Grief & Bereavement Counselor Salaries
Grief and bereavement counselors are mental health experts who focus on thanatology, or the study of death and dying, and attempt to help patients suffering after losing someone. Depending on the patient, grief counselors may work with other specialists such as psychiatrists, clinical social workers or school counselors for the patient’s sake. Salaries for grief and bereavement counselors vary depending on their employer and location.
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Salaries
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Salaries for grief and bereavement counselors, as well as all mental health counselors, ranged from less than $24,180 a year in the 10th percentile to more than $63,630 a year in the 90th percentile as of May 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median income for these counselors was $38,150 and the average salary was $41,360.
Employer
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Grief and bereavement counselors working in the industry of individual and family services earned an average of $40,260 a year as of 2010, reports the bureau. Outpatient care centers offered an average of $41,300, while the offices of other health practitioners offered an average of $46,630. In residential mental retardation, mental health and substance abuse facilities, the average salary of a grief counselor was $33,060 a year, while those working for local governments earned an average of $49,480.
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Location
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With 2.87 mental health counselors employed per every 1,000 jobs, Pennsylvania had the highest concentration of job opportunities for grief counselors as of 2010 and offered an average salary of $37,920 a year. The bureau named Alaska as the top paying state for these counselors with a salary average of $55,540 a year, followed by Nevada with an average of $52,890 and Idaho with an average of $52,290. The highest paying area in the nation for grief counselors was Waco, Texas, with a salary average of $67,440 a year.
Outlook
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Grief and bereavement counselors will see employment opportunities increase 24 percent between 2008 and 2018, a rate much faster than the average rate of growth for all jobs in the United States, reports the bureau. This is largely due to the fact that insurance companies are offering clients reimbursement for counseling visits, which are more affordable than visits to psychiatrists and psychologists.
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References
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