Essay On Mental Health Counselor

A mental health counselor is a counseling professional, whose duties involves helping individuals cope with difficult life events, managing mental illnesses, and referring patients to additional resources that can help them. Before they can start counseling, they need to follow their states specific requires. For instance, in Louisiana, one has to obtain a master’s degree from an accredited program, have the required hours of supervised practice and coursework, and pass the National Counselor Examination to be licensed and certified. In addition to receiving a license in this field, an individual has to complete an addition 40 hours of continuing education every year to renew their license. The Mental Health Counseling program, offered at Capella, would satisfy most, if not all, of the licensure requirements in Louisiana.

The choices we make early in life have an enormous impact on our future. I have always known that I wanted to directly impact people’s lives and my personal experiences have set me on the school-counseling path. In the future, I would love to influence another generation of students to soar for their dreams.

A mental health counselor often helps their clients make positive choices and changes due to the decisions and insights they help facilitate. Many counselors work in hospitals with psychiatric patients or with mentally ill adults in continued day treatment programs. Some choose private practice or practice in counseling centers, government agencies, and corporations and youth homes. They usually work in pleasant and comfortable surroundings, working a standard workweek. Some counselors are available weekends or evenings for the convenience and needs of their clients. Mental health counselors are an extremely valuable part of the healthcare system.

An applicant must obtain a master’s or doctoral degree from a mental health field and accumulate 60 graduate semester hours in counseling from a regionally accredited institution of higher education including 9 courses specific to counseling. Candidates must pass a DPH exam in counseling. In October of 2017, the state is changing its requirements for graduate programs to add 100 hours of practicum with at least 40 hours of direct client contact and 600 hours in mental health counseling internship consisting of 240 hours of direct client contact. (Department of Health, 2016)

Then finally getting a doctorate’s. “At minimum, mental health counselors must hold a master’s degree in counseling from an accredited institution. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is the governing body that overseas the accreditation of mental health counseling programs within the United States. Prior to entering a master’s program, the prospective student must hold a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university. Many mental health counselors hold bachelor’s degrees in related fields such as psychology, human development, and social work; however, this is not a requirement to enter into a mental health counseling master’s

Mental health counselors are still facing barriers in employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Although in December 2010, the VA released the qualification of standards in hiring LPMHs, there is still a shortage of LPMHs (NBCC, ). Today there are about 0.001% or licensed professional counselor working at the VA compared to 25% of all U.S. mental health professional (AAMF, n.d.). In 2015, the Department of Veterans concluded that license mental health counselor would be included in their hiring of 1,900 mental health staff positions (AAMF, n.d.). How can that be so when there is no series code for mental health counselors within the OPM. This is a limitation for mental health counselors when searching for a job within the Department

My specific career ideas are still a little vague, but, I do know mental health is something that I am going to pursue in one way or another. Mental health has always intrigued me a little because I had an Uncle with schizophrenia, I never met him and my Mom’s family doesn’t really talk about him a whole lot, but I still think about him a lot. I got to see what happened with his family after, but I can’t see how they were before, and I will always wonder about how he might have influenced my life. My interest in mental health became more directed when I took my first psychology class, the introductory psychology class at Montgomery college in the fall of 2014. I really liked it, partially thanks to the teacher I had, but mostly because it gave me a better understanding of what mental health is. The next psychology class I took was on personalities and it confirmed that psychology and mental health are something I truly am passionate about.

In fact, entrance into this field of work requires only a high school diploma or equivalent. Postsecondary courses in psychology and mental health technology may provide an advantage. Sometimes a valid driver’s license is required if transporting clients is a specific job duty” (Psychology School Guide). “Training often includes observation of other workers, workshops, seminars, and in-service activities. Psychiatric aides may be required to take part in more informal training as well, such as working through a training manual or an online course that relates to the duties they are required to perform”(Psychology School

The professional identity of a mental health counselor is extremely important. When it comes to finding your professional identity, it is important to weigh out all options to make sure that the profession that is chosen, is what one would see themselves doing for a long time. It is more so of asking oneself if they feel they qualify for the career that they are about to take on. This paper will explain how to become an effective professional counselor, the roles and characteristics of the counseling professional, the different counseling associations, what is required to attain a state

Dates and Types of Services: James is scheduled to attend weekly therapy appointments for 45-55 minutes in duration. Prior to sessions, a review of his weekly behavior data will be conducted and pertinent issues will be addressed first then skills training relevant to his healthy living plan, social skills, independent living, and prevention of sexually inappropriate behavior will follow. Therapy will consist of success oriented cognitive behavioral therapy. Other techniques that will be employed include (1) teaching strategies to increase satisfaction with his life, (2) teaching skills to increase motivation and decrease symptoms of depression (3) general skill rehearsal for emotion management (4) role modeling assertive and positive

A Master’s degree or higher from a Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) approved mental health counseling program.

As a sophomore in college, I have a good idea what my current career goal is, related to my major in psychology, and how I think an internship will help me reach this goal. My overall career goal, or dream, is to combine my love and passion for music with my desire to help people. My major in psychology is how I plan on reaching my goal of helping people by possibly becoming a counselor, therapist, or psychiatrist. The main group of people I am interesting in helping are kids and teenagers with family issues, personal issues, and mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety for example. This passion comes for personal experience with these issues and with witnessing people close to me and people I love struggle with these issues; those experiences sparked a fire inside me and I am determined not to let that fire be doused. In further detail, what I would love to accomplish with my goal of combining music and counseling is to start a nonprofit organization where kids and teenagers with mental disorders and other related issues can go. On the psychology side of it there would be counselors these kids could talk to; on the music side of it I would like to have to resources to allow kids to create, write, play, and record music. I am a strong believer in the fact that music can be healing and a great escape from your problems and my goal is to create a safe place for kids to go to deal with their issues and find healing. I believe that this nonprofit internship opportunity

Trauma affects us all differently, and there is o specific treatment for one type of trauma. As a mental health professional we need to be trained to respond to all kinds of trauma. Not many realize that traumatic situations do not just affect those involved but it also affects many first responders, and mental health professionals. We will be looking at how different crisis situations effect the survivors and the first responders.

The importance of clinical supervision of new counselors Supervision of a new clinical mental health counselor (CMHC) during their graduate school education and leading up to licensure is a vital part of the training process. The supervisor is responsible for the welfare of the client and the CMHC (American Counseling Association, 2014) that they are supervising, however the role entails much more than this. Poor supervision will not only endanger the welfare of the client and supervisee, but it will prevent the supervisee from growing and developing in their skills. Conversely, when done properly, the supervisor acts as a mentor, coach, teacher, evaluator, consultant, and occasionally a counselor, thus providing the supervisee the opportunity

As with all health care professions, the education required to be work in mental health is lengthy and almost overwhelmingly expensive. The educational process generally begins with acquiring four years of undergraduate school and a bachelor’s degree. After this, one would be required to complete four years of medical school. The last two years would include clinical rounds and training in psychiatry and internal medicine. Following the eight years prior, the aspiring physician would be required to complete a four year internship to finish their residency and become a full-fledged medical doctor. To then specialize in psychiatry, one must acquire at least two years of courses pertaining to their specialization, and possibly more depending on the exact field of medicine. Finally, the young doctor would take a licensure exam to acquire their medical license. This license would allow them to legally practice medicine and begin a long and worthwhile career. Although this may seem like an awfully large amount of