Mental health associates assist medical professionals in diagnosing and treating mental, developmental, and behavioral disorders in people. They work in hospitals, mental institutions, nursing homes, schools, and many more.
A big part of this job includes mediating between patients, nurses, and doctors. You will be responsible for helping patients with daily activities, such as hygiene routines, social programs, and the like. Occasionally you might be tasked with conducting therapy sessions or facilitating interventions as well.
Formal education is generally required to be considered for this position, like a degree in psychology or social work. Gaining experience in the field by doing internships or volunteering can also boost your chances of getting accepted to work at a relevant facility.
How to Become a Mental Health Associate
What is a Mental Health Associate
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Mental Health Associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.77 an hour? That's $39,045 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 81,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Mental Health Associate Do
There are certain skills that many Mental Health Associates 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 Communication skills, Emotional skills and Organizational skills.
How To Become a Mental Health Associate
If you're interested in becoming a Mental Health Associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.0% of Mental Health Associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.7% of Mental Health Associates have master's degrees. Even though most Mental Health Associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Mental Health Associate. When we researched the most common majors for a Mental Health Associate, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Mental Health Associate resumes include Associate Degree degrees or High School Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Mental Health Associate. In fact, many Mental Health Associate jobs require experience in a role such as Internship. Meanwhile, many Mental Health Associates also have previous career experience in roles such as Cashier or Certified Nursing Assistant.
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Mental Health Associate 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 Mental Health Associate can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Mental Health Technician, progress to a title such as Therapist and then eventually end up with the title Patient Care Manager.
Mental Health Associate Jobs You Might Like
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Mental Health Associate
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12 Mental Health Associate Resume Examples
Build a professional mental health associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your mental health associate resume.
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Sarah Thompson Mental Health Associate |
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Lori Palmer Mental Health Associate Experience Mental Health Associate2020 - Present FRIENDS HOSPITAL•Philadelphia, PA
Health Assistant2018 - 2020 Comfort Keepers•Florence, SC
Residential Instructor2016 - 2017 North Carolina Central University•Chapel Hill, NC
Skills Direct SupervisionMedical GroupCommunity ActivitiesStaff MembersClient CareHealth EducationTreatment PlansIntellectual DisabilitiesHealth InformationDSP Education Master's Degree Psychology2017 - 2018 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC Bachelor's Degree Psychology2013 - 2016 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC |
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Learn How To Write a Mental Health Associate Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Mental Health Associate resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Mental Health Associate Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Mental Health Associate Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Mental Health Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Mental Health Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Mental Health Associate Demographics
Mental Health Associate Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Mental Health Associates, 67.0% of them are women, while 33.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Mental Health Associates is White, which makes up 80.9% of all Mental Health Associates.
- The most common foreign language among Mental Health Associates is Spanish at 57.9%.
Find the best Mental Health Associate job for you
Mental Health Associate Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Mental Health Associate Jobs - $54K and Up
- Work From Home Mental Health Associate Jobs
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- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Mental Health Associate Jobs
Top Colleges for Mental Health Associates
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
5. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
7. San Jose State University
San Jose, CA • Private
8. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
9. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
10. Coppin State University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Find the best Mental Health Associate job for you
Mental Health Associate Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Mental Health Associate Jobs - $54K and Up
- Work From Home Mental Health Associate Jobs
- Entry Level Mental Health Associate Jobs
- Part Time Mental Health Associate Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Mental Health Associate Jobs
Online Courses For Mental Health Associate That You May Like
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Interventions: Drug & Alcohol Addiction & Mental Health - Integrative Holistic Approach...
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Interventions - Understand Drug & Alcohol Addiction & Mental Health. How to help people...
Be a leader in improving society's mental health and learn to provide mental health first aid...
Top Skills For a Mental Health Associate
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, 12.7% of Mental Health Associates listed Crisis Intervention on their resume, but soft skills such as Communication skills and Emotional skills are important as well.
1. California
$60,638
Avg. Salary
2. Nevada
$57,771
Avg. Salary
3. Delaware
$49,278
Avg. Salary
How Do Mental Health Associate Rate Their Jobs?
Top Mental Health Associate Employers
Mental Health Associate Videos
Becoming a Mental Health Associate FAQs
How much do mental health workers make per hour?
Mental health workers make $17.72 an hour, on average ($36,000 a year). There is some range in the earning potential of a mental health worker - starting from as little $12.82 to as much as $26.92 an hour. Factors such as location and company impact how much a mental health worker can make.
Highest paying states for mental health workers:
New Jersey averages $49,965 a year ($24.02 an hour)
New York averages $49,482 a year ($23.79 an hour)
District of Columbia averages $47,702 a year ($22.93 an hour)
Connecticut averages $46,755 a year ($22.48 an hour)
Nevada averages $46,681 a year ($22.44 an hour)
Lowest paying states for mental health workers:
Kentucky averages $24,616 a year ($11.83 an hour)
Wyoming averages $25,429 a year ($12.23 an hour)
Alabama averages $26,294 a year ($12.64 an hour)
South Carolina averages $26,920 a year ($12.94 an hour)
Georgia averages $26,924 a year ($12.94 an hour)
Comparison of salary for similar mental health positions:
Case Manager averages $43,072 per year
Counseling averages $72,263 per year
Mental Health Social Worker averages $51,360 per year
Mental Health Technician averages $53,941 per year
What qualifications do you need to be a mental health worker?
The primary qualification needed to become a mental health worker is relevant education. Levels of acceptable education vary for mental health workers, but minimum standards are required to be considered for a position in this field.
Candidates interested in this field can become certified as behavioral health technicians. This training can be done online and requires an investment of 30 hours of coursework and testing. Most states do not require certification, but it is the shortest path to obtain a job in this field.
Most mental health workers have a relevant college degree. Nearly 12% of mental health workers have an associate's degree in psychology or social work, while 60% of workers in this field have a bachelor's degree.
Several states also require licensure. Arkansas, California, and Colorado require that their behavioral health technicians be licensed.