• 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.
• Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
• 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.
• 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 with clients.
• Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
• Evaluate clients' physical or mental condition, based on review of client information.
• Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
• Modify treatment activities or approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs on clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
• Meet with families, probation officers, police, or other interested parties to exchange necessary information during the treatment process.
• Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.
• Collaborate with other staff members to perform clinical assessments or develop treatment plans.
• Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting clients or patients.
• Monitor clients' use of medications.
• Plan, organize, or lead structured programs of counseling, work, study, recreation, or social activities for clients.
• Learn about new developments in counseling by reading professional literature, attending courses and seminars, or establishing and maintaining contact with other social service agencies.
• Refer patients, clients, or family members to community resources or to specialists as necessary.
• Gather information about community mental health needs or resources that could be used in conjunction with therapy.
• Supervise other counselors, social service staff, assistants, or graduate students.
• Plan or conduct programs to prevent substance abuse or improve community health or counseling services.
• Coordinate or direct employee workshops, courses, or training about mental health issues.

• Analytical or scientific software — Statistical software; Test interpretation software
• Calendar and scheduling software — Scheduling software
• Data base user interface and query software — Database software; Microsoft Access
• Electronic mail software — Email software; Microsoft Outlook
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software — Management information systems MIS
• Internet browser software — Microsoft Internet Explorer; Netscape Navigator; Web browser software
• Medical software — Client information database systems; Patient electronic medical record EMR software
• Office suite software — Microsoft Office
• Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel
• Word processing software — Microsoft Word

Hot Technology — a technology requirement frequently included in employer job postings.

• 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.
• Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• 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.
• Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
• Science — Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
• Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
• Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
• Operations Analysis — Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
• Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.