Do you love caring for people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities? Well, you should be a mental health worker. These professionals offer therapy, basic care, and assistance to different patients with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. The next step after being a mental health specialist is finding a job, which we are ready to show you.
This article will help you draft a perfect resume for your job application. Remember that you must highlight your skills, education, and experiences to your employer in the best way possible to be considered for a job position. Therefore, walk with us as we cover more about this position and help you draft a good resume using our included examples.
Position Description
Popularly known as psychiatric technicians in different spheres, mental health workers offer therapy, basic care, and assistance to mental health patients and those with developmental disabilities. They generally monitor their patient’s conditions and guide them through their daily activities while administering therapeutic care. These professionals generally work under the supervision of a registered nurse and may, in some instances, be part of nursing teams. Some establishments where you will find mental health workers are residential mental health facilities and psychiatric hospitals.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Participating in the admission of new patients with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities
- Collaborating with other staff members, such as registered nurses, to generate treatment plans and strategies that beat meet their patient needs
- Offering daily care and support to different patients
- Administering medication and treatments to patients in accordance with doctors’ and nurses’ directions
- Assisting patients with daily activities such as bathing, movement, and eating
- Intervening in times of crisis l, where the patient is involved
- Restraining patients who become physically violent
- Supervising patients to guarantee their safety and well-being
- Carefully monitoring patient behaviors and reporting to the doctor or nurses where necessary
- Keeping accurate records regarding any behavioral or health changes in the patient to be submitted to the doctors
- Developing and leading focused group activities
- Leading family, couples, individual, and group therapy addressing patient issues
- Supervising patients to ensure that they follow correct treatment plans and take the right medications
- Help identify the root cause of the patient’s mental health problems
- Educating families living with members with mental health problems or developmental disabilities on how to help their affected members recover
- Collaborating with patients to discover their issues with them
- Teaching patients how to manage their emotions via a de-escalation strategy
- Building trust by building and maintaining a relationship with a patient and their families
- Working closely with psychiatrists and doctors for further examination of patients
Required Knowledge and Skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Outstanding communication skills
- Great observational skills to accurately look out for patients’ behavioral changes
- Ability to work under pressure
- Excellent psychological skills
- In-depth knowledge of data entry processes
- Great time management skills
- Great computer skills
- Ability to show empathy when dealing with patients
- Ability to help patients develop social skills
- Ability to remain tough both mentally and emotionally when caring for patients
- Ability to listen without being judgmental
- Excellent interpersonal and relationship skills
- Excellent reporting skills
- Ability to de-escalate crises
- Physical strength and ability to handle violent patients
- High degrees of emotional tolerance
- Excellent and keen social perceptiveness, which helps in understanding people’s behavior
- Ability to think critically
- A caring and concerned personality
- Ability to think quickly and make sound decisions
Education and Experience
- A minimum of 3- years of cognate experience
- A high school diploma (makes up the least percentage of mental health workers), a Degree in nursing or social work(not necessary as it is dependent on the position and industry), or an associate degree
- Medical assistance, CNA, EMT, or an equivalent program
- A valid driving license in case of emergencies
- Experience in data entry and reporting
- Experience working with an ‘undeserved population’ or substance abuse patients and victims
Salary
The average pay for mental health workers, according to reputable sites such as Glassdoor, stands at roughly $70,000 with roughly $32,000 as the base pay and $38,000 as additional pay.
Mental Health Worker CV Example 1
Dan Judge
Address: 678 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania
Email address: judegedan76@gmail.com
Phone number: (336) 485- 789
Personal Profile
Professional and certified mental worker with 10+ years of experience dealing with different mental health patients. A calm, collected, and skilled mental health expert with great observational skills can identify even the smallest change in behaviors. A self-motivated team worker is interested in making the world a better place for people with mental health issues. Dedicated professional with high emotional intelligence and the physical stamina to handle violent patients.
Work Experience
04/2019- 06/2022, Psychiatrist, Bright Psychiatric Ward, Chicago Illinois
- Monitored 40+ patients, ensuring that they were safe and comfortable
- Observed different patient behavior and kept meticulous records, making diagnosis and treatment easier by 10%
- Collaborated with five psychiatrists and mental health therapists to correctly and swiftly identify the issues the new intakes were facing
- Developed 10+ treatment plans weekly for new intakes that best met their needs
- Conducted psychiatric evaluations on 10+ patients weekly via physical exams, observations, interviews, and psychological testing to identify the underlying issues
- Regularly monitored patients and measured their progress against the treatment plans, which had a 97% success rate
- Collaborated with a team of 5 members, including psychologists and physicians, to occasionally adjust treatment plans for the swift treatment of patients
- Had at least three weekly meetings with case managers and a few stakeholders on care and treatment for mental health patients
- Identified and implemented new documentation processes that increased the accuracy of clinical documentation by 90%
- Mentored new hires in the psychiatry department, teaching them more about care and treatment and what it takes to be a psychiatrist
- Performed diagnosis and administered medications that had a 98% success rate
- Regularly consulted with the faculty and 10+ staff members for faster diagnosis and treatment of mental health cases
- Completed 20+ case management paperwork weekly and accurately developed psychiatric assessment forms
- Maintained 100% confidentiality when and after handling clients
- Worked with 500+ patients in my stay at the ward and achieved a treatment success rate of 95%
03/2016-03/2019, Behavioral Health Technician, Bordeaux Health Centre
- Oversaw the overall patient intake procedure, ensuring that it was 100% compliant with the center’s internal standards and met all the new admissions requirements
- Directly attended to 30+ in-house patients through regular outings, on-site activities, and occasional organization of support groups
- Counseled and mentored an average of 10 clients daily on substance abuse and their destructive habits
- Documented every incident and proofread the reports to ensure zero grammatical errors or inaccuracies before forwarding them to the right expert for review purposes
- Took 30+ minutes with patients monitoring vital signs before administering medication
- Achieved 98% successful management of patient behavior, ensuring that they were not a danger to themselves and others
- Worked closely with 7 team members to closely monitor behavioral changes among recovering addicts and administer the right medication
- Collaborated with five other personnel, including a clinical therapist, to occasionally intervene in different scenarios, especially when clients felt like leaving against medical advice
- Took an average of one hour daily cleaning the facility to ensure that it was neat, presentable and well-organized
- Restocked supply twice a week to ensure that there was enough supply to support different programs
- Spent an average of two hours a day performing basic maintenance to ensure that the facility was in good shape
01/2014- 02/2016, Mental Health Intern, Mosby Behavioral Health Services
- Gave five mental health professionals assistance through charting of patient information and accurate entering of different diagnosis codes
- Helped in administering medication twice a day to patients
- Spent an average of three hours a day observing the behavior and mental status of patients, duly notifying the right professional in case of any changes
- Received at least five new patients daily and established their baseline record by observing and recording their vital signs
- Offered assistance throughout the day during facility transfers to ensure that patients were okay and secure
- Spent an average of three hours a day communicating with patients in dire need of care to help them manage their anxiety and foster positive results
- Regularly encouraged and reassured clients throughout the transition periods to ensure 100% smooth discharge
- Attended 2 team meetings daily, at the beginning and the end of the day
- Collaborated with 5+ mental health professionals for diversion minimization and offering of optimum care to patients
Education
- 11/2015- 02/2019, Bachelor of Science (Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Psychology), Rutgers University
- 01/2011- 12/2013, Associate of Applied Science in Behavioral Sciences, Community College of Colorado
- 01/2008- 11/2010 High School Diploma, Craft Senior School
Skills
- Languages
- English
- Bajan
- Mandarin
Technical Skills
- Computer skills, Clinical Supervision
- CPR, Record keeping
- Information technology savviness
Soft Skills
- Social perceptiveness
- Communication, Organization
- Observation, Critical thinking
- Problem solving, empathy
- Anger management
Volunteer
05/16, Youths Against Drugs Volunteer Program, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, UNCTAD
Certifications
10/2014, Mental Health Certification, AOTA
Mental Health Worker CV Example 2
Emily Lighthouse
Address: 512 Chestnut St, Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, 17045
Email address: lighthouseem@gmqil.com
Phone number: (313) 345 1735
Personal Profile
Experienced and friendly music therapist ready to take on new challenges and work with mental health patients from all walks of life. Certified expert with seven years of experience offering customized music therapy to individuals with mental health issues. Excellent team player with outstanding communication, planning, organizational, and observation skills.
Work Experience
03/2019- 06/2022, Music Therapist, St John’s Mental Health Center, Pittsburg
- Interacted with 25+ patients weekly, taking them through intense music therapy
- Ensured that clients were fully involved in their therapy journey by accurately tracking and showing them their progress after documentation of their behaviors and reactions toward music therapy
- Targeted 5+ client abilities, including their sensory, perceptual, and communicative abilities, to accurately assess their functioning levels before making treatment decisions
- Explored 20+ music styles and sounds to help clients identify their most preferred music genre
- Mentored three upcoming music therapists, teaching them the core principles and different fundamentals of music therapy
- Spent an average of two hours a day tracking and reporting client progress
- Spent a maximum of 30 minutes offering social therapy to customers on top of music therapy through deep conversations
- Regularly communicated with and offered any necessary assistance to customers, earning 100% positive customer feedback
- Made adjustments to the type and genre of music used in music therapy depending on the patient’s progress record, promoting fast recovery and treatment by 6%
- Collaborated with five professional music therapists to ensure excellent treatment plans and high music therapy success rates.
09/2017- 01/2019, Music Therapist Intern, Braeburn Health Facility, Pittsburg
- Participated in the composing, arrangement, and adaptation of 20+ genres of music for therapy purposes
- Worked under the lead music therapist to update treatment plans of 20+ weekly patients
- Spent at least 20 minutes talking to clients to establish their goals and objectives, tailoring the music therapy style around them with the help of the lead music therapist
- Spent an average of three hours daily conducting music therapy research to learn more about the field in preparation for practice
- Reviewed every patient’s progress twice a week under the direction of the lead music therapist
05/2012- 06/2013, Mental Health Youth Advocate Volunteer, Mental Health Awareness Program, Pittsburg
- Created and posted mental awareness posts on Twitter, reaching an audience of 10,000+
- Organized peer counseling sessions once a week
- Spent an average of two hours daily researching exhaustive materials on mental health
- Visited 50+ schools to create mental health awareness
- Collaborated with a 10-member team of mental health experts to create awareness of mental health
Education
- 07/2013- 08/2015, Master of Arts: Music Therapy, Western Michigan University School of Music, Kalamazoo
- 03/2008- 04/2012, Bachelor of Arts: Music Education, Bucknell University, Lewisburg Pennsylvania
- First class honors
- 04/2003- 11/2007, High School Diploma, Alert Brown Girls Senior High School
Skills
- Languages
- English
- Arabic
- Italian
Technical Skills
- Computer, CPR
- Clinical supervision, information technology savviness
Soft Skills
- Communication, empathy
- Organizational, Anger management
- Critical thinking, Creativity
- Supervision
Volunteer
07/2015, Creating Awareness about Mental Health in Schools, Pennsylvania Mental Awareness Board
Certificates
12/14, Certificate in Mental Health Awareness, Udemy
Mental Health Worker Resume Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What Do I Need to Become a Good Mental Health Worker?
Regardless of your education, you will need several skills and experiences to thrive as a mental health worker. First, you should acquire excellent listening and interpersonal skills and social perceptiveness, which helps us understand the reasons behind people’s behaviors. Ensure that you also have a caring personality and patience, which are greatly needed when dealing with mental health patients or people with developmental disabilities. Other requirements include critical thinking and ability to solve complex problems, high degrees of empathy, ability to work under pressure, and excellent supervision abilities.
2. How Can I Become a Mental Health Worker?
Mental Health workers are qualified and recognized professionals. Therefore, you need a high school diploma, Bachelor’s Degree or associate’s Degree to be one. If you take the degree route, you can choose between psychology, social work, nursing, sociology, criminal justice, human development, social sciences, and behavioral sciences, among many others. We also advise you to register for relevant programs such as CNA and EMT, giving you the upper hand among several candidates. The next step is to gain additional experience in this field which can be done through volunteer programs, before seeking certification.
3. Which Industries Employ Mental Health Workers?
As a mental worker, you will closely deal with mental health patients and those with developmental disabilities, so expect to be employed in a healthcare-related facility. You will therefore work in the healthcare and social assistance industry, scientific and technical services industry, public administration, and safety industry. However, we should also expect firms and organizations to have a mental health facility in the coming years, given its wide and increasing recognition.
4. What is the Expected Job Growth For Mental Health Work?
People are increasingly taking mental health wellness and awareness seriously. Statistics show that there has been increasing awareness of mental health over the past decade, with more expected to come. Therefore, you can expect significant job growth in the next five years. Therefore, pursuing a career in mental health is a good option worth considering.
5. What are Some of My Options as a Mental Health Worker?
You have lots of options to pursue as a mental health worker. Remember, you don’t only have to deal with mentally ill patients. You can move from a social worker to a therapist, a case manager, and lastly, a patient care manager, or you can move from a social worker to a clinician, a case manager and lastly, a medical case manager. Another possible career path is from a social worker to a clinical social worker, case manager, and director of case management. Alternatively, you can move from a therapist to a supervisor, program director, and finally, director of program services. Some mental health workers also move from a behavioral specialist to a residential supervisor to a residential manager at five years or below. All these are possible with the right commitment.
6. What Are Some of the Mental Health Worker Certifications That I Should Have?
There are several options to choose from, given the number of spheres where mental health work applies. You can get a mental health certification from AOTA, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist certification from NTRC, or a Mental Health Technician Certification which empowers one to attend to patient duties under the supervision of a registered nurse.