Types of Counselor Jobs

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, counseling jobs are on the rise. The growth of counseling jobs is a result of many different factors, ranging from changes in culture to court decisions about substance abuse. For the many people who decide that they want to help people for a living, counseling jobs are very attractive. Becoming a counselor allows you to help people through their issues and problems through conflict resolution, strategy building, and often something as simple as lending an ear to listen to their problems. That being said, counseling jobs also require a large amount of emotional commitment, especially in the case of school or guidance counselors.

Generally speaking, counselor jobs consist of working in a community and providing counseling services, rehabilitation services, and support services. Depending on the type of counselor job (and there are many), responsibilities may range from dealing with couples, children, and families to working with professionals seeking career advice. Counselor jobs require the counselor to recognize the problems of their clientele and discover and recommend ways to fix these problems.

As mentioned earlier, there are many different types of counselor jobs. Here are some of the most common types:

1. School or Guidance Counselors

These counselor jobs generally deal with students and their future career. Guidance counselors also counsel students in their personal, social, and educational lives. They are responsible for promoting the talent and potential of each student, while evaluating the abilities, interests, and personalities of students.

2. Career Counselors

For the many people requiring career counseling, a number that continues to grow today, career counselors work to help individuals with their career decisions. They may also evaluate their client’s education, work history, interests, and personality traits to find a job or career that best fits them.

3. Rehabilitation Counselors

Rehabilitation counselor jobs are seeing high levels of growth. Generally speaking, rehabilitation counselors help people with both physical and emotional disabilities. They help their client’s ability to live independently by using a number of different strategies and working with other service providers, such as a physical therapist.

4. Mental Health Counselors

Mental health counselor jobs consist of working with individuals or families to treat mental and emotional disorders such as depression, substance abuse, stress, and sadness. In addition, they may help with career issues and mental health issues.

5. Family Counselors

Family counselors often work with couples, individuals, or entire families. They utilize specific techniques and theories treat disorders. They may also work with spouses in couples therapy or with children of a family to work out family problems.

6. Substance Abuse Counselors

Substance abuse counselors do not only work with individuals on issues with alcohol or drug addiction, but may also work with behavioral disorders such as gambling problems or eating disorders. Their job outlook is growing at a rate much higher than average, likely due to the increased awareness of substance addiction and insurance companies’ preference for counseling over psychologist or psychiatrists.

Job Counselors

Counselors are professionals that work in many different community settings, offering counseling and support for many different areas. Some counselors may work exclusively with children, while others may work primarily with couples therapy. Other counselors may work with mental health disorders and addiction, while others still may work with professional and career counseling for adults and young professionals. Counseling has become a large part of American society, as having a professional offer support and advice on serious life issues can be of great benefit.

Generally speaking, counselors are required to obtain a master’s degree to become a licensed counselor. These professionals typically work in their own offices, offering confidentiality to their patients. This confidentiality allows their patients to confidently voice their real feelings, issues, and problems, and helps counselors do their job the way it was meant to be done: with complete honesty.

An individual deciding to become a counselor has many different options. As mentioned before, counselors work in many different fields to meet the many different emotional, professional, social, and mental health needs that people deal with on a daily basis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 665,500 counselor jobs in 2008. The majority of counselors work as educational, vocational, and school counselors. The rest of counselors were distributed among the following fields, in order from highest employment to lowest employment: rehabilitation counselors, mental health counselors, substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors, and other counselor.

The employment outlook for this career is generally positive. Individuals deciding to become a counselor will likely find many job opportunities, as the growth for the job is faster than the average for all other occupations. However, certain fields are projected to grow faster than others:

• growth is found in the employment of substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors. This growth is a result of society’s increased knowledge about the significance of addiction, and that the treatment for addiction is treatment programs, not jail time.

• growth of educational, vocational, and school counselors is also expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. This is due to the increased focus on career and professional counseling, as well as the state requirement for all schools to have school or guidance counselors.

• the largest growth is found in mental health counseling. This is likely due to insurance companies recommending counselors as a replacement for expensive psychologists and psychiatrists.

• growth for rehabilitation counselors are also expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations, likely due to the increase of the elderly population, as the elderly are more likely to become disabled, or injured.

• growth for marriage and family therapists are also experiencing a faster growth an average, likely due to the recognition of the professional world of the occupation. Family counseling and marriage counseling are becoming more popular as help for family or marital problems.

Becoming a counselor allows you to help others directly by hearing their problems and coming up with resolutions for them. Few jobs are as rewarding as a career in counseling; its attractiveness only bolstered by the positive job outlook for counseling jobs in the future.