What You'll Do

  • Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.
  • Provide nursing, psychiatric, or personal care to patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
  • Observe and influence patients' behavior, communicating and interacting with them and teaching, counseling, or befriending them.
  • Take and record measures of patients' physical condition, using devices such as thermometers or blood pressure gauges.
  • Encourage patients to develop work skills and to participate in social, recreational, or other therapeutic activities that enhance interpersonal skills or develop social relationships.
  • Collaborate with or assist doctors, psychologists, or rehabilitation therapists in working with patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities to treat, rehabilitate, and return patients to the community.
  • Develop or teach strategies to promote client wellness and independence.
  • Restrain violent, potentially violent, or suicidal patients by verbal or physical means as required.
  • Aid patients in performing tasks, such as bathing or keeping beds, clothing, or living areas clean.
  • Administer oral medications or hypodermic injections, following physician's prescriptions and hospital procedures.

Essential Skills

Social Perceptiveness 4.12/5
Active Listening 4.0/5
Monitoring 4.0/5
Speaking 3.88/5
Coordination 3.88/5
Reading Comprehension 3.75/5
Critical Thinking 3.62/5
Service Orientation 3.62/5
Writing 3.25/5
Instructing 3.25/5
Active Learning 3.12/5
Persuasion 3.12/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.
  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.

Common styles

Empathy, Dependability, Stress Tolerance, Cooperation, Self-Control

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 4.0/5
Oral Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Deductive Reasoning 3.75/5
Written Comprehension 3.62/5
Inductive Reasoning 3.62/5
Written Expression 3.5/5
Speech Recognition 3.5/5

Technologies & Tools

ADL Data Systems OptimumClinicals Electronic Health Record Allscripts Sunrise Cerner ProFile Epic EpicCare Inpatient Clinical System GE Healthcare Centricity EMR ICANotes InfoLogix HealthTrax Engine MEDITECH Behavioral Health Clinicals Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Word Netsmart Technologies Avatar Clinical Workstation CWS

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Empathy (High importance: 5.0/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.77/5)
  • Stress Tolerance (High importance: 4.7/5)
  • Cooperation (High importance: 4.67/5)
  • Self-Control (High importance: 4.67/5)

Want to see how YOUR strengths align with this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

This career typically requires vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some specialized training or certification may also be required.

Similar Careers to Explore

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary

99.6% similar profile

Psychiatric Aides

99.6% similar profile

Occupational Therapy Assistants

99.3% similar profile

Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

99.1% similar profile

Occupational Therapists

99.1% similar profile

Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

99.0% similar profile

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary

99.0% similar profile

Acute Care Nurses

98.9% similar profile

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Autism Behavior Technician (Autism Behavior Tech) Behavior Technician (Behavior Tech) Behavioral Health Associate Behavioral Technician (Behavioral Tech) BHT (Behavioral Health Technician) Counselor Health Care Technician (Health Care Tech) LPT (Licensed Psychiatric Technician) Mental Health Associate Mental Health Specialist Mental Health Technician (MHT) MHA (Mental Health Assistant) MHW (Mental Health Worker) Milieu Therapist Patient Care Specialist Psychiatric Assistant Psychiatric Safety Tech (Psychiatric Safety Technician) Psychiatric Technician (PT) Psychology Associate Psychology Technician (Psychology Tech) RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) Rehabilitation Technician (Rehab Tech) Residential Aide (RA) Support Team Member (STM)

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.