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Mental health technician vs psychologist

The differences between mental health technicians 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 $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 psychologist are patients, crisis intervention, and rehabilitation.

Mental health technician vs psychologist overview

Mental Health TechnicianPsychologist
Yearly salary$32,118$97,803
Hourly rate$15.44$47.02
Growth rate9%6%
Number of jobs103,71012,516
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age3447
Years of experience--

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 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 technician vs psychologist salary

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

Mental Health TechnicianPsychologist
Average salary$32,118$97,803
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $39,000Between $68,000 And $139,000
Highest paying CitySacramento, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateVermontCalifornia
Best paying companyCARESierra Corporation
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between mental health technician and psychologist education

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

Mental Health TechnicianPsychologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachNorthwestern University

Mental health technician vs psychologist demographics

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

Mental Health TechnicianPsychologist
Average age3447
Gender ratioMale, 36.0% Female, 64.0%Male, 35.2% Female, 64.8%
Race ratioBlack 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, 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 technician and psychologist 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
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Mental health technician vs psychologist skills

Common mental health technician skills
  • Patients, 26%
  • Vital Signs, 7%
  • CPR, 6%
  • Social Work, 5%
  • Crisis Intervention, 5%
  • Patient Safety, 4%
Common psychologist skills
  • Patients, 18%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 6%
  • Mental Illness, 5%
  • Clinical Supervision, 5%
  • APA, 4%

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