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Mental Health Counselors
Other names for this job might include Behavior Analyst, Behavior Support Specialist (BSS), Bereavement Counselor, Case Manager, Child Care Counselor, Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Clinician, Correctional Counselor, Corrections Caseworker, Counselor
- $45080Salary
- 70%Job satisfaction
- HardBecoming one
- HighJob growth
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Mental Health Counselors: Know It All In 1 Minute
Table of Contents
In this career summary, you will find out what the job of A Mental Health Counselor is about and what it is like.
After reading this, you will have a good idea on what the job is about and decide if this is the right career for you.
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.
Become one
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Mental Health Counselors with little to no experience tend to make between $26300 and $32720 while the more experienced ones make over $54320 per year.
| Top 5 paying states | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| AK | $28.94 | $60190 |
| UT | $27.16 | $56500 |
| ID | $26.3 | $54700 |
| OR | $25.6 | $53250 |
| WY | $25.39 | $52800 |
1 of the easiest ways to increase your salary as A Mental Health Counselor is to move to a higher paying state like AK. Right now, the highest paying states for Mental Health Counselors are AK, UT, ID, OR and WY.
However a higher pay at AK doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at AK might be 2x higher than where you are currently at now.
3 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 (bigger companies like the Fortune 500 companies tend to pay more).
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 Bachelors 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 |
Another popular question from our readers is what makes A Mental Health Counselor successful or would they be good in this career.
Well, we found that most successful Mental Health Counselors have these 5 skillsets.
| Active Listening |
| Social Perceptiveness |
| Speaking |
| Service Orientation |
| Writing |
In addition to that, 1 common characteristic among successful Mental Health Counselors is they are good at Self Control. Here are the top 5 common characteristics.
| Self Control |
| Integrity |
| Concern for Others |
| Stress Tolerance |
| Dependability |
Pros and Cons
Here are some reasons why you should and shouldn’t choose A Mental Health Counselor as your career.
| PROS |
|---|
| Suitable for people who likes to help and teach others |
| Suitable for people who values relationships between coworkers and customers and wants to work in a friendly noncompetitive 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 handson work |
| Salary is below average |
| It is very hard to get into this career. Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience is required for this career. |
There will be pros and cons for all jobs. The point is how much do the pros outweigh the cons to you.
A pro to you might be a con to Bob. A pro to Bob might be a con to you. We suggest reading about this career framework that can help you to find out what type of careers are right for you.
What is the job like
On a normal working week Mental Health Counselors work More than 40 hours per week.
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 to Mental Health Counselors 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, Hard careers to get into, careers in Human and Social Service
Additional resources
http://www.bls.gov/OOH/community-and-social-service/mental-health-counselors-and-marriage-and-family-therapists.htmhttp://www.amhca.org/
http://www.cacrep.org/
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