The Counseling Profession: Clinical Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling

Master's-level counselors find employment in many settings including community agencies, state and federal government agencies, the insurance industry, and private practice. They provide individual or group counseling and frequently work with families of individuals seeking services. Counseling is one profession with several specializations. This degree provides students with specializations in both clinical mental health counseling and rehabilitation counseling.

Mental health counselors help people manage or overcome mental and emotional disorders and problems with relationships. Examples of what mental health counselors do include encouraging clients to discuss their experiences and process reactions to them to adjust to changes in life, guiding clients through the process of making decisions about their future, counseling clients about developing strategies and skills to change their behavior or cope with difficult situations, and coordinating services with other professionals such as psychiatrists. While some disorders can be overcome, many others need to be managed. Mental health counselors work with clients to develop strategies and skills to minimize the effects of their disorders or illnesses including developing and implementing strategies to encourage wellness.

Rehabilitation counselors are counselors who possess the specialized knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to collaborate in a professional counseling relationship with people who have disabilities to achieve their personal, psychological, social, and career goals. Currently, there is high demand in New Jersey, the surrounding regions, and nationally for master's-level rehabilitation counselors.