What does a mental health associate do?
As a mental health associate, you will assist the medical team members in diagnosing and treating individuals with mental, developmental, and behavioral conditions. You may be tasked to facilitate individual and group therapy sessions, help patients with their day-to-day activities such as self-care and hygiene, and assist in administering medications prescribed by physicians. Other duties include planning and leading program activities, attending treatment rounds, and assisting with the physical care of patients. The qualifications and skills required for this role include a bachelor's degree in social science or psychology, previous work experience, and certification on basic life support.
Mental health associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real mental health associate resumes:
- Lead a number of psychotherapy groups including DBT.
- Manage other MHA's in their duties and help them problem solving in tense and stressful situations.
- Respond to and assist in behavioral codes working as a team member to successfully manage patient using methods obtain in CPI training
- Require to participate as an interdisciplinary treatment team member and assist patients in managing activities of daily living.
- Treat the patients with compassion, care and respect.
- Communicate with doctors, nurses, MHA's, PCA's, and patients both verbally and in writing.
- Assist mentally impair or emotional disturb patients with routine, physical, emotional, physiological or rehabilitation as directed.
- Maintain up to date CPR certification (facility provides this training).
- Assist in toileting with bedpans, urinals, diapers, and routine catheter care.
- Establish therapeutic rapport and used verbal de-escalation + CPI techniques as needed to prevent patient restraint.
- Work with the SMI and DDD population in CLP, group homes and transitional living facilities.
- Provide youth with guidance, support, compassion and structure through mentoring to promote personal growth and development.
- Maintain immunization records using CAIR immunization registry.
- Work with physician advocates to increase disease awareness in the adult immunization market.
- Help coordinate program activities gear toward assisting SMI adults in reaching optimal levels of independent functioning.
Mental health associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Mental Health Associates are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Vital Signs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Mental Health Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 24%
Provide delegated components of nursing care to patients including monitoring, specimen collection, and psycho education.
- Customer Service, 9%
Supported clinicians by ensuring and facilitating efficient operations; enhanced customer service and improved center productivity.
- Vital Signs, 7%
Monitored vital signs and checked that monitoring equipment were functioning correctly.
- CPR, 6%
Received certification in CPR and Lifesaving.
- Safety Checks, 4%
Monitored patient safety via safety checks while assessing behavioral management needs.
- Social Work, 4%
Ensured efficiency of patient care practices through effective partnership with social workers, psychiatrists, physicians, nurses and other professionals.
Common skills that a mental health associate uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "vital signs." You can find details on the most important mental health associate responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a mental health associate to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Additionally, a mental health associate resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provide behavioral/emotional support for the mentally ill demonstrated excellence in interpersonal communication"
Organizational skills. mental health associates are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to mental health associate responsibilities, because "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." A mental health associate resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "demonstrate organizational intelligence, cleanliness, and awareness of spatial requirements. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what mental health associates do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to mental health associate responsibilities because "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical mental health associate tasks: "answered phone calls and problem solved while being well organized and proper. "
Interpersonal skills. Another common skill required for mental health associate responsibilities is "interpersonal skills." This skill comes up in the duties of mental health associates all the time, as "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." An excerpt from a real mental health associate resume shows how this skill is central to what a mental health associate does: "practice therapeutic interpersonal communication with patients to neutralize potential adverse events and actions. "
Compassion. While "compassion" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to mental health associate responsibilities. Much of what a mental health associate does relies on this skill, seeing as "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of mental health associates: "provided youth with guidance, support, compassion and structure through mentoring to promote personal growth and development. "
The three companies that hire the most mental health associates are:
- RWJBarnabas Health102 mental health associates jobs
- Acadia Healthcare74 mental health associates jobs
- Columbia Care55 mental health associates jobs
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Compare different mental health associates
Mental health associate vs. Behavior therapist
A behavior therapist is an individual psychologist who is responsible for helping patients with mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Behavior therapists must equip patients with psychological tools to help them diminish unhealthy thoughts so that they can effectively deal with the challenges of their daily lives. They are required to devise problem-solving methods such as psychotherapy and counseling to help patients improve their quality of life. Behavior therapists must also collaborate with the families of their patients to help them overcome behavioral issues more effectively.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, mental health associate responsibilities require skills like "customer service," "vital signs," "cpr," and "safety checks." Meanwhile a typical behavior therapist has skills in areas such as "behavior analysis," "autism spectrum disorder," "behavior analysts," and "bcba." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Behavior therapists tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,181. In contrast, mental health associates make the biggest average salary, $37,746, in the professional industry.behavior therapists tend to reach similar levels of education than mental health associates. In fact, behavior therapists are 4.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Mental health associate vs. Intensive in-home counselor
An Intensive In-Home Counselor conducts individual counseling sessions for parents and deals with delicate issues like sexual addiction. They also prepare progress reports for clients.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that mental health associate responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "customer service," "vital signs," and "cpr." But an intensive in-home counselor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "family therapy," "intensive in-home," "discharge planning," and "at-risk youth."
On average, intensives in-home counselor earn a higher salary than mental health associates. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, intensives in-home counselor earn the most pay in the utilities industry with an average salary of $56,398. Whereas mental health associates have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $37,746.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Intensives in-home counselor tend to reach higher levels of education than mental health associates. In fact, they're 11.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for mental health associates in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Bill Buker
Associate Dean and Professor of Professional Counseling, Oral Roberts University
Mental health associate vs. Residence counselor
Residence counselors are professionals who are responsible for providing services such as one-to-one therapy and crisis support to clients who are living in group homes or assisted-living facilities. These counselors must assist adults with moderate intellectual disabilities to find employment while monitoring their work performance. They must facilitate and supervise daily personal care and activities for developmentally disabled adults. Residence counselors must also encourage clients to participate in community activities that can contribute to the development of skills necessary for independent living.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a mental health associate is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "safety checks," "immunization," and "cpi," while a typical residence counselor is skilled in "developmental disabilities," "english language," "medication administration," and "cerebral palsy."
Residence counselors make a very good living in the education industry with an average annual salary of $35,988. On the other hand, mental health associates are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $37,746.Most residence counselors achieve a similar degree level compared to mental health associates. For example, they're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Mental health associate vs. Counselor internship
When it comes to Counselor Internship, among the primary responsibilities is to assist in dealing with various activities such as preparing and verifying necessary documentation, observing consultations and outreach programs, guide clients and help develop multiple helpful strategies, and provide assessments. Furthermore, one can conduct counseling and consultation only under supervision. It is also essential to track the information gathered and coordinate with assigned personnel to adhere to the company's regulations and policies.
Types of mental health associate
Updated January 8, 2025
