CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies

Mental Health Counselors

The Benchmark Job Description below represents the specific Position Characteristics of the job used in the Salary Survey. Benchmark Job Descriptions should be inspected carefully to review the degree of matching between an organizations' Job and the Salary Survey Benchmark. Matching internal Jobs to Salary Survey Benchmark Jobs should not be done on Job Title alone. A thorough comparison of Salary Survey Benchmark to Internal Job Descriptions is recommended. A good overlap should exist on any comparisons used on critical Job Dimensions and Competencies.
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Summary Job Description Tasks
Counsel with emphasis on prevention. Work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. May help individuals deal with issues associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
 
Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, and help them to develop insight into themselves and their relationships.
 
Guide clients in the development of skills and strategies for dealing with their problems.
 
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
 
Counsel clients and patients, individually and in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, and making changes.
 
Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, and tests.
 
Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
 
Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
 
Collaborate with other staff members to perform clinical assessments and develop treatment plans.
 
Evaluate clients' physical or mental condition based on review of client information.
 
Meet with families, probation officers, police, and other interested parties to exchange necessary information during the treatment process.
 
Refer patients, clients, or family members to community resources or to specialists as necessary.
 
Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting clients or patients.
 
Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs and clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
 
Plan, organize and lead structured programs of counseling, work, study, recreation and social activities for clients.
 
Modify treatment activities and approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status.
 
Learn about new developments in their field by reading professional literature, attending courses and seminars, and establishing and maintaining contact with other social service agencies.
 
Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.
 
Gather information about community mental health needs and resources that could be used in conjunction with therapy.
 
Monitor clients' use of medications.
 
Plan and conduct programs to prevent substance abuse or improve community health and counseling services.
 
Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
 
Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
 
Supervise other counselors, social service staff, assistants, and graduate students.
 
Coordinate and direct employee workshops, courses, and training about mental health issues.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Important Knowledge Competencies Competency Description
Psychology Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
 
Therapy and Counseling Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
 
Sociology and Anthropology Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
 
Customer and Personal Service Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 
English Language Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 
Education and Training Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 
Philosophy and Theology Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
 
Clerical Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 
Medicine and Dentistry Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
 
Administration and Management Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Important Skill Competencies Competency Description
Active Listening Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
 
Social Perceptiveness Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
 
Speaking Talking to others to convey information effectively.
 
Service Orientation Actively looking for ways to help people.
 
Monitoring Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
 
Reading Comprehension Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
 
Critical Thinking Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
 
Persuasion Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
 
Judgment and Decision Making Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
 
Writing Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
 
Complex Problem Solving Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
 
Learning Strategies Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
 
Science Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
 
Active Learning Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
 
Coordination Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
 
Negotiation Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
 
Operations Analysis Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
 
Instructing Teaching others how to do something.
 
Systems Analysis Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
 
Systems Evaluation Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
 
Time Management Managing one's own time and the time of others.
 
Management of Personnel Resources Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Important Ability Competencies Competency Description
Oral Expression The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
 
Oral Comprehension The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
 
Problem Sensitivity The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
 
Speech Recognition The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
 
Speech Clarity The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
 
Inductive Reasoning The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
 
Written Comprehension The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
 
Written Expression The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
 
Fluency of Ideas The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
 
Deductive Reasoning The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
 
Selective Attention The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
 
Category Flexibility The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
 
Originality The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
 
Information Ordering The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
 
Near Vision The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
 
Speed of Closure The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
 
Flexibility of Closure The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
 
Perceptual Speed The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
 
Memorization The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Tools/Technology Example Product Category
Client information database systems Medical software
 
Database software Data base user interface and query software
 
Email software Electronic mail software
 
Management information systems MIS software Enterprise resource planning ERP software
 
Microsoft Access Data base user interface and query software
 
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet software
 
Microsoft Internet Explorer Internet browser software
 
Microsoft Office software Office suite software
 
Microsoft Outlook Electronic mail software
 
Microsoft Word Word processing software
 
Netscape Navigator Internet browser software
 
Office suite software Office suite software
 
Patient electronic medical record EMR software Medical software
 
Scheduling software Calendar and scheduling software
 
Spreadsheet software Spreadsheet software
 
Statistical software Analytical or scientific software
 
Test interpretation software Analytical or scientific software
 
Web browser software Internet browser software
 
Word processing software Word processing software
 
Desktop computers Desktop computers
 
Digital medical thermometers Electronic medical thermometers
 
Flatbed scanners Scanners
 
Notebook computers Notebook computers
 
Personal computers Personal computers
 
Sphygmomanometers Blood pressure cuff kits
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Prerequisite Qualification Category Education and Experience Level
Required Level of Education Master's Degree
 
On-the-Job Training Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months
 
On-Site or In-Plant Training Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months
 
Related Work Experience Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years
 
On-Site or In-Plant Training Up to and including 1 month
 
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
Alternate Job Title(s)
Behavior Support Specialist (BSS)
Behavioral Health Therapist
Bereavement Counselor
Case Manager
Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC)
Chemical Dependency Coordinator
Chemical Dependency Therapist
Child Care Counselor
Children's Therapist
Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Clinical Social Worker
Clinical Supervisor
College Mental Health Counselor
Correctional Care and Treatment Worker
Correctional Caseworker
Correctional Counselor
Corrections Caseworker
Counseling Psychologist
Counselor
Crisis Clinician
Crisis Intervention Therapist
Direct Care Counselor
Domestic Violence Advocate
Elder Counselor
Employee Assistance Program Counselor (EAP Counselor)
Family Counselor
Grief Counselor
Group Counselor
Group Home Counselor
Human Service Coordinator
Human Service Counselor
Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Mental Health Case Manager
Mental Health Clinician
Mental Health Counselor
Mental Health Program Specialist
Mental Health Specialist
Mental Health Therapist
Mental Health/Mental Retardation Supports Coordinator (MH/MR Supports Coordinator)
Psychologist
Residential Child Care Counselor
Social Service Worker (SSW)
Therapist
Treatment Coordinator
 
CompGeo Occupation Group: Health Care
Job Family: Psychology
Benchmark Title: Mental Health Counselors
 
 
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