Mental health used to be a taboo; a topic that was rarely touched upon. However, more and more institutions are currently emphasizing the importance of speaking about mental health. According to the World Health Organization, around 264 million people suffer from some form of mental disorder, whether it be anxiety, bipolar disorder, or depression. Around 80 percent of people in low-income countries do not receive treatment, as medical resources and trained personnel are lacking. It is unequivocally true to say that the area of mental health requires more human resource coordination.

The primary role of a mental health technician is in providing operational assistance to doctors and patients. This includes tasks such as initiating treatment plans, administering medications, and conducting vital signs measurement. Besides that, they manage patient transportation and conduct nursing duties, such as bathing, feeding, and dressing.

Employers require mental health technicians to have a minimum high school diploma or G.E.D equivalent. Having a bachelor's degree relating to sociology, psychology, or human services would be preferred. This role earns, on average, $14 per hour and suits individuals who are passionate about mental health.

What Does a Mental Health Technician Do

There are certain skills that many mental health technicians 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.

Learn more about what a Mental Health Technician does

How To Become a Mental Health Technician

If you're interested in becoming a mental health technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 52.5% of mental health technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.0% of mental health technicians have master's degrees. Even though most mental health technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Mental Health Technician

Mental Health Technician Career Paths

Average Salary for a Mental Health Technician

Mental Health Technicians in America make an average salary of $32,118 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $39,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $25,000 per year.
Average Mental Health Technician Salary
$32,118 Yearly
$15.44 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Mental Health Technician

The role of a mental health technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general mental health technician responsibilities:

  • Facilitate and co-facilitate therapeutic groups. Assembles
  • 1. Supports therapy sessions (individual and group) with patients designated by the program director has knowledge
  • Demonstrates expertise in mental health promotion

There are several types of mental health technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.
  • Average Salary: $38,045
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Patient Care Technician

Role:

So, you've decided to become a patient care technician. In addition to registered nurses, patients really look forward to having you by their side. You're an important piece of the puzzle. Speaking of RN's, as long as you get enough experience as a patient care technician, you may have the option to become an RN, eventually. It's definitely a nice little stepping stone.

Aside from knowing the opportunity you'll have in this career, becoming a patient care technician has a lot of great positives. Since you'll be working directly with patients, you'll be around a lot of people daily. Which makes this a very social job. If you're a social butterfly, you'll fit right in.

You have a lot of options of where you want to work when it comes to the patient care technician job. From hospitals and doctor's offices to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, you're needed in a lot of different places. It just depends on where you want to end up.
  • Average Salary: $32,806
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Therapist

Role:

A therapist is the keeper of secrets. Neither therapist nor client is likely to advertise what is going on during sessions. You might have pinned down therapists as doctors of psychology who try to help the weak and crazy among us.

Well, the truth is contrary: it is a humble and courageous gesture to seek the help of a professional, not only in moments of crisis, trying to deal with harmful mental patterns or toxic core beliefs, which cause suffering to the patient and his/her or her environment alike, but also on a preventive basis.

So, just as much as it is the job of therapists to diagnose mental health problems and propose and conduct treatments, it is also their responsibility to make sure a diagnosis will never be necessary.
  • Average Salary: $55,943
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Mental Health Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active mental health technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where mental health technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Mental Health Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California4,884$42,164
2Texas3,778$28,495
3Florida2,645$26,377
4Ohio2,305$29,559
5North Carolina2,212$27,074
6Massachusetts2,115$35,792
7Illinois2,070$34,149
8Michigan1,977$30,172
9Indiana1,888$26,872
10Pennsylvania1,795$27,168
11New York1,702$33,678
12Tennessee1,634$26,784
13Minnesota1,624$32,706
14Virginia1,621$31,824
15Georgia1,475$28,860
16Missouri1,405$28,223
17Arizona1,305$31,037
18Wisconsin1,299$32,908
19Maryland1,239$24,391
20New Jersey1,101$33,673
21Colorado1,046$34,217
22Alabama912$29,059
23Iowa822$30,052
24South Carolina776$28,538
25Kentucky740$26,806
26Washington729$38,471
27Louisiana706$27,464
28Arkansas653$32,269
29Oklahoma641$25,916
30Utah568$28,776
31Kansas539$33,456
32Connecticut482$34,351
33Oregon450$38,958
34Mississippi392$31,338
35Nebraska350$32,482
36Nevada348$31,487
37Idaho327$25,854
38New Mexico274$26,561
39New Hampshire262$36,550
40Maine246$33,062
41Delaware231$28,624
42Rhode Island219$29,057
43South Dakota199$28,867
44Alaska197$25,947
45Vermont182$45,112
46West Virginia176$32,750
47Hawaii168$31,889
48North Dakota154$35,168
49Montana140$41,513
50Wyoming96$31,096

Mental Health Technician Education

Mental Health Technician Majors

7.7 %

Mental Health Technician Degrees

Bachelors

52.5 %

Associate

18.5 %

High School Diploma

12.3 %

Top Colleges for Mental Health Technicians

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Psychology
Biology
Liberal Arts
Communication

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Communication
Psychology
Nursing

3. San Jose State University

San Jose, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,796

Enrollment

27,125

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Psychology
Biology
Communication

4. Coppin State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,873

Enrollment

2,326

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Nursing
Biology
Psychology
Social Work
Criminal Justice

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Nursing
Health Care Administration
Mental Health Counseling

6. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Education
Psychology
Criminal Justice
Nursing

7. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,942

Enrollment

13,871

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Psychology
Liberal Arts
Sociology

8. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Psychology
Nursing
Business
Human Development

9. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Nursing
Communication
Health Care Administration
Criminal Justice

10. Kansas Wesleyan University

Salina, KS • Private

In-State Tuition

$29,500

Enrollment

650

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Biology
Criminal Justice
Psychology

Top Skills For a Mental Health Technician

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, 25.7% of mental health technicians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and emotional skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Mental Health Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Mental Health Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Mental Health Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Mental Health Technician Resume
Mental Health Technician Resume
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Mental Health Technician Demographics

Mental Health Technician Gender Distribution

Female
Female
64%
Male
Male
36%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among mental health technicians, 64.0% of them are women, while 36.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among mental health technicians is White, which makes up 51.9% of all mental health technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among mental health technicians is Spanish at 71.0%.

Online Courses For Mental Health Technician That You May Like

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1. Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health

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In today’s world, mental illness and distress are common and these account for a significant burden of disability within our community. At the same time, there is a growing interest in understanding and enhancing positive mental health and wellbeing; particularly from developments in the fields of positive psychology and mental health promotion. Positive Psychiatry is a new term (Jeste et al 2016) that describes a dual approach to mental health, where we build strengths, supports and healthy...

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2. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness

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Learn how social factors promote mental health, influence the onset and course of mental illness, and affect how mental illnesses are diagnosed and treated. This course explores how our understanding of mental health and illness has been influenced by social attitudes and social developments in North America and around the world. The course begins by situating our contemporary mental health practices in historical context, then looks at different aspects of mental health, mental illness and...

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3. Mental Health and Resilience for Healthcare Workers

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This course will help institutions and individuals better manage the mental health challenges of being a healthcare worker. Healthcare providers such as the University Health Network (UHN) address the mental health needs of their staff through several initiatives intended to help build resilience and to provide respite from the demands of their work. This was critical during the pandemic but, of course, healthcare workers encounter high levels of stress even without a pandemic. The primary...

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Best States For a Mental Health Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a mental health technician. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, California, Montana, and Oregon. Mental health technicians make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $45,112. Whereas in California and Montana, they would average $42,164 and $41,513, respectively. While mental health technicians would only make an average of $38,958 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Vermont

Total Mental Health Technician Jobs: 182
Highest 10% Earn:
$53,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

2. Massachusetts

Total Mental Health Technician Jobs: 2,115
Highest 10% Earn:
$43,000
Location Quotient:
1.23

3. Arkansas

Total Mental Health Technician Jobs: 653
Highest 10% Earn:
$40,000
Location Quotient:
1.34
Full List Of Best States For Mental Health Technicians

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Top Mental Health Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Mental Health Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1USAF Police Alumni Association$35,571$17.1065
2Wellpath$35,388$17.0151
3Circles of Care$34,240$16.46118
4US Air Conditioning Distributors$33,971$16.33137
5UF Health Central Florida$32,456$15.6041
6Universal Health Services$31,994$15.38117
7River Hospital$31,551$15.1770
8Gracepoint Wellness$30,997$14.9067
9Friends Hospital$30,981$14.89102
10JBS Mental Health Authority$30,763$14.7982

Mental Health Technician Videos

Becoming a Mental Health Technician FAQs

How Do I Become A Certified Behavioral Health Technician?

Becoming a certified behavioral health technician involves educational training and a high school diploma. Levels of post-high school education range from a certificate program to a bachelor's degree.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Behavioral Health Technician?

Certification for a behavioral health technician consists of a series of courses totaling 30 hours. After passing course exams, candidates may seek out work experiences to prepare them for work as health technicians.

How Much Do Mental Health Techs Make An Hour?

Mental health techs make approximately $17 an hour. A technician's wage can vary due to location of employment and education.

While larger cities typically pay more for mental health technicians, not all large markets are the same. A mental health tech in Chicago can expect to earn approximately $18 per hour, while techs working in San Francisco will earn close to $21per hour. This discrepancy in the hourly wage reflects the cost of living in both cities.

Is Being A Mental Health Technician A Good Job?

Yes, being a mental health technician can be a very good job. While rewarding, this job is also considered stressful by those working in the field.

Mental health technicians work with individuals that have issues regarding their mental health. These issues include addiction and compulsive behaviors.

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.

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