Careers / Mental Health Counselors
Mental Health Counselors — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
Not published
Employment
Not published
Typical education
Master's Degree
Job Zone 5
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
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.
- O*NET code
- 21-1014.00
- Job zone
- 5
- Experience required
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
Typical tasks
- Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
- Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
- Perform crisis interventions with clients.
- Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
Choose a location
No location in the current BLS dataset matches that filter for this occupation.
Salary analysis — United States
Salary data is not available for this occupation/location in the current BLS dataset.
Most important skills
- Active Listening5.0
- Social Perceptiveness5.0
- Speaking4.3
- Writing4.1
- Reading Comprehension4.1
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Judgment and Decision Making4.0
- Service Orientation3.9
- Active Learning3.8
- Monitoring3.8
- Complex Problem Solving3.8
- Persuasion3.6
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 19 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
19
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Perceptiveness | 5.0 | 5.8 | Not selected | 5.8 |
| Active Listening | 5.0 | 5.0 | Not selected | 5.0 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.1 | 4.8 | Not selected | 4.8 |
| Speaking | 4.3 | 4.3 | Not selected | 4.3 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.0 | 4.4 | Not selected | 4.4 |
| Writing | 4.1 | 4.1 | Not selected | 4.1 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.0 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Service Orientation | 3.9 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Active Learning | 3.8 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.8 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.8 | 4.0 | Not selected | 4.0 |
| Persuasion | 3.6 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Learning Strategies | 3.1 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.0 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Negotiation | 3.0 | 3.8 | Not selected | 3.8 |
| Coordination | 3.0 | 3.5 | Not selected | 3.5 |
| Systems Analysis | 3.0 | 3.5 | Not selected | 3.5 |
| Instructing | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Time Management | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
Related careers
Supplemental
National median $64,070
Compare with Mental Health CounselorsSupplemental
National median $72,300
Compare with Mental Health CounselorsCareer transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Mental Health Counselors to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.