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Expressive therapist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

1 min read

Quoted experts

Chelsea Waddelow,

Chelsea Waddelow

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical expressive therapist skills. We ranked the top skills for expressive therapists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 45.8% of expressive therapist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an expressive therapist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 expressive therapist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how expressive therapists use patients:

Provided assessments and referrals to admitted hospital patients due to psychiatric emergencies.
Observe patients and their reactions while participating in therapeutic activity.

2. Adolescents

Here's how expressive therapists use adolescents:

Case Management of adolescents, adults with substance/chemical abuse issues, adults with chronic mental health issues and Partial Hospitalization consumers.
Served as a substitute teacher where I provided educational services to pediatrics, adolescents, and adults with developmental disabilities.

3. Administrative Documentation

Here's how expressive therapists use administrative documentation:

Maintained the clinical and administrative documentation associated with performed services.

4. Recreational Therapy

Here's how expressive therapists use recreational therapy:

Lead new staff orientations focusing on the uses of Recreational Therapy with the elderly.
Reported to the Director of Occupational and Recreational Therapy.

5. Eating Disorders

Here's how expressive therapists use eating disorders:

Facilitated weekly Dialectical Behavioral Therapy groups at a women's residential treatment facility treating substance abuse, eating disorders and trauma.
Provided individual and family support for those struggling with and affected by eating disorders, using primarily a cognitive-behavioral approach.

6. Discharge Planning

Here's how expressive therapists use discharge planning:

Completed initial assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, and discharge planning to ensure thorough client documentation and accurate treatment.
Conducted Interdisciplinary meetings to review the treatment of consumers and also assisted with the discharge planning of consumers.

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7. CPI

CPI Consumer Price Index is a monthly comprehensive measurement of the prices of goods and services representing the economy's consumption expenditure. This presents the inflation or rising of prices and deflation or falling prices. CPI keeps track of the costs of around 700 goods and services utilized by a typical household, and CPI shows how their price change each month. The changes in CPI are used to assess price changes related to the cost of living.

Here's how expressive therapists use cpi:

Conducted regular Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) techniques on a daily basis to maintain unit safety.
Certified Instructor, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) - Certified CPI instructor for Adventist GlenOaks Hospital.

8. Behavioral Issues

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

Here's how expressive therapists use behavioral issues:

Provided intensive individual / group therapy to adolescent boys with sexual behavioral issues in a locked and secure residential treatment facility.
Served on interdisciplinary team of professionals providing services to children identified as having severe emotional and behavioral issues and concerns.

9. Creative Expression

Here's how expressive therapists use creative expression:

Implemented art, music, creative expression, and role-playing as forms of expressive therapy.

10. Mental Health Issues

Here's how expressive therapists use mental health issues:

Developed and maintained clinical skills through continuing education/training related to adults with a history of mental health issues and/or substance abuse.
Utilize Cognitive Behavioral Interventions, play therapy, solution focused interventions, and motivational interviewing to treat various mental health issues.

11. Crisis Intervention

Here's how expressive therapists use crisis intervention:

Provided peer mentoring and crisis intervention.
Provide crisis intervention, when necessary, through de-escalation, redirection and dialogue.

12. Patient Safety

Here's how expressive therapists use patient safety:

Support unit staff with monitoring for patient safety.

13. Substance Abuse

Here's how expressive therapists use substance abuse:

Provided mental and behavioral health monitoring crisis prevention and intervention training and supervised clients in a residential substance abuse facility.
Developed and implemented therapeutic art and education recreation programs for young adults, substance abuse and special needs populations.

14. Individual Therapy Sessions

Here's how expressive therapists use individual therapy sessions:

Documented treatment plans, therapeutic groups, individual therapy sessions and worked along side a team managing milieus.
Provide individual therapy sessions, conducted bio-social assessment, individual treatment planning and coordinated after care services in addiction counseling.

15. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how expressive therapists use patient care:

Charted group progress notes via EMR, provided 1:1 patient care, conducted patient intake assessments.
Provided supporting community contact, written treatment plans as well as direct patient care management.

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What skills help Expressive Therapists find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on expressive therapist resumes?

Chelsea Waddelow

Adjunct Professor, Meredith College

I expect all of the basic proficiencies required by the Certification Board as a bare minimum. Musically, I like to see an area of specialization that will make you stand out. For clinical skills, the ability to produce accurate, thorough, and professional documentation in a very short amount of time is a top priority. Non-musical or non-clinical skills that I would look for include knowledge of a second language, especially ASL or the second language most commonly used in the job area, multicultural awareness and sensitivity, and excellent attention to detail.

What soft skills should all expressive therapists possess?

Chelsea Waddelow

Adjunct Professor, Meredith College

I would list the top three here: empathy, excellent verbal communication, and highly developed ethical decision-making.

What type of skills will young expressive therapists need?

Lyndal Khaw Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Department Chair, Montclair State University

Most of our graduates in the field of Family Science and Human Development are in this field because they want to help professions that work with children, individuals, and families. Thus, there are several skills they should have when they graduate and enter the workforce. First, they need to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. If you want to work with people, that is an absolute given.

Second, students should demonstrate their ability to adapt to new challenges and changes, including technology skills. When working with children and families, the natural ebbs and flows of family life, across the life course, necessitate flexible professionals and who can still be useful under changing circumstances. Third, skills make you stand out in working with people, like conflict management and leadership skills. Employers want to see that graduates are not only "book smart" but have the experience to use these skills when needed on the job.

What hard/technical skills are most important for expressive therapists?

Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Human Factors, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Technical skills like the ability to perform statistical analyses are critically important for most Psychology-related jobs. This allows a candidate to collect and analyze data but also to interpret and understand other existing data. A strong statistical background can also help set a candidate apart from their peers in the application process. This includes understanding when and how to use various parametric and nonparametric statistics to be able to answer questions regardless of the data one is working with.

Do you want to know more?

List of expressive therapist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an expressive therapist resume and required skills for an expressive therapist to have include:

Patients
Adolescents
Administrative Documentation
Recreational Therapy
Eating Disorders
Discharge Planning
CPI

Behavioral Issues
Creative Expression
Mental Health Issues
Crisis Intervention
Patient Safety
Substance Abuse
Individual Therapy Sessions

Patient Care
Clinical Documentation
Group Therapy Sessions
Therapeutic Interventions
Developmental Disabilities
Therapeutic Services

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.

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