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Mental Health Counselors
counsel with emphasis on prevention. Work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. May help individuals deal with issues associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging.
Table of Contents
Job description
Mental Health Counselors counsel with emphasis on prevention. Work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. May help individuals deal with issues associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging.
- Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients’ treatment.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
- Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
Featured Schools
Salary
Mental Health Counselors with little to no experience tend to make between $28240 and $34950 while the more experienced ones can earn over $57580 per year.
| Top 5 paying states | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| UT | $32 | $66,330 |
| AK | $30 | $62,920 |
| DC | $29 | $59,850 |
| OR | $29 | $59,390 |
| NJ | $28 | $58,410 |
One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Mental Health Counselor is to move to a higher paying state like UT. Right now, the highest paying states for Mental Health Counselors are UT, AK, DC, OR and NJ.
However, a higher pay at UT doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at UT might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.
Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Mental Health Counselor is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.
Requirements
We asked other Mental Health Counselors what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Master’s Degree followed by a Bachelor’s Degree.
Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.
| Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling |
| Clinical/Medical Social Work |
| Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling |
| Mental Health Counseling/Counselor |
Pros and Cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Mental Health Counselor.
| PROS |
|---|
| Suitable for people who likes to help and teach others |
| Suitable for people who values relationships between co-workers and customers and wants to work in a friendly non-competitive environment |
| This career is perfect for people who love to work indoors. |
| One of the fastest growing careers |
| CONS |
|---|
| Not suitable for people who likes practical and hands-on work |
| Salary is below average |
| It is very hard to get into this career. Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience is required for this career. |
What is the job like
70% of Mental Health Counselors said they were satisfied with their job and 89% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.
Is this right for me
You can read more about these career personality types here.
People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..
They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
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Related career information
Mental Health Counselors job description, Mental Health Counselors salary, Mental Health Counselors information, what is the job of a Mental Health Counselor like, pros and cons about Mental Health Counselors, colleges and universities for Mental Health Counselors, is Mental Health Counselors the right career for me, careers in Human and Social Service
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