If you are looking for a career in counseling, there are a variety of different types of counseling jobs to choose from. You may work in various settings, such as a school or private office, and with both children and adults. Knowing what each type of counseling job entails can help you decide which one is the best job for you when you are searching for a new job.
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In this article, we list different types of counseling jobs, their salaries, and the duties and requirements for each one.
9 types of counseling jobs
Here are nine different types of counseling jobs to consider if you’re interested in pursuing this career path:
1. School counselor
National average salary: $12.20 per hour
Primary duties: A school counselor helps children and adults with personal or academic issues, including home life, disabilities, relationship problems, bullying, inadequate academic performance, and more. They listen to student issues, present helpful suggestions, create goals or action plans to aim for, act as a mediator between teachers and students, create alcohol and drug prevention programs, and refer students to psychologists.
Requirements: School counselors must get a Master’s Degree in Counseling. A school counselor must also receive their state license and take continuing education classes regularly to keep their license.
2. Residential counselor
National average salary: $13.74 per hour
Primary duties: A residential counselor helps people who live in homes unable to care for themselves. They are in charge of creating programs, working with distressed residents, providing guidance, creating recovery methods for substance abuse centers, leading group meetings, evaluating patients, and providing crisis intervention. Residential counselors often live at the facility where they work due to needing to work on-call shifts and long hours.
Requirements: Residential counselors must get a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology or Social Work. They must also have a minimum of two years of experience interning in a group home to gain knowledge and expertise. A residential counselor must also pass a state exam and continue to enroll in continuing education classes.
3. Youth counselor
National average salary: $14.06 per hour
Primary duties: Youth counselors work with children to identify and treat disorders. They hold sessions with youth to determine the cause of an issue and create effective treatment plans. Youth counselors need to work with families to create a support system outside of the office. These professionals can have individual or group sessions with certain ages of children.
Requirements: Youth counselors typically need at least a master’s degree and licensure to practice, though requirements may vary by state.
4. Health counselor
National average salary: $16.08 per hour
Primary duties: Health counselors help change clients’ unhealthy behaviors by setting nutrition goals to accomplish, discovering why they have their current habits, educating them on health and wellness, monitoring their sleep patterns, weight, and food cravings, and motivating clients to change the way they think.
Requirements: Health counselors must complete a bachelor’s degree program in nutrition, healthcare, or counseling. They must supplement these programs with courses in psychology, nutrition, health, fitness, and behavioral science. Some states may require a master’s degree in addition. Many employers also prefer a health counselor certification from an appropriate training program.
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5. Substance abuse counselor
National average salary: $17.04 per hour
Primary duties: A substance abuse counselor works with patients to help them recover from using alcohol, drugs, or other substances. They may evaluate a patient’s progress, help with crisis management, work with their family to provide group counseling, teach them coping strategies, test patients for drug or alcohol use, and collaborate with social workers or doctors.
Requirements: Substance abuse counselors need a bachelor’s degree in counseling or psychology. These programs may cover topics such as human development, psychopharmacology, and counseling techniques. Also, most states require state licensure to practice.
6. Grief counselor
National average salary: $17.89 per hour
Primary duties: A grief counselor helps clients go through the five stages of grief, recognizes which one they are currently in, comforts clients experiencing the loss of a loved one, works with families or friends to process the client’s feelings, has the patience to let clients discuss all their feelings, create methods to help the client handle their feelings and develop goals the client can work towards.
Requirements: Grief counselors need a Ph.D. or Psy.D. and a state license to practice.
7. Behavioral therapist
National average salary: $19.23 per hour
Primary duties: A behavioral therapist helps clients recognize and improve certain behaviors. They identify needs and create treatment plans to assist clients in managing their actions outside of the office. Behavioral therapists could use a wide range of techniques to help clients depending on the condition and its severity. They may also help clients with relaxation strategies, meditation techniques, and personal reflection.
Requirements: A behavioral therapist needs at least a master’s degree to practice. They also need to be a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, which requires completing continuing education courses and renewal.
8. Career counselor
National average salary: $42,013 per year
Primary duties: A career counselor assists clients in finding a future job by evaluating their prior work experience, making suggestions on their resume, presenting potential job options based on the client’s preferences and qualifications, explaining what education is necessary for a new career, teaching interview methods, assist clients in applying for jobs, creating career goals and develop skills for particular jobs. They may also need to know specific details about certain industries, such as the current availability of job listings and average salary.
Requirements: All career counselors must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology or a related field. They will then need to obtain a master’s degree in career development or career counseling. All candidates must also complete internships to gain experience in areas such as career counseling, career development, and counseling assessment. A career counselor must pass a state exam and maintain a current certification as a National Certified Counselor from the National Board for Certified Counselors.
9. Family counselor
National average salary: $46,189 per year
Primary duties: A family counselor provides support and guidance for domestic violence, marital issues, childhood behavioral problems, infertility, anxiety, substance abuse, and conflicts. They may also help couples or families create goals to work toward, use a wellness approach to help with healing, evaluate how families act together and suggest new strategies, find behavioral patterns, and help clients through death or divorce.
Requirements: Family counselors must get a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Psychology, or Counseling. They must then get a Master’s Degree in Family Therapy or Counseling. All family counselors will need to pass a state exam to get their license to practice.
I hope you find this article helpful.
