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Mental health clinician vs psychologist

The differences between mental health clinicians and psychologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a psychologist has an average salary of $97,803, which is higher than the $54,359 average annual salary of a mental health clinician.

The top three skills for a mental health clinician include social work, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a psychologist are patients, crisis intervention, and rehabilitation.

Mental health clinician vs psychologist overview

Mental Health ClinicianPsychologist
Yearly salary$54,359$97,803
Hourly rate$26.13$47.02
Growth rate9%6%
Number of jobs91,34712,516
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeMaster's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4547
Years of experience4-

What does a mental health clinician do?

A Mental Health Clinician provides psychotherapeutic and rehabilitation services for patients with mental health problems. They manage the treatment of clients and help them to obtain stable physical health.

What does a psychologist do?

Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.

Mental health clinician vs psychologist salary

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

Mental Health ClinicianPsychologist
Average salary$54,359$97,803
Salary rangeBetween $36,000 And $80,000Between $68,000 And $139,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyCity and County of Denver GovernmentSierra Corporation
Best paying industryEducationHealth Care

Differences between mental health clinician and psychologist education

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

Mental Health ClinicianPsychologist
Most common degreeMaster's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachNorthwestern University

Mental health clinician vs psychologist demographics

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

Mental Health ClinicianPsychologist
Average age4547
Gender ratioMale, 24.3% Female, 75.7%Male, 35.2% Female, 64.8%
Race ratioBlack 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, 5.1% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 4.2% White, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage15%20%

Differences between mental health clinician and psychologist 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.
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Psychologist example responsibilities.

  • Supervise mental health staff, including the overseeing of the provision of mental health services in a correctional facility.
  • Provide EMDR therapy for clients with trauma and anxiety.
  • Perform tests to diagnose autism in children or tests for the detection of autism at an early age.
  • Provide supervision and mentoring for APA Pre-Doctoral interns.
  • Supervise clinical activities of doctoral level psychology interns in APA accredit internship program.
  • Evaluate veterans for psychological disorders that may have resulted secondary to their military service for compensation purposes.
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Mental health clinician vs psychologist skills

Common mental health clinician skills
  • Social Work, 28%
  • Patients, 15%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Discharge Planning, 3%
  • Community Resources, 3%
  • Rehabilitation, 2%
Common psychologist skills
  • Patients, 18%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 6%
  • Mental Illness, 5%
  • Clinical Supervision, 5%
  • APA, 4%

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