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Mental health worker skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Kim Jones Ph.D.,

Katherina Nikzad-Terhune Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical mental health worker skills. We ranked the top skills for mental health workers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 19.9% of mental health worker resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a mental health worker needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 mental health worker skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how mental health workers use patients:

Provided direct care to patients under direction and guidance of professional nursing personnel within a mental illness psychiatric outpatient hospital.
Trained and performed multiple safety tactics of crisis prevention and intervention to restrain highly aggressive agitated patients.

2. Crisis Intervention

Here's how mental health workers use crisis intervention:

Provide therapeutic intervention- Emotional support- crisis intervention
Provided case management for 64 residents which included individual treatment plans, administering daily medications and providing crisis interventions as needed.

4. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how mental health workers use cpr:

Trained in Safety Crisis Management, First Aid, Sanctuary, CPR, Fire Safety, and Medical Administration.
Trained in crisis and physical interventions, cultural competence, axis diagnosis, CPR and First AID trained.

5. Vital Signs

Vital signs are a set of values indicating different body systems' performance. They are measurements of the body's most basic functions. The four major vital signs used in medicine to assess a patient are body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure.

Here's how mental health workers use vital signs:

Supervised patient interactions and monitored vital signs; maintained safety and followed the performance of comprehensive treatment plan.
Performed nursing procedures such as monitoring vital signs, administering medications and treatments.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how mental health workers use rehabilitation:

Assist patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routine and encourage them to participate in social and recreational activities to promote rehabilitation.
Provided referrals to appropriate multidisciplinary services, including mental health, drug/alcohol rehabilitation services, and medical and physical/occupational therapy services.

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7. Mental Illness

Here's how mental health workers use mental illness:

Provided therapeutic assistance to individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness and co-morbid disorders such as personality disorders and intellectual disabilities.
Conducted case management of 40-50 clients with serious and persistent mental illness-coordinating continuity of care with community referral services.

8. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how mental health workers use direct supervision:

Direct supervision of patients, maintain safety within the hospital environment by monitoring patient for unsafe behaviors.
Supported mental health team in state psychiatric facility under direct supervision of registered nurses.

9. Substance Abuse

Here's how mental health workers use substance abuse:

Assisted with developing and implementing an intensive outpatient substance abuse program for adults and adolescents within the tribal community.
Designed and implemented psycho-educational groups about conflict resolution, self-control, social skills and substance abuse groups.

10. Patient Safety

Here's how mental health workers use patient safety:

Assessed patient safety and communicated status to licensed health professional as needed and in emergency situations.
Assessed and maintained patient safety according to unit and hospital guidelines.

11. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how mental health workers use mental health:

Provided individual mental health and addiction counseling to adults suffering from alcoholism or heroin addiction who varied in age and ethnicity.
Facilitated supportive services/counseling for client family members to address special concerns and ease the transition into mental health center services.

12. Direct Patient Care

Here's how mental health workers use direct patient care:

Provided direct patient care, including medication administration and physical assessments.
Provided direct patient care for residents in a short-term residential facility.

13. Therapeutic Environment

Here's how mental health workers use therapeutic environment:

Supervised residents' activities, recording daily personnel accountability * Interacted with peers and colleagues in a positive and therapeutic environment.
Provided safe and healthy therapeutic environment through observation of patient behavior, collection of data, group and individual interventions.

14. Mental Health Issues

Here's how mental health workers use mental health issues:

Attend mandatory and elective in-service training pertinent to mental health issues
Facilitated individual and group counseling sessions regarding mental health issues.

15. Excellent Interpersonal

Here's how mental health workers use excellent interpersonal:

Instructed group meetings, applied excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills in relating to residents Work independently to complete daily tasks expected by superiors.

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What skills help Mental Health Workers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on mental health worker resumes?

Kim Jones Ph.D.

Professor, Chair of Clinical Concentration, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The necessary skills for today's market include the ability to implement evidence-informed mental health approaches, the ability to display empathy, knowledge of crisis intervention models, organizational skills, good work ethic, both verbal and written communication skills, cultural competence, and the ability to adapt to changing technology.

What soft skills should all mental health workers possess?

Katherina Nikzad-Terhune Ph.D.

Associate Professor, MSW Program Director, School of Social Work, Northern Kentucky University

Regarding soft skills, we look for skills that are essential foundational skills within the profession. These include empathy, active listening, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, to name a few. These are essential for effective alliance-building with our clients and for making unbiased and ethical decisions. As social workers, we are often in the business of communication. Rarely do we work in isolation, as much of our work involves collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and individuals in other professional domains. As such, effective communication, organization, time management, and collaborative skills are necessary.

What mental health worker skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. April Jones

Chair, Tuskegee University

There is a high demand for social workers and a national shortage of social workers , which makes it an open market to join the profession. Moreover, in a changing world with many social problems that need the skillset of a social worker to address them on multiple levels.

What type of skills will young mental health workers need?

Dr. Eva Moya Ph.D.

Professor, The University of Texas

Graduates of the social work profession need to be able to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and mobilize communities to bring about social, economic, political, or environmental change, in addition to being involved in social policy development.

Skills in research, to study social issues, with the intention of developing social policy or micro-level approaches to practice to improve people's lives, and training in relation to multiculturalism, cultural competence, cultural humility practice is vital.

Key skills include:
-Collaboration
-Critical thinking
-Ethics in evidence based-practice
-Assessment, intervention, and evaluation
-Social work competencies to inform behaviors.
-Administration and management
-Community practice
-Policy practice

What hard/technical skills are most important for mental health workers?

Sam Terrazas Ph.D.

Professor and Academic Chair Department of Social Work, The University of Texas Permian Basin

Social workers practice in various areas of practice and organizational auspices that may differ in the hard/technical skills that are most important. In general, the hard/technical skills most important can be categorized based on the level of education-BSW (Bachelors of Social Work) versus MSW (Masters of Social Work).

BSW's practice in a range of organizations providing various types of services; however, in general practice in the realm of case management that requires that ability to demonstrate cultural responsiveness, develop an alliance with clients, apply NASW and a state's ethics and professional standards of practice, conduct assessments, and to develop plans to meet a client's goals.

MSW's practice in many areas such as administration, clinical, public policy and advocacy, child welfare, public safety, and health care. Each of these practice areas requires specific technical skills; however, in general, MSW's are trained to assess individuals, families, groups, and communities. To that end, MSW's must understand the cultural context and how socio/economic local, state, federal policies impact social welfare problems such as poverty, intimate partner violence, and mental illness. MSW's must possess strong engagement skills/therapeutic alliance-building, diagnostic/evaluation skills, ethical application of interventions and therapeutic approaches, and advocacy skills.

Do you want to know more?

List of mental health worker skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a mental health worker resume and required skills for a mental health worker to have include:

Patients
Crisis Intervention
Social Work
CPR
Vital Signs
Rehabilitation
Mental Illness
Direct Supervision
Substance Abuse
Patient Safety
Mental Health
Direct Patient Care
Therapeutic Environment
Mental Health Issues
Excellent Interpersonal
Therapeutic Relationships

Role Model
Therapeutic Interventions
Community Resources
CPI
Therapeutic Milieu
Behavioral Issues
Crisis Management
Compassion
Cleanliness
Developmental Disabilities
ADL
de-Escalation Techniques
Money Management
MHW
Foster Care
Patient Behavior

Medication Administration
Incident Reports
Crisis Situations
Discharge Planning
Blood Pressure
Independent Living
Eating Disorders
Behavior Modification
Client Behavior
TCI
Treatment Programs
Crisis Intervention Training
Emotional Support
Safety Checks
Group Therapy Sessions
Meal Preparation

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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