Mental Health Counselor
By: Sofia Soto
Mental Health Counselor
Mental health counselors are a person is there to listen to your problems, and help you resolve them. They are also there so you can vent out your feelings or whatever is your mind. A big requirement of being a counselor is to be an active listener, and a great problem solver. You must also be a great observer, and be able to read any emotion on one's face. Most counselors have a master's degree, and a doctoral degree usually is required for employment as a licensed clinical or counseling psychologist.
More Information
The job outlook for mental health counselors are really good, their job outlook has increased by 29%. An average salary for a mental health counselor is around $41,500. You can work in private health centers, hospitals, and this is a full time job. That is a disadvantage because you are working. A positive though is that you get to grow a really connection with your clients, You get to really know them and find out what they are talking about.
Career Connections
I do not know anyone who is a mental health counselor, but I know a woman who is a doctor and she works with some counselors. Her name is Allison Wu, she works at the rush hospital in the city. She says that counselors are a really big help for her patient who have some mental problems. They really get to in to their patients, and inform doctors what's wrong to help resolve the patients problem.
School Preperations
There are many programs, or even classes a person can do to help them achieve the goal of being a mental health counselor. The two classes I think will help the most are sociology and psychology. You can also volunteer at local clinics, If you are allowed too.
Refreneces
A reference is someone who can help you when applying for a job, to give good feedback on your personality and how you are in the work area. My three references are:
- Mr. Vincent Russotto, Digital Literacy teacher
- Miss. Johanna Heppeler, Global Studies teacher
- Mr. Kurt Schuett, English teacher
Post Secondary Plans
When I go to college, my related majors that I will take are counseling sociology, psychology, and social work. I need to have at least 2 years of supervising counseling under my belt before actually becoming a counselor. I will also need a masters degree to be able to a land a job. If I really want to, I can take some clinical psychology internships, which are available in N.Y.C.
Reflection
This assignment kind of opened my eyes. I knew that you have to work hard to get what you want, but I didn't know the actual process of it. It kind of made me realize that I should really start preparing for college. Even if I am a freshman, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I also realized the skills of being a mental health counselor. You can't be just a good listener, you also have to be a good observer, and a great problem solver. This makes me happy though because I already know I'm good at these skills, so I won't have any problem with working this way.