Community and Social Service · Holland code SIC
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.
Also called: Case Manager, Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, Therapist, Clinical Social Worker, Clinical Therapist, Clinician, Counselor.
O*NET 21-1023.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $60,280
- Middle half earn $47,070 to $79,730. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 77% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
- Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals.
- Interview clients, review records, conduct assessments, or confer with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients.
- Supervise or direct other workers who provide services to clients or patients.
- Modify treatment plans according to changes in client status.
- Assist clients in adhering to treatment plans, such as setting up appointments, arranging for transportation to appointments, or providing support.
- Educate clients or community members about mental or physical illness, abuse, medication, or available community resources.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening4.1 / 5
- Speaking4.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Monitoring4.0 / 5
- Writing3.8 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Therapy and Counseling4.8 / 5
- Psychology4.7 / 5
- English Language3.9 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.8 / 5
- Education and Training3.7 / 5
- Sociology and Anthropology3.6 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic12
- Investigative51
- Artistic30
- Social100
- Enterprising24
- Conventional35
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- social counsellor · DE Sozialberater/Sozialberaterin · FR assistant de service social/assistante de service social
- drug and alcohol addiction counsellor · DE Sucht- und Drogenberater/Sucht- und Drogenberaterin · FR addictologue
- marriage counsellor · DE Ehe- und Familienberater/Ehe- und Familienberaterin · FR conseiller conjugal/conseillère conjugale
- sexual violence counsellor · DE Berater bei sexueller Gewalt/Beraterin bei sexueller Gewalt · FR professionnel de l’aide aux victimes de violences sexuelles/professionnelle de l’aide aux victimes de violences sexuelles
- mental health social worker · DE Sozialarbeiter im Bereich Psychische Gesundheit/Sozialarbeiterin im Bereich Psychische Gesundheit · FR assistant social en santé mentale/assistante sociale en santé mentale
- military welfare worker · DE Sozialarbeiter beim Militär/Sozialarbeiterin beim Militär · FR assistant de service social de la défense/ assistante de service social de la défense
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Social workers (2461)139,800 employed
- Probation officers (2462)11,900 employed
- Youth work professionals (2464)10,200 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “その他の社会福祉専門職業従事者”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥277,800
- Middle half earn ¥236,200 to ¥332,400 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 229,150
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.12. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (21-1023).
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