Counselor (Mental Health)

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Work Tasks

• Help people deal with stress and problems
• Help keep people in the best possible mental health
• Work with individuals and groups to help them with addictions, family or marital problems, career problems, and self-esteem problems
• Work with other mental health specialists
• Work for community mental health centers, social services agencies, nonprofit organizations, jails, halfway houses, group homes, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and health maintenance organizations
• Work with people of all ages, computers, paper psychometric instruments, career data, patient records, reference books, and other mental health specialists

Salary, Size & Growth

• $45,500 average per year ($22.00 per hour)
• A medium occupation (143,400 workers in 2010)
• Expected to grow rapidly (2.2% per year)

Education/Training

• Minimum for Entry: A master's degree in counseling plus clinical experience
• Skills/Courses: Counselors usually focus on one area of specialization, and have 2 years or more of clinical experience beyond the master's degree level.
• Certification/Licensing: All states have some form of mental health counselor licensing or certification.