Psychiatric Technicians

Employment for psychiatric technicians is expected to grow much faster than the average for all careers through 2028, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Demand for technicians is expected to continue in large part because of a well-established trend of returning patients to their communities after shorter and shorter periods of hospitalization. This trend has encouraged development of comprehensive community mental health centers and has led to a strong demand for psychiatric technicians to staff these facilities. The passage of the Affordable Care Act has increased the number of people with access to mental health care, which will increase demand for psychiatric technicians. Opportunities will also be good in facilities that treat older people with cognitive mental diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease; in prisons; and in outpatient care centers for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and substance abuse problems.

Concerns over rising health care costs should increase employment levels for technicians, because they and other paraprofessionals can take over some functions of higher paid professionals. This kind of substitution has been demonstrated to be an effective way of reducing costs without reducing quality of care.