The Mental Health Profession: Different Career Directions to Choose

Awareness regarding mental health issues has gained precedence in recent years across America, with more people coming out to seek help to get better. However, with the significantly low numbers of mental health professionals, sufficing with the patient demand has become challenging.

According to the data collected between 2016 and 2017, there were more than 577,000 mental health professionals active, which came to a handful when compared to the overall population of the country. Hence, as more people try to seek medical help, mental health services are becoming hard to access.

Given the present demand for experts in the mental health profession, the younger generation should consider it as a prospective career path. By doing so, they can embark on a path of professional success, while being of help to the society. In this article, I will talk about all the different career directions that you can take in the mental health profession.

Mental Health Profession: What Can You Become?

The mental health profession does not follow the one-size-fits-all approach. There are several bifurcations within the study, allowing and individual to choose varied career paths and become the professional they want to be with a specific skill-set.

Given under is a general overview of the different types of mental health professionals; however, the designation and the credentials may vary in each state.

1. Psychiatrist — These medical professionals (doctors) are trained to diagnose the patient, treat their emotional or mental ailments, and prescribe medication. Offering therapy may not fall under their purview.

2. Child Psychiatrist — Medical professionals who are trained to diagnose, treat, and prescribe to address behavioral and emotional problems in a child or adolescent.

3. Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner — Also referred to as a mental health nurse practitioner, these professionals acquire special training and a graduate degree allowing them to diagnose and treat mental ailments.

4. Clinical Psychologist — A professional with a doctorate from a designated psychology program, which trains them to diagnose the patients along with providing group or individual therapy. (the authority to prescribe drugs differ in each state)

5. Educational Institute Psychologist — A professional who works with students mostly with an advanced educational degree in psychology from an accredited university program. They are allowed to diagnose the patient, offer therapy sessions in groups or to individuals. They also work closely with the staff of the educational institutions to increase the efficiency of the internal infrastructure. (the authority to prescribe drugs differ in each state)

6. Clinical Social Worker — These professionals act as counselors with an acquired master’s degree in social work from a designated graduate university program. They can diagnose, offer counseling (individual/group), along with advocacy and case management.

7. Licensed Counselor — These professionals have a master’s degree in Psychology or counseling and can diagnose and offer counseling/therapy.

8. Mental Health Counselor — A mental health counselor needs to have a master’s degree from an accredited program along with sufficient experience in supervised clinical work. They can diagnose and provide counseling to groups and individuals.

9. Nurse Psychotherapist — These are registered nurses who have training in psychiatric nursing, and they can both diagnose and provide counseling.

There are other kinds of mental health professionals as well such as pastoral counselors, family therapists, alcohol and drug abuse counselor, etc.

I hope this article on the diversity of the mental health profession was enlightening and helpful to you. For more such interesting reads do visit my blog-site Timeless Issues.