Senior therapist vs primary therapist

The differences between senior therapists and primary therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior therapist and a primary therapist. Additionally, a senior therapist has an average salary of $63,963, which is higher than the $59,826 average annual salary of a primary therapist.

The top three skills for a senior therapist include social work, autism and mental health. The most important skills for a primary therapist are patients, social work, and group therapy sessions.

Senior therapist vs primary therapist overview

	Senior Therapist	Primary Therapist
Yearly salary	$63,963	$59,826
Hourly rate	$30.75	$28.76
Growth rate	14%	9%
Number of jobs	68,064	85,127
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Master's Degree, 49%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior therapist do?

Senior therapists lead and manage a facility's therapeutic program and work hand-in-hand with other facility team members to deliver, oversee, plan, and coordinate the therapeutic program. These professionals promote professional accountability, quality development, evaluation, clinical governance, and monitoring. Besides supervising community forums and similar activities, senior therapists also attend appropriate staff and clinical supervision meetings. They document and share with the clinical team the right therapeutic guidelines and processes to follow.

What does a primary therapist do?

Primary therapists are the main point of contact for patients concerning wellness and overall mental health. Those who choose this career path will be expected to supervise and manage efficient treatment according to plan, and to manage between six and eight patients at a time, keeping in constant communication with these patients and various specialists.

Senior therapist vs primary therapist salary

Senior therapists and primary therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Therapist	Primary Therapist
Average salary	$63,963	$59,826
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $91,000	Between $43,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Thousand Oaks, CA
Highest paying state	Pennsylvania	California
Best paying company	Montage Health	Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Best paying industry	Energy	Finance

Differences between senior therapist and primary therapist education

There are a few differences between a senior therapist and a primary therapist in terms of educational background:

	Senior Therapist	Primary Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Master's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Senior therapist vs primary therapist demographics

Here are the differences between senior therapists' and primary therapists' demographics:

	Senior Therapist	Primary Therapist
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 26.0% Female, 74.0%	Male, 27.1% Female, 72.9%
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, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	15%

Differences between senior therapist and primary therapist duties and responsibilities

Senior therapist example responsibilities.

Manage and target behaviors using the ESDM, ABA, PRT and SCERTS model.
Function as a case manager, co-le group therapy and provide psychiatrist supervise individual therapy to adolescent patients.
Work with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.
Produce detailed quarterly reports on each student, used in IEP meetings to assess student's progress.
Collaborate with parents, teachers, and other professionals on the implementation of programs, and attend IEP meetings.
Implement one on one behavioral intervention programs in the homes of children with autism while using apply behavioral analysis therapy.

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Primary therapist example responsibilities.

Case managing, intakes, group and individual session, treatment plans, OASAS standards
Provide clinical therapy for severely emotionally disturb adolescents and their families to aid in the rehabilitation process.
Perform crisis intervention, including management of difficult or resistant patients, utilizing clinically appropriate accept techniques and methods.
Assist in development of extend hour IOP and PHP program.
experience, IOP, individual sessions, assessments, case management.
Assist in developing and assessing progress on individual rehabilitation plans.

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Senior therapist vs primary therapist skills

Common senior therapist skills

Social Work, 12%
Autism, 9%
Mental Health, 8%
Patients, 8%
Behavior Analysis, 7%
ABA, 5%

Common primary therapist skills

Patients, 17%
Social Work, 14%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Eating Disorders, 7%
Patient Care, 5%
Crisis Intervention, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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