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Mental Health Counselors

In the Mental Health Counselors occupation, workers counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. O*NET rates it as extensive preparation, which usually means graduate school and often five years or more of related experience. It leans on social perceptiveness, active listening, and speaking. You may also need to maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment. On the six-type interest model it reads SIC, meaning helping, teaching or caring for people comes first, followed by research, analysis and working through hard problems. If you want helping, teaching or caring for people, keep it on your list. If you need hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world, it may feel thin.

What they do

Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. May help individuals deal with a broad range of mental health issues, such as those associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; or aging.

Main tasks

  • 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.
  • Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
  • Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
  • Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
  • Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.

Skills

  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Judgment and Decision Making

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You get energy from helping other people move forward.
  • You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
  • You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
  • You are comfortable relying on social perceptiveness and active listening.

May not suit you if

  • You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
  • You want to work with your hands for most of the day. Realistic rates 1.3 out of 7 here.
  • You want to be working in the field within the next few years.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIC takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.

Preparation

Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.

Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Master's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.

Also called

  • Behavior Analyst
  • Behavioral Health Counselor
  • Case Manager
  • Clinician
  • Counselor

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.