Mental health technician vs mental health counselor

The differences between mental health technicians and mental health counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a mental health counselor has an average salary of $49,471, 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 counselor are social work, patients, and crisis intervention.

Mental health technician vs mental health counselor overview

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Counselor
Yearly salary	$32,118	$49,471
Hourly rate	$15.44	$23.78
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	103,710	110,752
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	34	41
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 counselor do?

A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.

Mental health technician vs mental health counselor salary

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

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Counselor
Average salary	$32,118	$49,471
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $34,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Longview, WA
Highest paying state	Vermont	Washington
Best paying company	CARE	Family Life Counseling & Psychiatric Services
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between mental health technician and mental health counselor education

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

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Counselor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Mental health technician vs mental health counselor demographics

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

	Mental Health Technician	Mental Health Counselor
Average age	34	41
Gender ratio	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%	Male, 31.4% Female, 68.6%
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, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	15%	15%

Differences between mental health technician and mental health counselor 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 counselor example responsibilities.

Provide clinical consultation to consumers and clients regarding manage care services and other benefits available to them through their EAP programs.
Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Certify in CPI (crisis intervention technique).
Assist with crisis intervention, (CPI) maintains treatment activities.
Provide mental health assessment and evaluation of detainees refer by facility staff or identify by pre-screening (booking or nursing).
Assess for special needs during booking process.

Mental health technician vs mental health counselor 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 counselor skills

Social Work, 17%
Patients, 16%
Crisis Intervention, 9%
Patient Care, 6%
Mental Health Issues, 5%
Rehabilitation, 4%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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