Medical social worker vs mental health counselor

The differences between medical social workers and mental health counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical social worker, becoming a mental health counselor takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a medical social worker has an average salary of $57,093, which is higher than the $49,471 average annual salary of a mental health counselor.

The top three skills for a medical social worker include social work, patients and home health. The most important skills for a mental health counselor are social work, patients, and crisis intervention.

Medical social worker vs mental health counselor overview

	Medical Social Worker	Mental Health Counselor
Yearly salary	$57,093	$49,471
Hourly rate	$27.45	$23.78
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	87,792	110,752
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	45	41
Years of experience	2	4

What does a medical social worker do?

A medical social worker specializes in managing a patient's health care and welfare while communicating with guardians or families, focusing on helping them cope and understand the medical conditions and situations. They are primarily responsible for assessing a patient's condition to identify their needs, conducting interviews to gather background information regarding the patient and family, and referring any social service programs that may provide them with the assistance or help they need. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify any signs of abuse or neglect and conduct intervention procedures right away.

What does a mental health counselor do?

A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.

Medical social worker vs mental health counselor salary

Medical social workers and mental health counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Social Worker	Mental Health Counselor
Average salary	$57,093	$49,471
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $77,000	Between $34,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Longview, WA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Washington
Best paying company	Health Advocates	Family Life Counseling & Psychiatric Services
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between medical social worker and mental health counselor education

There are a few differences between a medical social worker and a mental health counselor in terms of educational background:

	Medical Social Worker	Mental Health Counselor
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Social Work	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	California State University - Long Beach

Medical social worker vs mental health counselor demographics

Here are the differences between medical social workers' and mental health counselors' demographics:

	Medical Social Worker	Mental Health Counselor
Average age	45	41
Gender ratio	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%	Male, 31.4% Female, 68.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	13%	15%

Differences between medical social worker and mental health counselor duties and responsibilities

Medical social worker example responsibilities.

Understand manage care, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Humanize the medical setting for elderly patients by using appropriate compassion in explaining complex information.
Provide crisis intervention, supportive counseling and trauma/grief counseling for patients and their families experiencing acute or chronic traumatic events.
Provide hands-on assessment and monitoring of suspect child abuse and neglect cases of children needing intensive rehabilitation and specialize care.
Provide social casework to patients having difficulty in social functioning, primarily as it affects their health and emotional rehabilitation.
Facilitate family counseling, crisis intervention, and assessments of specials population including geriatrics, homeless and substance abusing veterans.

Mental health counselor example responsibilities.

Provide clinical consultation to consumers and clients regarding manage care services and other benefits available to them through their EAP programs.
Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Certify in CPI (crisis intervention technique).
Assist with crisis intervention, (CPI) maintains treatment activities.
Provide mental health assessment and evaluation of detainees refer by facility staff or identify by pre-screening (booking or nursing).
Assess for special needs during booking process.

Medical social worker vs mental health counselor skills

Common medical social worker skills

Social Work, 24%
Patients, 19%
Home Health, 11%
MSW, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Crisis Intervention, 3%

Common mental health counselor skills

Social Work, 17%
Patients, 16%
Crisis Intervention, 9%
Patient Care, 6%
Mental Health Issues, 5%
Rehabilitation, 4%

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Medical Social Worker
Medical Social Worker vs Mental Health Counselor

Updated January 8, 2025

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