Average Mental Health Therapist Salary in Belgium for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Mental Health Therapist salary for 2024 in Belgium and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the Euro. To keep things simple, we are using the EUR currency code instead of the currency symbol โ‚ฌ.

How Much Does a Mental Health Therapist Make in Belgium?

A Mental Health Therapist working in Belgium will typically earn around 93,340 EUR per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 44,300 EUR to the highest average salary of 148,300 EUR.

Average Annual Salary
93,340 EUR
Average Monthly Salary
7,778 EUR

Lowest Annual Salary
44,300 EUR
Lowest Monthly Salary
3,691 EUR

Highest Annual Salary
148,300 EUR
Highest Monthly Salary
12,358 EUR

These are average salaries for a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Mental Health Therapist to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Mental Health Therapist salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Mental Health Therapist Salaries in Belgium

So we've looked at the average salaries a Mental Health Therapist will earn in Belgium. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Mental Health Therapist can earn between 44,300 EUR and 148,300 EUR on average in Belgium. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium is 100,580 EUR. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 100,580 EUR, and 50% of the population earn more than 100,580 EUR.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Mental Health Therapist salary in Belgium, 25% of the population are earning less than 66,000 EUR while 75% of the population earn more than 66,000 EUR.

75% of the population earn less than 134,600 EUR, and 25% of the population earn more than 134,600 EUR.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Mental Health Therapist Salary by Experience Level in Belgium

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average mental health therapist salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Mental Health Therapist in Belgium that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 49,360 EUR.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Mental Health Therapist salary would increase to 64,180 EUR.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Mental Health Therapist, the average salary would be 96,720 EUR.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 115,620 EUR.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Mental Health Therapist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 125,700 EUR.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Mental Health Therapist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 139,100 EUR.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
49,360 EUR
2-5 Years +34%
64,180 EUR
5-10 Years +48%
96,720 EUR
10-15 Years +22%
115,620 EUR
15-20 Years +9%
125,700 EUR
20+ Years +8%
139,100 EUR

Mental Health Therapist Salary by Education Level in Belgium

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Mental Health Therapist in Belgium with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 56,100 EUR.

  • Master's Degree. A Mental Health Therapist in Belgium with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 86,740 EUR.

  • PhD. A Mental Health Therapist in Belgium with a phd education can earn an average salary of 146,200 EUR.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
56,100 EUR
Master's Degree +57%
86,740 EUR
PhD +68%
146,200 EUR

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in Belgium is around 30,700 to 92,200 EUR and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Mental Health Therapist Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Belgium, a male mental health therapist will earn an average of 94,380 EUR, while a female mental health therapist will earn around 91,320 EUR.

This means that a male mental health therapist earns approximately 3% more than a female mental health therapist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Belgium

Male
94,380 EUR
Female -3%
91,320 EUR

Mental Health Therapist Average Pay Raise in Belgium

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium is around 12% every 18 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in Belgium is around 8% every 17 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 18 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Belgium for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in Belgium.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
3%
Energy
6%
Information Technology
9%
Healthcare
3%
Travel
6%
Construction
9%
Education
3%

Mental Health Therapist Bonus and Incentive Rates in Belgium

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Mental Health Therapist is a high bonus based job, with 86% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

14% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 5% to 9%.

Received Bonus
86%
No Bonus
14%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in Belgium earn approximately 8% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
76,540 EUR
Private Sector -8%
70,600 EUR

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Mental Health Therapist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Mental Health Therapist in Belgium.

Job Title Category Salary
Adoption Services Director Counseling 99,340 EUR
Alcohol and Drug Counselor Counseling 80,580 EUR
Assistant Instructor Counseling 40,240 EUR
Career Counselor Counseling 92,300 EUR
Consultant Counseling 92,400 EUR
Director of Rehabilitation Services Counseling 118,520 EUR
Disability Consultant Counseling 78,960 EUR
Employment Counselor Counseling 87,020 EUR
Family Advocate Counseling 58,440 EUR
Family Services Specialist Counseling 67,320 EUR
Family Support Specialist Counseling 95,980 EUR
Family Youth Worker Counseling 35,500 EUR
Guidance Counselor Counseling 88,580 EUR
Guidance Director Counseling 103,900 EUR
Mental Health Counselor Counseling 97,900 EUR
Programs Coordinator Counseling 49,020 EUR
Psychologist Counseling 123,400 EUR
Supervising Counselor Counseling 97,460 EUR
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Counseling 89,980 EUR
Youth Advocate Counseling 53,840 EUR
Youth Care Counselor Counseling 96,980 EUR
Youth Care Specialist Counseling 57,820 EUR
Youth Development Manager Counseling 116,180 EUR

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in Belgium, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Antwerp 102,240 EUR
Brugge (Bruges) 88,240 EUR
Brussel 84,740 EUR
Charleroi 96,540 EUR
Gent (Ghent) 89,960 EUR
Leuven 79,260 EUR
Liege 93,340 EUR
Namur 83,300 EUR

Link To or Reference This Page

We spend a lot of time collecting, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site to be as useful to you as possible.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference World Salaries as the source. We appreciate your support!

  • "Average Mental Health Therapist Salary in Belgium for 2024". World Salaries. Accessed on March 29, 2024. https://worldsalaries.com/average-mental-health-therapist-salary-in-belgium/.

  • "Average Mental Health Therapist Salary in Belgium for 2024". World Salaries, https://worldsalaries.com/average-mental-health-therapist-salary-in-belgium/. Accessed 29 March, 2024

  • Average Mental Health Therapist Salary in Belgium for 2024. World Salaries. Retrieved from https://worldsalaries.com/average-mental-health-therapist-salary-in-belgium/.