Phone counselor vs crisis intervention specialist

The differences between phone counselors and crisis intervention specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a phone counselor and a crisis intervention specialist. Additionally, a crisis intervention specialist has an average salary of $54,678, which is higher than the $38,285 average annual salary of a phone counselor.

The top three skills for a phone counselor include social work, crisis calls and crisis planning. The most important skills for a crisis intervention specialist are social work, patients, and substance abuse.

Phone counselor vs crisis intervention specialist overview

	Phone Counselor	Crisis Intervention Specialist
Yearly salary	$38,285	$54,678
Hourly rate	$18.41	$26.29
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	75,943	80,817
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	4	4

Phone counselor vs crisis intervention specialist salary

Phone counselors and crisis intervention specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Phone Counselor	Crisis Intervention Specialist
Average salary	$38,285	$54,678
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $47,000	Between $40,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City	-	Hoboken, NJ
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Legacy Health
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between phone counselor and crisis intervention specialist education

There are a few differences between a phone counselor and a crisis intervention specialist in terms of educational background:

	Phone Counselor	Crisis Intervention Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Phone counselor vs crisis intervention specialist demographics

Here are the differences between phone counselors' and crisis intervention specialists' demographics:

	Phone Counselor	Crisis Intervention Specialist
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 23.4% Female, 76.6%	Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4%
Race ratio	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%	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 phone counselor and crisis intervention specialist duties and responsibilities

Phone counselor example responsibilities.

Manage a caseload of individuals in programs design to provide vocational rehabilitation and other services to the developmentally disable.
Provide individual assessments, treatment planning and psychotherapy services to culturally diverse adult female population in need of rehabilitation services.
Listen to clients' concerns about HIV/AIDS relate treatment.
Facilitate groups of children with ADHD and also a self-esteem group for adults.
Provide counseling for individuals, children and adults for depression, anxiety, ADHD, personality disorders and other behavioral disorders.
Specialize in individual, relationship, marital, custody, anxiety, depression, trauma resolution, and PTSD.

Crisis intervention specialist example responsibilities.

Provide clinical assessments, crisis intervention and supportive counseling for patients who are involuntary admissions.
Provide content lead support on mathematics assessment projects/contracts.
Provide mathematics content expertise and consultation to meet and support customer specify goals.
Prepare, arrange, and facilitate involuntary and voluntary inpatient psychiatric hospitalization placement for patients when clinically indicate.
Provide individual counseling, weekly psycho-educational groups in DBT and substance abuse prevention, crisis intervention and administration of clinical intakes.
Author and review items for ESL assessments, including TOEFL and TOEIC tests.

Phone counselor vs crisis intervention specialist skills

Common phone counselor skills

Social Work, 27%
Crisis Calls, 23%
Crisis Planning, 10%
Crisis Intervention, 9%
Suicide Prevention, 8%
Mental Illness, 5%

Common crisis intervention specialist skills

Social Work, 15%
Patients, 12%
Substance Abuse, 7%
Community Resources, 5%
Crisis Stabilization, 5%
Triage, 4%

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Phone Counselor
Phone Counselor vs Crisis Intervention Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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