Mental health technician vs mental health associate

The differences between mental health technicians and mental health associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a mental health associate has an average salary of $36,510, which is higher than the $32,118 average annual salary of a mental health technician.

The top three skills for a mental health technician include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a mental health associate are patients, customer service, and vital signs.

Mental health technician vs mental health associate overview

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Associate
Yearly salary	$32,118	$36,510
Hourly rate	$15.44	$17.55
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	103,710	122,947
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	34	45
Years of experience	-	4

What does a mental health technician do?

A mental health technician's primary responsibility is to provide care and assistance to patients with mental health issues. Their tasks mainly revolve around administering scheduled and prescribed medication, monitoring vital signs, assisting during therapy sessions, and assessing patients' progress and behavior. They may also have administrative support tasks such as processing necessary documentation, preparing reports, managing schedules, and even reaching out to patients' guardians and families. A mental health technician may also build a healthy rapport with patients, giving them guidance and positive influence.

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 technician vs mental health associate salary

Mental health technicians and mental health associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Associate
Average salary	$32,118	$36,510
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $25,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Vermont	New York
Best paying company	CARE	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Health Care	Professional

Differences between mental health technician and mental health associate education

There are a few differences between a mental health technician and a mental health associate in terms of educational background:

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Mental health technician vs mental health associate demographics

Here are the differences between mental health technicians' and mental health associates' demographics:

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Associate
Average age	34	45
Gender ratio	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%	Male, 33.0% Female, 67.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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%
LGBT Percentage	15%	15%

Differences between mental health technician and mental health associate duties and responsibilities

Mental health technician example responsibilities.

Prevent and manage aggressive behavior among patients and administer CPR in emergency intervention.
Assist and organize workshops consisting of education, personal self-defense, CPR, and other techniques relating to mental health patients.
Assist in taking care of mental health patients, doing rounds on the ward, helping patients with compassion and care.
Apply immeasurable levels of compassion to preserve and safeguard the dignity of patients at all times.
Observe patient behaviors, if patients become physically violent, CPI training restraint techniques may become necessary.
Conduct patient rounds, assist with ADL care, offer therapeutic support, and provide written reports on assign patients

Mental health associate example responsibilities.

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.

Mental health technician vs mental health associate skills

Common mental health technician skills

Patients, 26%
Vital Signs, 7%
CPR, 6%
Social Work, 5%
Crisis Intervention, 5%
Patient Safety, 4%

Common mental health associate skills

Patients, 24%
Customer Service, 9%
Vital Signs, 7%
CPR, 6%
Safety Checks, 4%
Social Work, 4%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Mental Health Technician
Mental Health Technician vs Mental Health Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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