Mental Health Therapist Job Requirements and Skills, Maddie Scheerer

Hiring Mental Health Therapists!!!

Job Requirements:

• Master's or doctoral degree
• post-degree clinical practice and professional licensure
• A minimum of 100 hours, with 40 of those hours being direct client experiences, in which the student is providing counseling services to clients
• 1 hour supervision sessions with an appointed supervisor
• Weekly 1 1/2 hour group supervision sessions facilitated by program faculty
• Evaluation based on audio/video recordings of the student’s interactions with clients

Skills Needed:

• Good listener
• Patience
• Non judgmental

Median Salary:

• $40,850

Advantages of Being a Mental Health Counselor:

• Chance to help others
• High Demand
• Variety of fields

What is it about people that compels us to help others? Maybe it traces back to when we were kids and had to rely on our mothers, so it gave us more caring and understanding. Maybe it's from past experiences, and we don't want anyone else to ever suffer the way we did. Either way, if you posses the traits of good listening, compassion for others, empathy, authenticity, and are non judgemental, you could have a serious career as a mental health therapist.

Therapists earn an average median salary of $40,850. And this ranges depending on the intake of client that each therapist gets. Becoming a therapist also requires a lot of education and training. You’ll need a master's or doctoral degree. Also, you have to have:

• A minimum of 100 hours, with 40 of those hours being direct client experiences, in which the student is providing counseling services to clients
• 1 hour supervision sessions with an appointed supervisor
• Weekly 1 1/2 hour group supervision sessions facilitated by program faculty
• Evaluation based on audio/video recordings of the student’s interactions with clients

After that you must complete

• A minimum 600 hour internship with 240 of those hours being direct client experiences
• 1 hour supervision sessions with an appointed supervisor
• Weekly 1 1/2 hour group supervision sessions facilitated by program faculty
• Evaluation based on audio/video recordings of the student’s interactions with clients
• Evaluation based on student’s involvement in activities and development in record keeping, assessment, treatment approaches, clinical judgment, and teamwork relationships

While things like depression, anxiety, anger problems, etc can all be treated with medication, it won't fix everything. Medication only takes you halfway, and you need therapy to get to 100% recovery.This is why mental health counselors are so crucial to society. 14.8 million adults struggle with depression in the united states alone. It’s important for these people to get the help that they need and with more therapist that help will become more accessible.

I chose Mental Health Counselor for my subject because I know first hand how beneficial and life saving a therapist can be. Simply being there for someone and listening could save a person’s life. That's what being a therapist is about. Showing other people that they are just as normal and deserving as every other person on this planet.

Thank you.