How To Become A Psychiatric Technician Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a psychiatric technician assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Sepideh Soheilian Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a psychiatric technician assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.36 an hour? That's $42,349 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 12,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a psychiatric technician assistant?

Sepideh Soheilian Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Baltimore

General advice I would give to a graduate in the field of counseling psychology beginning their career is to be flexible and open minded, especially during these unprecedented times due to the pandemic. Being open to providing mental health services in a variety of formats such as virtual or hybrid (combining virtual, and in-person services) will allow for greater flexibility in providing services to clients. Career development and career satisfaction is an ongoing process. Therefore, I would also encourage graduates to continually evaluate and assess their careers to determine if their current position is still the best fit for their career values, needs, and goals.

ScorePsychiatric Technician AssistantUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,349

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.13%

Asian 6.43%

Black or African American 14.26%

Hispanic or Latino 20.09%

Unknown 6.17%

White 51.91%

Gender

female 72.06%

male 27.94%

Age - 30

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 30

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a psychiatric technician assistant

Explore psychiatric technician assistant education requirements

Most common psychiatric technician assistant degrees

Bachelor's

45.3 %

Associate

17.3 %

High School Diploma

12.0 %

Start to develop specific psychiatric technician assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	53.01%
Vital Signs	15.10%
ADL	5.70%
Direct Patient Care	5.17%
Group Therapy Sessions	3.73%

Complete relevant psychiatric technician assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New psychiatric technician assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a psychiatric technician assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real psychiatric technician assistant resumes.

Research psychiatric technician assistant duties and responsibilities

Participate in rehabilitation and treatment programs, also lead prescribed individual and group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
Assist high behavior sensory deprive clients with ADL's and documentation.
Assist clients in utilizing their potential for self-care and activities of daily living (ADL).
Collaborate with adjunct paraprofessionals who work with mentally ill, emotionally disturb, or developmentally disable patients.

Prepare your psychiatric technician assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your psychiatric technician assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a psychiatric technician assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable psychiatric technician assistant resume templates

Build a professional psychiatric technician assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your psychiatric technician assistant resume.