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Group home counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Dr. Steven Toepfer Ph.D.,
Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical group home counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for group home counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.0% of group home counselor resumes contained developmental disabilities as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a group home counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 group home counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Developmental Disabilities

Here's how group home counselors use developmental disabilities:
  • Provided supervision and behavioral support to adults with developmental disabilities, striving towards a more independent lifestyle.
  • Direct staff in group homes for individuals with intellectual delays and/or developmental disabilities.

2. Behavioral Problems

Here's how group home counselors use behavioral problems:
  • Work closely with children and adolescents with emotional disturbance issues and behavioral problems.
  • Supervised young adolescents from training school with behavioral problems.

3. Community Integration

Community integration pertains to the different procedures that help patients integrate and become well-functioning members of a community.

Here's how group home counselors use community integration:
  • Facilitated community integration of service consumers in social, educational, vocational, and cultural settings.
  • Provide supportive counseling, training, and community integration to individuals with Mental Health and behavioral issues.

4. Direct Care

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

Here's how group home counselors use direct care:
  • Direct care, including, medication monitoring and distribution; maintain children's overall health and basic daily needs.
  • Direct care and support for a diverse population of EBD adolescent males transitioning from juvenile detention to residential placement.

5. Medication Administration

Here's how group home counselors use medication administration:
  • Assist clients with daily living skills, such as preparing meals, self-care management, daily chores and medication administration.
  • Assisted with medication administration, recreation, documentation and other duties as needed.

6. Medical Appointments

A medical appointment is a scheduled / specific day and time for a person to be examined or treated by a physician, nurse, or other licensed healthcare professional. The aim of the medical appointment is for the physician to be able to identify health problems or illnesses at an early stage.

Here's how group home counselors use medical appointments:
  • Administered and monitored daily psychiatric medications and medical appointments.
  • Transported clients to and from medical appointments, prepared meals, and performed light housekeeping duties.

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7. 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 group home counselors use direct supervision:
  • Provide direct supervision and care to teen residents while teaching independence, meal planning/preparation; reform work.
  • Provided support, leadership and direct supervision to Community Support technicians to develop and ensure implementation of Person Centered Plans.

8. Crisis Intervention

Here's how group home counselors use crisis intervention:
  • Engaged in crisis prevention and/or crisis intervention as directed.
  • Provided mentoring and crisis intervention for students.

9. Meal Preparation

Here's how group home counselors use meal preparation:
  • Provide independent living skill education such as meal preparation, hygiene skills, and money management.
  • Administer all medications within the prescribed timeframe and perform routine housekeeping, hygiene needs and meal preparation on a daily basis.

10. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how group home counselors use cpr:
  • Completed the required MANDT training, medical tech and CPR training.
  • Certified in CPR and Standard First Aid.

11. Mental Illness

Here's how group home counselors use mental illness:
  • Group Home Staff Administered to individuals with mental illness and substance abuse Supervised medications, coordinated with Case Managers/Doctors
  • Counseled clients with issues relating to stress management, self-esteem, anger management and mental illnesses.

12. Medical Care

Here's how group home counselors use medical care:
  • Helped clients obtain and attend both psychiatric and medical care and provided appropriate medication supervision through monitoring and/or administration and documentation
  • Facilitated residents' medical care.

13. Group Homes

Here's how group home counselors use group homes:
  • Provided clinical therapy treatment such as psychological counseling to adolescents and young teens living in foster and group homes.
  • worked at group homes for developmentally disabled youth.

14. Mental Health Issues

Here's how group home counselors use mental health issues:
  • Supervised care of teenage girls with behavioral and mental health issues; provided support to parents/guardians.
  • Diagnosed mental health issues and developed treatment plans for clients leading to personal growth.

15. Role Model

A role model is a person with desirable qualities who inspires other people to emulate their example.

Here's how group home counselors use role model:
  • Instructed youth on daily living skills including chores and personal hygiene and also acted as a positive role model.
  • Assisted with Troubled Adolescents Females Ages 12 - 17 * Role Model / Caretaker
top-skills

What skills help Group Home Counselors find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on group home counselor resumes?

Dr. Steven Toepfer Ph.D.Dr. Steven Toepfer Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor of Human Development & Family Studies, Kent State University

Generally, resume skills that might stand out include hands-on experience, leadership examples, and various skills related to technology. Always try to tailor your resume to the job you are applying!

What soft skills should all group home counselors possess?

Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.

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

-compassion

-active listening

-perspective-taking

-open-mindedness and respect for differences

-humility

-curiosity and critical observation

-problem recognition and analytical thinking

-creativity and flexibility

-presentation skills

What hard/technical skills are most important for group home counselors?

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 group home counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Melissa BoasMelissa Boas LinkedIn profile

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 group home counselors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.Chris Hennington Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

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?
Read more about what experts have to say about group home counselor

List of group home counselor skills to add to your resume

Group home counselor skills

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

  • Developmental Disabilities
  • Behavioral Problems
  • Community Integration
  • Direct Care
  • Medication Administration
  • Medical Appointments
  • Direct Supervision
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Meal Preparation
  • CPR
  • Mental Illness
  • Medical Care
  • Group Homes
  • Mental Health Issues
  • Role Model
  • Independent Living
  • Incident Reports
  • Intellectual Disabilities
  • Bed Facility
  • Behavior Management
  • Community Resources
  • Physical Disabilities
  • Substance Abuse
  • Crisis Management
  • Group Sessions
  • Vital Signs
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Patient Care
  • Risk Youth
  • Behavior Modification
  • Groceries
  • Group Therapy
  • Doctor Appointments
  • Anger Management
  • ADL
  • Hippa
  • Support Services
  • Therapeutic Environment
  • Client Behavior
  • Medication Management
  • Bed Checks
  • Mental Disabilities
  • IHP
  • ADHD
  • Crisis Situations
  • Court Hearings
  • Residential Clients
  • Negative Behaviors
  • Adolescent Girls
  • Adolescent Males

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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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