What skills should a Mental Health Counselor put on a resume?

O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and Service Orientation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Mental Health Counselor list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Client information database systems, Database software, Email software, Google Classroom, and Management information systems MIS. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Mental Health Counselor work?

O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation, including Clinician, Counselor, Mental Health Specialist, and Mental Health Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Mental Health Counselor need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 64% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Mental Health Counselor role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Mental Health Counselor resume example

A resume for a Mental Health Counselor needs to show the work itself: counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. Day to day that means work like this: maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment; encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Clinician
Counselor
Mental Health Specialist
Mental Health Therapist
Behavior Analyst
Behavior Support Specialist
BSS
Case Manager
Licensed Professional Counselor
LPC
Mental Health Program Specialist
EAP Consultant
LCMHC
LMHC
Behavioral Health Consultant
Behavioral Health Counselor
Behavioral Health Therapist
Bereavement Counselor

O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Behavior Support Specialist (BSS)
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Mental Health Counselor

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
Perform crisis interventions with clients.
Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.

27 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Client information database systems
Database software
Email software
Google Classroom
Management information systems MIS
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Netscape Navigator

23 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Desktop computers
Digital medical thermometers
Flatbed scanners
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Sphygmomanometers

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Social Perceptiveness
02Active Listening
03Speaking
04Reading Comprehension
05Service Orientation
06Writing
07Judgment and Decision Making
08Monitoring
09Critical Thinking
10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Psychology
Therapy and Counseling
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Education and Training
Sociology and Anthropology
Computers and Electronics
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

64%Master's Degree
25%Bachelor's Degree
6%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Mental Health Counselor do?: Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. Day to day that includes work like maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment and Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
What skills should a Mental Health Counselor put on a resume?: O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and Service Orientation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Mental Health Counselor list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Client information database systems, Database software, Email software, Google Classroom, and Management information systems MIS. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Mental Health Counselor work?: O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation, including Clinician, Counselor, Mental Health Specialist, and Mental Health Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Mental Health Counselor need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 64% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Mental Health Counselor role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.