507
28	Kentucky	270	$50,733
29	Alabama	253	$47,380
30	Arkansas	245	$39,472
31	Maine	244	$66,119
32	Utah	226	$54,461
33	Oklahoma	223	$49,249
34	Kansas	211	$51,306
35	Nebraska	197	$50,039
36	New Mexico	173	$44,772
37	Idaho	162	$57,223
38	Mississippi	161	$40,949
39	Nevada	157	$54,832
40	New Hampshire	149	$54,445
41	Alaska	138	$48,391
42	Montana	126	$49,206
43	Rhode Island	125	$59,970
44	Hawaii	114	$45,290
45	Delaware	110	$48,651
46	West Virginia	88	$51,648
47	South Dakota	78	$52,364
48	North Dakota	76	$53,870
49	Vermont	60	$57,433
50	Wyoming	52	$49,944

Crisis Counselor Education

Crisis Counselor Majors

Psychology

34.6 %

Social Work

15.4 %

Sociology

5.8 %

Crisis Counselor Degrees

Admissions

Most Popular Majors

Business

Social Work

Nursing

Political Science

Communication

Top Skills For a Crisis Counselor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 21.4% of crisis counselors listed social work on their resume, but soft skills such as time-management skills and communication skills are important as well.

Social Work, 21.4%

Patients, 8.1%

Mental Health Crisis, 5.6%

Social Services, 4.9%

Crisis Management, 4.0%

Other Skills, 56.0%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Crisis Counselor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Crisis Counselor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Crisis Counselor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Crisis Counselor Demographics

Crisis Counselor Gender Distribution

Female

77%

Male

23%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among crisis counselors, 77.1% of them are women, while 22.9% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among crisis counselors is White, which makes up 67.0% of all crisis counselors.

The most common foreign language among crisis counselors is Spanish at 63.2%.

Online Courses For Crisis Counselor That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure

1. Disaster, Crisis, and Emergency Preparedness Communication

This course will introduce you to basic concepts of emergency management, planning, and crisis risk communication. You will understand the definitions of and operational challenges associated with disasters and public health emergencies. You will identify important components of risk communication, and you will identify and evaluate the ways social characteristics shape vulnerabilities to crises and health outcomes. In completing this course, you will begin to learn about the nature of...

See More on Coursera

2. Suicide Prevention

This course will explore the science of suicide research, prevention, and intervention. The field of suicide research is young and knowledge is rapidly changing. Topics will include terminology, epidemiology, historical and contemporary theories of suicide, modern approaches to suicide research, empirically supported approaches to prevention and intervention, the lived experiences of those with suicidal thoughts and attempts. Note: this course is not designed to address personal experiences...

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3. Communicating During Global Emergencies

In collaboration with the Rollins School of Public Health and the CDC's Division of Global Health Protection, Emergency Response, and Recovery Branch, this course introduces basic concepts and principles of communicating during a global crisis or emergency. It explores why communication during an emergency is different and the importance of adapting emergency messages to the needs of affected populations. Through sample scenarios, you will get the opportunity to identify information needs and...

See More on Coursera

Show More Crisis Counselor Courses

Job type you want

Full Time

Part Time

Internship

Temporary

How Do Crisis Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Crisis Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Crisis Counselor

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Gracepoint Wellness	$72,095	$34.66	28
2	Crisis Preparation & Recovery	$70,907	$34.09	17
3	Arbor Circle	$67,041	$32.23	34
4	Behavioral Health Network	$66,729	$32.08	21
5	Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services	$64,274	$30.90	25
6	Crisis Services	$54,460	$26.18	29
7	Mental Health Cooperative	$51,454	$24.74	15
8	Catholic Charities Health and Human Services	$51,140	$24.59	35
9	Sante Group	$49,822	$23.95	15
10	Seneca Companies	$48,871	$23.50	17

Crisis Counselor Videos

Citi: Accelerating Pathways: A Day in the Life of 22 Year-Old Anna

Educational, Vocational, and School Counselors CareerSearch.com

What is Mental Health Counseling?

Updated February 6, 2023

What is a Crisis Counselor?

What Does a Crisis Counselor Do

How To Become a Crisis Counselor

Crisis Counselor Career Paths

Top Careers Before Crisis Counselor

Top Careers After Crisis Counselor

Average Salary for a Crisis Counselor

Roles and Types of Crisis Counselor

Counselor

Residential Counselor

Youth Counselor

States With The Most Crisis Counselor Jobs

Number Of Crisis Counselor Jobs By State

Crisis Counselor Education

Crisis Counselor Majors

Crisis Counselor Degrees

Top Colleges for Crisis Counselors

1. California State University - Long Beach

2. Hunter College of the City University of New York

3. University of Pennsylvania

4. Boston University

5. New York University

6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

7. Northwestern University

8. SUNY at Albany

9. San Jose State University

10. Columbia University in the City of New York

Top Skills For a Crisis Counselor

Choose From 10+ Customizable Crisis Counselor Resume templates

Crisis Counselor Demographics

Crisis Counselor Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Crisis Counselor That You May Like

How Do Crisis Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Crisis Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Crisis Counselor

Crisis Counselor Videos

Crisis Counselor Related Careers

Crisis Counselor Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs