Mental health counselors help people who are suffering from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, suicidal feelings, grief, and stress, among other things. While these counselors are trained to deal with a wide range of mental health issues, many choose to specialize in a particular issue or group of issues, or to work with a specific age group. Private practice counseling, psychiatric facility counseling, youth counseling, and geriatric counseling are some of the most common mental health counselor jobs.
One of the most common mental health counselor jobs is private practice counseling. This type of counselor keeps an office where her clients can meet with her. She may work with clients who have a wide range of mental health issues, or she may specialize in certain areas, such as eating disorders or social anxiety. During sessions, she helps her clients reflect on the causes and consequences of their problems, as well as develop healthy strategies for dealing with those problems in the future. She may occasionally conduct sessions with both her client and the client’s loved ones, who can provide the client with additional insight into the nature of his issues with the counselor’s guidance.
Psychiatric facilities employ some mental health counselors. The counselor in this position usually works with residents of the facility who are experiencing a serious psychiatric crisis, such as attempted suicide. Her counseling work frequently takes the form of group sessions in which clients are encouraged to share their experiences with their fellow residents about their health issues. She usually collaborates with the staff psychiatrists and psychologists to develop a multi-faceted treatment plan for each resident.
Other mental health counselor positions are solely dedicated to working with children and teenagers. These young clients may be dealing with a variety of mental health issues, such as low self-esteem and anxiety brought on by family transitions such as divorce. A youth counselor is frequently assigned to an elementary or secondary school. The counselor may meet with each student at the school once a year to check for signs of mental illness. If she notices any of these students have problems, she may schedule regular sessions with them.
Geriatric counselors help people who are dealing with mental health issues related to aging. An elderly care facility will frequently hire this type of counselor. She may work one-on-one with clients or supervise group counseling sessions. The difficult emotions that can accompany the loss of one’s contemporaries, increasingly limited mobility, or the onset of conditions like Alzheimer’s are common issues addressed in geriatric counseling. Fear of death is another topic that comes up frequently in geriatric counseling sessions.