Mental health clinician vs job counselor

The differences between mental health clinicians and job counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a mental health clinician has an average salary of $54,359, which is higher than the $49,977 average annual salary of a job counselor.

The top three skills for a mental health clinician include social work, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a job counselor are training programs, at-risk youth, and substance abuse.

Mental health clinician vs job counselor overview

	Mental Health Clinician	Job Counselor
Yearly salary	$54,359	$49,977
Hourly rate	$26.13	$24.03
Growth rate	9%	10%
Number of jobs	91,347	103,416
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	45	42
Years of experience	4	-

Mental health clinician vs job counselor salary

Mental health clinicians and job counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mental Health Clinician	Job Counselor
Average salary	$54,359	$49,977
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $80,000	Between $26,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	City and County of Denver Government	-
Best paying industry	Education	-

Differences between mental health clinician and job counselor education

There are a few differences between a mental health clinician and a job counselor in terms of educational background:

	Mental Health Clinician	Job Counselor
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	University of Pennsylvania

Mental health clinician vs job counselor demographics

Here are the differences between mental health clinicians' and job counselors' demographics:

	Mental Health Clinician	Job Counselor
Average age	45	42
Gender ratio	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%	Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 3.7% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	15%	11%

Differences between mental health clinician and job counselor duties and responsibilities

Mental health clinician example responsibilities.

Work with children with autism and developmental impairment, providing weekly therapeutic sessions.
Provide individual and group psychotherapy for adult population with goal of rehabilitation and community reintegration.
Meet productivity standards comply with all DMH documentation standards and participate in on call crisis intervention rotation.
Provide psychotherapy with empathy and concern as indicated by supervisory observation and feedback from patients, family and fellow team members.
Provide clinical therapeutic services to patients, including individual and group therapy and coordination of treatment for participants with co-occurring disorders.
Assess, diagnose, provide psychotherapy and rehabilitation for seriously mentally ill adults, children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbance.

Job counselor example responsibilities.

Work with and case manage families receiving TANF financial benefits and with customers receiving displace worker financial help.
Monitor caseworkers to ensure rehabilitation services are properly coordinate to aid clients in achieving self-sufficiency.
Utilize aforementioned partnerships to assist TANF recipients in obtaining employment which lead to career advancement and case closure.
Addressed domestic violence and substance abuse issues, housing and all community resources relate to successful rehabilitation.
Represent elected officials & county management in civil employment litigation matters and grievance hearings.
Draft EEOC OFCCP, DOL, DFEH and PERB position statements and responses.

Mental health clinician vs job counselor skills

Common mental health clinician skills

Social Work, 28%
Patients, 15%
Mental Health, 5%
Discharge Planning, 3%
Community Resources, 3%
Rehabilitation, 2%

Common job counselor skills

Training Programs, 17%
at-Risk Youth, 11%
Substance Abuse, 10%
GED, 10%
Community Resources, 9%
Vocational Training, 8%

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Mental Health Clinician
Mental Health Clinician vs Job Counselor

Updated January 8, 2025

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