# Psychiatric Technicians

> Care for individuals with mental or emotional conditions or disabilities, following the instructions of physicians or other health practitioners. Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report to medical staff. May participate in rehabilitation and treatment programs, help with personal hygiene, and administer oral or injectable medications.

- **SOC code:** 29-2053.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2053-00
- **Also known as:** MHW (Mental Health Worker), Mental Health Associate, Mental Health Technician (MHT), Psychiatric Technician (PT), BHT (Behavioral Health Technician), Health Care Technician (Health Care Tech), LPT (Licensed Psychiatric Technician), MHA (Mental Health Assistant)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Provide nursing, psychiatric, or personal care to patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
- Administer oral medications or hypodermic injections, following physician's prescriptions and hospital procedures.
- Encourage patients to develop work skills and to participate in social, recreational, or other therapeutic activities that enhance interpersonal skills or develop social relationships.
- Restrain violent, potentially violent, or suicidal patients by verbal or physical means as required.
- Lead prescribed individual or group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
- Issue medications from dispensary and maintain records in accordance with specified procedures.
- Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.
- 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.
- Aid patients in performing tasks, such as bathing or keeping beds, clothing, or living areas clean.
- 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.
- Interview new patients to complete admission forms, to assess their mental health status, or to obtain their mental health and treatment history.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Psychology _(knowledge)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(transferable_skill)_
- Therapy and Counseling _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Coordination _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Psychology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Instructing _(Specialized Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- 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

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 26th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 42nd percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 28th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 15th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 23rd percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 20.0% growth (Growing fast); 15.9k annual openings; 144.5k → 173.3k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $42,590; 136,300 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2053-00_