Therapist vs primary therapist

The differences between therapists and primary therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a primary therapist has an average salary of $59,826, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

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

Therapist vs primary therapist overview

	Therapist	Primary Therapist
Yearly salary	$55,943	$59,826
Hourly rate	$26.90	$28.76
Growth rate	17%	9%
Number of jobs	159,770	85,127
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 49%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	-	4

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

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.

Therapist vs primary therapist salary

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

	Therapist	Primary Therapist
Average salary	$55,943	$59,826
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $80,000	Between $43,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Thousand Oaks, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Childhelp	Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Best paying industry	Government	Finance

Differences between therapist and primary therapist education

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

	Therapist	Primary Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Therapist vs primary therapist demographics

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

	Therapist	Primary Therapist
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 27.1% Female, 72.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% 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	12%	15%

Differences between therapist and primary therapist duties and responsibilities

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

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.

Therapist vs primary therapist skills

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Therapist
Therapist vs Primary Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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