Primary therapist resume examples from 2026
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How to write a primary therapist resume
Craft a resume summary statement
Put a resume summary on the top of your resume to highlight your accomplishments. A resume summary sums up your experience and skills, making it easy for hiring managers to understand your qualifications at a glance. Here are some tips to write a strong, impressive resume summary:
Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.
Step 2: Include your years of experience in primary therapist-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.
Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.
Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.
Hiring managers spend under a minute reviewing resumes on average. This means your summary needs to demonstrate your value quickly and show why you are the perfect fit for the primary therapist position.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Your Skills section is a place to list all relevant skills and abilities. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- Look at the job listing and skills listed. You need to include the exact keywords from the job description to get your resume in front of an actual human. Do you have those skills? Fantastic! Be sure to list them.
- Include as many relevant hard or technical primary therapist skills as possible for each job you apply to.
- Be specific with the skills you have and be sure you are using the most up to date and accurate terms.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a primary therapist resume:
- Patients
- Social Work
- Group Therapy Sessions
- Eating Disorders
- Patient Care
- Crisis Intervention
- Treatment Plan Reviews
- Discharge Planning
- Mental Health Issues
- Substance Abuse Issues
- Clinical Services
- Family Therapy Sessions
- Discharge Summaries
- Mental Illness
- Individual Therapy Sessions
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Community Resources
- Relapse Prevention
- Therapy Counseling
- Clinical Supervision
- Chemical Dependency
- Therapeutic Interventions
- PHP
- Therapeutic Services
- Substance USE Disorders
- EMDR
- Dual Diagnosis
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Client Care
- Utilization Review
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
How to structure your work experience
Next you should include your work experience. Structure your work experience section by listing your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
Include only recent, relevant jobs. Avoid including work experience over 20 years to avoid ageism.
Beneath each job, you should have bullet points to emphasize why you're the perfect fit for the primary therapist.
How to write primary therapist experience bullet points
Your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. Instead, it is your chance to show your accomplishments and show why you're good at what you do.
- Use the What, How, and Why format. Answering these questions turns a bland job description into an effective showcase of your abilities.
- What were your responsibilities or goals?
- How did you accomplish them?
- Why were your results important? (How did it impact your company? Can you quantify the results in numbers? )
Here are effective examples from primary therapist resumes:
Work history example #1
Primary Therapist
Apalachee Center
- Instructed training classes and trained new staff in ABA therapy, as well as behavior management.
- Experienced in a Level 1 NICU.
- Served as charge therapist in adult ICU's when assigned.
- Provided trauma informed psychotherapy, substance abuse treatment and/or Psycho-education to adults, adolescents and families
- Worked successfully therapeutically with children using the modality of play therapy to assist in over coming childhood trauma.
Work history example #2
Teacher Counselor
Community Residences
- Aligned with other supervisory staff including nurse and program manager resulting in clear communication and strengthened team cohesiveness.
- Acquired First Aid and CPR Certification through this job, active through the summer of 2017.
- Adhered to HIPAA rules and regulations.
- Assisted the Primary Counselors in developing and evaluating treatment plans by implementing and teaching recovery principles.
- Assisted primary counselors in conducting educational groups for chemically dependent individuals.
Work history example #3
Drug Abuse Counselor
The Salvation Army
- Determined length of stay by utilizing ASAM dimensions and DSM IV criteria.
- Provided individual substance abuse counseling to victims of trauma.
- Performed psycho-social assessment via the ASI, CAI, ASAM, and DSM-IV.
- Supervised and monitored a caseload of adjudicated community based adults who struggled with alcohol and drug issues.
- Provided outpatient trauma and crisis counseling to all ages and genders.
Work history example #4
In Home Therapist
NorthEast Treatment Centers
- Provided short-term intensive in-home family interventions to resolve child and youth crises and avert psychiatric hospitalization
- Provided in-home therapy to families who were involved with the child welfare system
- Directed the programs and staff of the rehabilitation services department.
- Worked extensively with DCS, court liaisons, school administrators, case managers, and other therapists.
- Implemented direct one-on-one therapy in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with adolescents that have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
Add an education section to your resume
The education section should display your highest degree first.
Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.
Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:
Master's Degree in psychology
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
2014 - 2015
Master's Degree in social work
Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
2013 - 2014
Highlight your primary therapist certifications on your resume
If you have any additional certifications, add them to the certification section.
To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your primary therapist resume:
- Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW)
- Certification in Forensic Social Work (CFSW)