Occupations/21-1014.00
Mental Health Counselors
Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. May help individuals deal with a broad range of mental health issues, such as those associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; or aging.
Usually a graduate or professional degree.
AI automation risk
33%
More resilient
Human characteristics
61%
Balanced human and task mix
Task orientation
19%
More resilient
A day in this job
- Mostly human
Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Mostly human
Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- Mostly human
Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
The tasks we can read here lean on people, judgment, or hands-on work. The AI risk number is still this job’s rank against other occupations.
Core tasks
- 01Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
- 02Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- 03Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- 04Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- 05Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
- 06Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
Model drivers (O*NET 1–5)
- Repeating same tasks2.21
- Degree of automation1.32
- Time sitting4.82
- Originality (ability)3.38
- Conflict situations3.79
- Hands-on objects/tools1.85
- Outdoors / weather1.14
- Disease exposure2.21
- Decision freedom4.64
Top abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.88
- Oral Expression4.62
- Problem Sensitivity4.25
- Written Expression4.12
- Written Comprehension4.12
- Speech Recognition4.12
- Speech Clarity4.12
- Inductive Reasoning4.12
Essential skills
- Reading Comprehension4.12
- Active Listening5.00
- Writing4.12
- Speaking4.25
- Mathematics2.00
- Science2.75
- Critical Thinking4.00
- Active Learning3.75
- Learning Strategies3.12
- Monitoring3.75
CIP matches
Schools offering related programs
12 of 68 shown
Earnings are College Scorecard medians for that program, 1 and 2 years after completion. A dash means the Department suppressed the cell or the campus is not in the field file.
| Institution | Program | Tuition | Admit | Grad 6-yr | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee, WI · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $4,900 | 100% | 27% | 1 yr $81,702 2 yr $87,309 Doctoral · CIP 42.28 |
Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public | Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling 51.1501 | $12,800 | 53% | 83% | 1 yr $69,338 2 yr — Master's · CIP 51.15 |
University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $12,600 | 48% | 84% | 1 yr $69,338 2 yr — Doctoral · CIP 42.28 |
CUNY Hunter College New York, NY · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $7,400 | 48% | 60% | 1 yr — 2 yr $67,660 Master's · CIP 42.28 |
Houston Community College Houston, TX · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $4,300 | 100% | 24% | 1 yr $67,101 2 yr $55,512 Doctoral · CIP 42.28 |
San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $8,200 | 77% | 71% | 1 yr $65,238 2 yr — Master's · CIP 42.28 |
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $68,200 | 12% | 92% | 1 yr $64,990 2 yr $62,409 Master's · CIP 42.28 |
Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $12,000 | 90% | 69% | 1 yr $62,409 2 yr — Master's · CIP 42.28 |
Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $9,700 | 71% | 62% | 1 yr $57,318 2 yr $61,064 Master's · CIP 42.28 |
Madison Area Technical College Madison, WI · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $4,700 | 100% | 34% | 1 yr $55,286 2 yr $54,531 Master's · CIP 42.28 |
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $13,200 | 87% | 66% | 1 yr $55,026 2 yr $53,608 Doctoral · CIP 42.28 |
University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public | Counseling Psychology 42.2803 | $6,400 | 23% | 89% | 1 yr — 2 yr $52,941 Master's · CIP 42.28 |