Vocational rehabilitation counselor vs clinician

The differences between vocational rehabilitation counselors and clinicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a vocational rehabilitation counselor, becoming a clinician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $45,871 average annual salary of a vocational rehabilitation counselor.

The top three skills for a vocational rehabilitation counselor include rehabilitation, substance abuse and transferable. The most important skills for a clinician are social work, patients, and patient care.

Vocational rehabilitation counselor vs clinician overview

	Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor	Clinician
Yearly salary	$45,871	$60,150
Hourly rate	$22.05	$28.92
Growth rate	11%	9%
Number of jobs	78,174	105,023
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	4

What does a vocational rehabilitation counselor do?

The primary role of a vocational rehabilitation counselor is to help disabled people to live fully and independently. Vocational rehabilitation counselors assist people with disabilities in securing employment. They provide health care to those who are coping with mental illness, substance abuse issues, psychological disorders, or physical disabilities. Knowledge of patient care, health management, rehabilitation program, and clinical psychology is a must for this job.

What does a clinician do?

A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

Vocational rehabilitation counselor vs clinician salary

Vocational rehabilitation counselors and clinicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor	Clinician
Average salary	$45,871	$60,150
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $62,000	Between $34,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	Williston, ND	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Nevada
Best paying company	New York State Restaurant Association	Pace University
Best paying industry	Non Profits	-

Differences between vocational rehabilitation counselor and clinician education

There are a few differences between a vocational rehabilitation counselor and a clinician in terms of educational background:

	Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor	Clinician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Vocational rehabilitation counselor vs clinician demographics

Here are the differences between vocational rehabilitation counselors' and clinicians' demographics:

	Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor	Clinician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 29.4% Female, 70.6%	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 2.9% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7%	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	21%	15%

Differences between vocational rehabilitation counselor and clinician duties and responsibilities

Vocational rehabilitation counselor example responsibilities.

Collaborate with institutions of higher learning and local organizations to help assign veterans achieve independent living and academic success.
Conduct vocational assessments, transferable skills analyses, labor market surveys; write r sum s and relate correspondence.
Conduct diagnosis interview, eligibility determination, review assessments, plan and implement individual plan for employment (IPE).
Determine eligibility for services and develop individualized rehabilitation programs.
Provide independent professional vocational rehabilitation counseling to individuals with disabilities.
Apply creative and professional conflict resolution strategies to ensure RTW plan success.

Clinician example responsibilities.

Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.

Vocational rehabilitation counselor vs clinician skills

Common vocational rehabilitation counselor skills

Rehabilitation, 20%
Substance Abuse, 12%
Transferable, 8%
Plan Development, 7%
Vocational Assessments, 6%
Social Work, 6%

Common clinician skills

Social Work, 26%
Patients, 14%
Patient Care, 4%
Individual Therapy, 4%
Mental Health, 4%
Mental Illness, 3%

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Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor vs Clinician

Updated January 8, 2025

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