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Primary counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Grace Palmisano,

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical primary counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for primary counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.3% of primary counselor resumes contained group therapy sessions as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a primary counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 primary counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Group Therapy Sessions

Here's how primary counselors use group therapy sessions:

Developed curriculum for and facilitated weekly group therapy sessions and specialized psycho-education groups.
Facilitated drug and alcohol group therapy sessions, cultural recovery discussions.

2. 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 primary counselors use mental health:

Provided quality assurance reviews of records/policies/procedures in preparation for State Mental Health Board inspections.
Facilitated groups directed at substance abuse/mental health management and wellness.

3. Crisis Intervention

Here's how primary counselors use crisis intervention:

Assist in managing problem behaviors using crisis intervention techniques and complete required documentation in a professional and timely manner.
Conducted individual and group counseling sessions, implementing behavior management systems and performed crisis intervention counseling as necessary.

4. Patients

Here's how primary counselors use patients:

Facilitated group activities, arranged for outside recovery-oriented NA/AA meetings, and provided a safe environment for recovering patients.
Coordinate and provide clinical and community-based substance abuse prevention and interventions to promote the recovery of patients.

5. Intake Assessments

Here's how primary counselors use intake assessments:

Work with adults addicted to opiates-Facilitate individual and group sessions-Caseload of 55-60-Intake Assessment-Case Consultation-Write and implement treatment plans
Conduct preliminary interviews and intake assessment with perspective clients.

6. Substance Abuse Treatment

Here's how primary counselors use substance abuse treatment:

Served as primary coordinator of clinical services for pregnant and/or parenting women engaged in outpatient substance abuse treatment.
Provided individual substance abuse treatment and group therapy to adolescents and adults.

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7. Rehabilitation

Here's how primary counselors use rehabilitation:

Researched and created curriculum for cognitive restructuring, relapse prevention, 12-step, gender-specific, and vocational rehabilitation groups.
Supervised 8 to 10 adolescents in a residential rehabilitation facility.

8. Discharge Planning

Here's how primary counselors use discharge planning:

Provided treatment, assessments, discharge planning and aftercare planning as designed by policy and deemed individually necessary.
Facilitated discharge planning and provided referral for after care services.

9. Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is a therapy, derived by Marlatt and Donovan in 2005, that targets the cognitive behavior of participants. The therapy is conducted to prevent relapses in patients, by helping them understand and predict those circumstances that trigger a relapse. The therapy facilitates people in developing behavioral strategies, also known as relapse prevention plan, which deals with relapse-oriented situations in advance.

Here's how primary counselors use relapse prevention:

Provide individual supportive therapy, psychotherapy, and symptom management, problem solving, relapse prevention and recovery.
Initiated interventions that included a strength-based approach for relapse prevention.

10. Chemical Dependency

Chemical dependency is a medical condition where a person relies on a chemical or drug in order to continue day-to-day activities. The condition can begin as abuse - where a person displays a clear pattern of substance use, commonly drugs or alcohol - and continue to dependency in which the person continues abusing substances even after problematic events have occurred.

Here's how primary counselors use chemical dependency:

Facilitated group chemical dependency counseling with male and female inmates at the Lucas County Correctional Treatment Facility.
Provide counseling and chemical dependency education services to clients and their significant others.

11. ASAM

Here's how primary counselors use asam:

Determine appropriateness for placement in a residential setting using ASAM Patient Placement Criteria.
Collect information and write assessments with DSM V diagnosis codes, use of ASAM criteria, administer screenings and intakes.

12. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how primary counselors use community resources:

Worked with biological families through supervised visitations, teaching parenting skills, and assisting with obtaining community resources.
Provided case management; interacting with stakeholders and community resources in support of consumer care.

13. Mental Illness

Here's how primary counselors use mental illness:

Coached individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness to develop independent daily living and social skills.
Provided one-on-one counseling to individuals with various substance dependency issues and mental illness diagnoses.

14. Individual Therapy Sessions

Here's how primary counselors use individual therapy sessions:

Group and individual therapy sessions and family therapy sessions in an outpatient and residential programs.
Provided full case management services including group and individual therapy sessions.

15. Residential Treatment

Here's how primary counselors use residential treatment:

Provided substance abuse and dual-diagnosis counseling to adults in residential treatment facility addiction and co-occurring disorders.
Provide counseling for incarcerated women in prison residential treatment program.

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What skills help Primary Counselors find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on primary counselor resumes?

Grace Palmisano

Lancaster Bible College

For those seeking mental health fields, skills that stand out on resumes: possess strong self-awareness and emotional stability, critical thinking, interpersonal/relational skills, communication skills, problem-solving, creativity, and genuine interest and concern for humanity. Some of these skills can be developed, but other skills are a "must-have" even before entering into the field of mental health as one is working with all kinds of people. Carl Rogers shares that counselors ought to possess and demonstrate qualities of unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruency. These are essential ingredients that make a therapist effective in the field and helps build therapeutic alliance. More importantly what clients innately want in therapy is not just a "clinical expert" but a human being who relates and understands them as a human person.

What hard/technical skills are most important for primary counselors?

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Associate Professor, Augustana University

Obviously, mastering the technology used in teletherapy and virtual counseling is essential. Further, the use of computer programs for therapy notes, documentation, and diagnosis is also important. Assessment and psychometric abilities are also important as psychotherapy research has been very clear about the important role of outcome measurement and objective assessment in psychotherapy. When prospective clinicians demonstrate the ability to work with numbers (and the software needed to make them useful), they show an openness to the objective assessment of their work.

What soft skills should all primary counselors possess?

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Associate Professor; Director, Master of Counseling, Louisiana State University at Shreveport

Soft skills that are essential for counselors include emotional intelligence, empathy, multicultural competency, interpersonal abilities, and authenticity.

What primary counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Melissa Boas

Director of Professional School Counseling, Assistant Professor, Lancaster Bible College

I believe the most important skill to enhance if taking a gap year is self-awareness. Understanding oneself and why and how self-awareness directly relates to future career decision making is instrumental in ensuring the right decisions are made. Self-awareness is extremely beneficial in all areas of life not just in choosing a career pathway.

What type of skills will young primary counselors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.

School Counseling Program Coordinator, Lubbock Christian University

School counselors will be tasked with the usual school counseling responsibilities while also encountering trauma that students experience outside of school and in school. Being well versed in trauma response is going to be a vital aspect of being a school counselor. Kids are experiencing more trauma, but we are getting better at recognizing and treating trauma as well.

What technical skills for a primary counselor stand out to employers?

Madeline Lee Ph.D.

Associate Professor, California State University San Marcos

There are technical skills that may stand out to employers, but as social workers, I think those technical skills together with "soft skills," can make an applicant really stand out to employers; social workers can combine their research skills with evidence-informed care and organizational quality improvement efforts, while being able to lead, build relationships, and think critically. In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our graduates will need to be able to fluidly navigate between employing telehealth methods to performing their work safely in-person when engaging and helping clients. To be effective, social workers will also need to understand the reverberating effects of the deep-seated roots of racism in our country and be willing to honestly confront and address those issues in whatever role they assume. Social workers are needed now more than ever.

Do you want to know more?

List of primary counselor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a primary counselor resume and required skills for a primary counselor to have include:

Group Therapy Sessions
Mental Health
Crisis Intervention
Patients
Intake Assessments
Substance Abuse Treatment
Rehabilitation
Discharge Planning
Relapse Prevention
Chemical Dependency
ASAM
Community Resources
Mental Illness
Individual Therapy Sessions
Residential Treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CARF
Clinical Services
Discharge Summaries
Psychosocial Assessments
Direct Care
Anger Management
Community Agencies
Crisis Situations
IOP
Clinical Documentation
Crisis Management
Group Facilitation
Dual Diagnosis
OASAS
Family Therapy Sessions
CPR

Client Caseload
DBT
Treatment Plan Reviews
Educational Lectures
Residential Facility
Client Care
Adult Clients
DAP
Individual Clients
Core Functions
Domestic Violence
Medical Appointments
PTSD
Mica

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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