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Mental Health Counselors

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about 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.

Related: Clinical & Counseling Psychologists Healthcare Social Workers Marriage & Family Therapists Mental Health & Substance Abuse Social Workers Rehabilitation Counselors

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
Perform crisis interventions with clients.
Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
Evaluate clients' physical or mental condition, based on review of client information.
Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
Learn about new developments in counseling by reading professional literature, attending courses and seminars, or establishing and maintaining contact with other social service agencies.
Meet with families, probation officers, police, or other interested parties to exchange necessary information during the treatment process.
Coordinate or direct employee workshops, courses, or training about mental health issues.
Learn about new developments in counseling by reading professional literature, attending courses and seminars, or establishing and maintaining contact with other social service agencies.
Plan or conduct programs to prevent substance abuse or improve community health or counseling services.
Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
Counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting clients or patients.
Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
Supervise other counselors, social service staff, assistants, or graduate students.
Plan, organize, or lead structured programs of counseling, work, study, recreation, or social activities for clients.
Coordinate or direct employee workshops, courses, or training about mental health issues.
Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy.
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs on clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
Gather information about community mental health needs or resources that could be used in conjunction with therapy.
Meet with families, probation officers, police, or other interested parties to exchange necessary information during the treatment process.
Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs on clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives.
Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
Collaborate with mental health professionals and other staff members to perform clinical assessments or develop treatment plans.
Refer patients, clients, or family members to community resources or to specialists as necessary.
Monitor clients' use of medications.
Collaborate with mental health professionals and other staff members to perform clinical assessments or develop treatment plans.
Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
Modify treatment activities or approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status.
Collaborate with mental health professionals and other staff members to perform clinical assessments or develop treatment plans.

Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.

Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Education

Master's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Internship/residency

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

64220/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

30.88/hr

Currently Employed

564,600

Yearly Projected Openings

48300

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Concern for Others
Integrity
Dependability
Stress Tolerance
Self Control
Cooperation

Blood pressure cuff kits
Desktop computers
Electronic medical thermometers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Scanners

Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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