How To Become A Group Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a group counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Juleen Buser Ph.D.,

Christopher Todd Belser Ph.D.

Like the title implies, a group counselor is a mental health practitioner who counsels a group of people going through similar situations. This person facilitates therapy sessions among groups. A group counselor periodically meets with this group, which often consists of between 5-12 persons.

They coordinate the counseling process and encourage group members to share their stories and experiences. You will also determine who is eligible to be in this group and provide the rules that group members should follow during the sessions.

The ideal group counselor needs to be empathetic, display warmth, flexibility, and courage. You must be encouraging and have the ability to confront others. The educational requirements to start a career as a group counselor include a bachelor's degree in psychology or a related discipline. It would help if you also had a master's degree or higher to obtain a license to practice. Experiences are also vital to employers. You will earn between $27,500 and $41,500 as a group counselor.

What general advice would you give to a Group Counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreGroup CounselorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,155

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.4

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.38%

Asian 3.23%

Black or African American 11.28%

Hispanic or Latino 12.21%

Unknown 5.91%

White 67.00%

Gender

female 59.25%

male 40.75%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

8.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.9

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a group counselor

Explore group counselor education requirements

Most common group counselor degrees

Bachelor's

60.6 %

Master's

14.7 %

Associate

11.8 %

Start to develop specific group counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Mental Health	22.58%
Patients	21.11%
Crisis Intervention	8.42%
Social Work	7.94%
Rehabilitation	7.15%

Complete relevant group counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New group counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a group counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real group counselor resumes.

Research group counselor duties and responsibilities

Administer first aid and CPR when need.
Develop leadership skills while training younger counselors.
Execute leadership skills by planning and facilitating activities.
Work towards empowering juveniles and their families to support a positive lifestyle by providing strength base intensive intervention and rehabilitation services.

Prepare your group counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your group counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a group counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Group Counselor Resume templates

Build a professional Group Counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Group Counselor resume.

Apply for group counselor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a group counselor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do group counselors rate their job?

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Group Counselor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

To help most people out of their respective concern.

Cons

I don't like people perishing, especially the teenagers.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019