Play therapist vs behavioral therapist

The differences between play therapists and behavioral therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a play therapist, becoming a behavioral therapist takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a play therapist has an average salary of $92,351, which is higher than the $37,881 average annual salary of a behavioral therapist.

The top three skills for a play therapist include social work, children birth and cognitive behavioral. The most important skills for a behavioral therapist are autism, social work, and behavior analysis.

Play therapist vs behavioral therapist overview

	Play Therapist	Behavioral Therapist
Yearly salary	$92,351	$37,881
Hourly rate	$44.40	$18.21
Growth rate	14%	14%
Number of jobs	23,449	91,976
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	41	39
Years of experience	4	6

Play therapist vs behavioral therapist salary

Play therapists and behavioral therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Play Therapist	Behavioral Therapist
Average salary	$92,351	$37,881
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $137,000	Between $27,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	George C. Grape Community Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between play therapist and behavioral therapist education

There are a few differences between a play therapist and a behavioral therapist in terms of educational background:

	Play Therapist	Behavioral Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Play therapist vs behavioral therapist demographics

Here are the differences between play therapists' and behavioral therapists' demographics:

	Play Therapist	Behavioral Therapist
Average age	41	39
Gender ratio	Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1%	Male, 23.6% Female, 76.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 4.6% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	6%	12%

Differences between play therapist and behavioral therapist duties and responsibilities

Play therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Organize and perform behavioral therapies for a child with autism.
Work with identify pre-school handicap children in order to meet the goals and objectives of their IEP's.
Perform occasional psychosocial rehabilitation services.
Perform occasional psychosocial rehabilitation services.

Behavioral therapist example responsibilities.

Manage behavioral program for each client assign (CPI training).
Modele self-help and independent skills to assist autistic and developmentally delay children achieving their establish goals.
Assist the BCBA in assessing new clients, supervising line therapists, providing parent training, and formulating client specific programs.
Analyze and interpret results through graphing data collect from individual sessions.
Work collaboratively with BCBA's and direct line staff to ensure care plan and procedures are being implement consistently and uniformly.
Communicate with school administration, school teacher's and teaching assistants with helping create IEP's and behavior plans for individuals.

Play therapist vs behavioral therapist skills

Common play therapist skills

Social Work, 21%
Children Birth, 17%
Cognitive Behavioral, 14%
Autism, 11%
Therapy Services, 3%
Language, 3%

Common behavioral therapist skills

Autism, 15%
Social Work, 12%
Behavior Analysis, 11%
Patients, 10%
Provide ABA, 6%
Applied Behavior Analysis, 5%