Mental Health Services Technician

Types of Degrees Mental Health Services Technician Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many psychiatric/mental health services technician graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	1,265
Undergraduate Certificate	714
Bachelor’s Degree	478
Basic Certificate	314

What Mental Health Services Technician Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to psychiatric/mental health services technician were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in psychiatric/mental health services technician should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician Majors

psychiatric/mental health services technician majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• 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.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities for Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician Majors

As a psychiatric/mental health services technician major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Mental Health Services Technician Major?

People with a psychiatric/mental health services technician degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Psychiatric Aides	5.6%	$29,180
Psychiatric Technicians	5.9%	$32,870

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Mental Health Services Technician?

The major attracts more women than men. About 85% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of psychiatric/mental health services technician majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	49
Black or African American	319
Hispanic or Latino	221
White	582
International Students	23
Other Races/Ethnicities	71

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician. About 1.8% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Mental Health Services Technician Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $31,090 to $37,760 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Mental Health Services Technician

Some degrees associated with psychiatric/mental health services technician may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to psychiatric/mental health services technician have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	57.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.7%
Some College Courses	10.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	8.7%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.6%
Master’s Degree	16.0%

Online Mental Health Services Technician Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 99 schools offered some type of psychiatric/mental health services technician program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	32	5
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	69	4
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Mental Health Services Technician Worth It?

The median salary for a psychiatric/mental health services technician grad is $31,090 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Mental Health Services Technician

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to psychiatric/mental health services technician.

Major	Number of Grads
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	4,420
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	2,248
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2,209
Clinical/Medical Social Work	356
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	211
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	16
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling	4
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	2

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.