School guidance counselor vs counselor

The differences between school guidance counselors and counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a school guidance counselor has an average salary of $49,562, which is higher than the $36,225 average annual salary of a counselor.

The top three skills for a school guidance counselor include crisis intervention, community agencies and professional development. The most important skills for a counselor are patients, crisis intervention, and substance abuse.

School guidance counselor vs counselor overview

	School Guidance Counselor	Counselor
Yearly salary	$49,562	$36,225
Hourly rate	$23.83	$17.42
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	82,545	77,536
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	42	44
Years of experience	-	-

What does a school guidance counselor do?

School Guidance Counselors assess students' ability and potential, provide private counseling, and coordinate with fellow professionals on student matters. To help students in realizing their objectives, school guidance counselors evaluate their attributes. Also, they identify behavioral problems and appropriately to remedy the situation. Part of their duties is to cooperate with parents, external partners, and academic staff. To succeed, these guidance counselors must be authentic and accessible with good communication skills and a profound interest in helping students to achieve career and academic goals.

What does a counselor do?

Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.

School guidance counselor vs counselor salary

School guidance counselors and counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	School Guidance Counselor	Counselor
Average salary	$49,562	$36,225
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $67,000	Between $19,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Tolleson Union High School District	-
Best paying industry	Education	Education

Differences between school guidance counselor and counselor education

There are a few differences between a school guidance counselor and a counselor in terms of educational background:

	School Guidance Counselor	Counselor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	School Counseling	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

School guidance counselor vs counselor demographics

Here are the differences between school guidance counselors' and counselors' demographics:

	School Guidance Counselor	Counselor
Average age	42	44
Gender ratio	Male, 24.7% Female, 75.3%	Male, 38.5% Female, 61.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 3.7% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 15.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 3.5% White, 63.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	11%	9%

Differences between school guidance counselor and counselor duties and responsibilities

School guidance counselor example responsibilities.

Participate in IEP's staff meetings, parent meetings and individual student counseling.
Attend and participate in IEP meetings, truancy elimination meetings, children s clinic meetings, and parent meetings.
Remain non-denominational, open, flexible and ecumenical in service to patients while also providing additional resources from local spiritual communities.
Collaborate with peers in leadership capacity at recreational summer camp leading, coordinating and organizing daily activities and weekly field trips.

Counselor example responsibilities.

Maintain a safe program through ongoing CPI training.
Utilize de-escalation skills (CPI) when necessary.
Instill confidence, improve all components of writing and reading, and study strategies.
Arrange ESL tutoring and perform as liaison between students, parents, and school administrators.
Advise students into their major field of study, and assisting them with choosing the correct curriculum.
Operate a full service litigation office that evolve from general litigation to criminal litigation to federal criminal trials.

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School guidance counselor vs counselor skills

Common school guidance counselor skills

Crisis Intervention, 7%
Community Agencies, 7%
Professional Development, 6%
Financial Aid, 5%
Career Planning, 4%
K-12, 4%

Common counselor skills

Patients, 13%
Crisis Intervention, 12%
Substance Abuse, 12%
Social Work, 10%
Community Resources, 4%
CPR, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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