Counselors assist people with personal, family, social, educational, and career decisions, problems, and concerns. Their duties depend on the individuals they serve and the settings in which they work.
School and college counselors help students understand their abilities, interests, talents, and personality characteristics so that the student can develop realistic academic and career options. Counselors use interviews, counseling sessions, tests, or other tools to assist them in evaluating and advising students. They may operate career information centers and career education programs. High school counselors advise on college majors, admission requirements, entrance exams, and financial aid, and on trade, technical school, and apprenticeship programs. They help students develop jobfinding skills such as resume writing and interviewing techniques.
Counselors also help students understand and deal with their social, behavioral, and personal problems. They emphasize preventive and developmental counseling to provide students with the life skills needed to deal with problems before they occur, and to enhance personal, social, and academic growth. Counselors provide special services, including alcohol and drug prevention programs, and classes that teach students to handle conflicts without resorting to violence.
Counselors work with students individually, in small groups, or with entire classes. Counselors consult and work with parents, teachers, school administrators, school psychologists, school nurses, and social workers. Elementary school counselors do more social and personal counseling, and less vocational and academic counseling than secondary school counselors. They observe younger children during classroom and play activities and confer with their teachers and parents to evaluate their strengths, problems, or special needs. They also help students develop good study habits.
College career planning and placement counselors help students and alumni with career development and job hunting. They may assist with writing resumes and improving job interviewing techniques.
Rehabilitation counselors help persons deal with the personal, social, and vocational impact of their disabilities. They evaluate the strengths and limitations of individuals, provide personal and vocational counseling, and may arrange for medical care, vocational training, and job placement. Rehabilitation counselors interview individuals with disabilities and their families, evaluate school and medical reports, and confer and plan with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, employers, and others. Conferring with the client, they develop and implement a rehabilitation program, which may include training to help the person become more independent and employable. They also work toward increasing the client's capacity to adjust and live independently.
Employment counselors help individuals make wise career decisions. They help clients explore and evaluate their education, training, work history, interests, skills, personal traits, and physical capacities, and may arrange for aptitude and achievement tests. They also work with individuals in developing jobseeking skills and assist clients in locating and applying for jobs.
Mental health counselors emphasize prevention and work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental health. They help individuals deal with addictions and substance abuse, family, parenting, and marital problems, suicide, stress management, problems with self-esteem, issues associated with aging, job and career concerns, educational decisions, and issues of mental and emotional health. Mental health counselors work closely with other mental health specialists, including psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, and school counselors. (See the statements on psychologists and social workers elsewhere in the Handbook.)
Some counselors specialize in a particular social issue or population group, such as marriage and family, multicultural, and gerontological counseling. A gerontological counselor may provide services to elderly persons who face changing lifestyles due to health problems, as well as help families cope with these changes. A multicultural counselor might help employers adjust to an increasingly diverse workforce.
Counselors must inspire respect, trust, and confidence.
Most school counselors work the traditional 9- to 10- month school year with a 2- to 3-month vacation, although an increasing number are employed on 10 1/2- or 11-month contracts. They generally have the same hours as teachers.
Rehabilitation and employment counselors generally work a standard 40-hour week. Self-employed counselors and those working in mental health and community agencies often work evenings to counsel clients who work during the day. College career planning and placement counselors may work long and irregular hours during recruiting periods.
Since privacy is essential for confidential and frank discussions with clients, counselors usually have private offices.
Counselors held about 154,000 jobs in 1992. About 7 out of 10 were school counselors.
In addition to elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities, counselors worked in a wide variety of public and private establishments. These include health care facilities; job training, career development, and vocational rehabilitation centers; social agencies; correctional institutions; and residential care facilities, such as halfway houses for criminal offenders and group homes for children, the aged, and the disabled. Counselors also worked in organizations engaged in community improvement and social change, as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs and State and local government agencies. A growing number of counselors work in health maintenance organizations, insurance companies, group practice, and private practice, spurred by laws allowing counselors to receive payments from insurance companies, and requiring employers to provide rehabilitation services to injured workers.
Generally, counselors have a master's degree in college student affairs, elementary or secondary school counseling, gerontological counseling, marriage and family counseling, substance abuse counseling, rehabilitation counseling, agency or community counseling, mental health counseling, counseling psychology, career counseling, or a related field.
Graduate level counselor education programs in colleges and universities usually are in departments of education or psychology. Courses are grouped into eight core areas: Human growth and development; social and cultural foundations; helping relationships; groups; lifestyle and career development; appraisal; research and evaluation; and professional orientation. In an accredited program, 48 to 60 semester hours of graduate study, including a period of supervised clinical experience in counseling, are required for a master's degree. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredits graduate counseling programs in counselor education, and in community, gerontological, mental health, school, student affairs, and marriage and family counseling.
In 1993, 39 States and the District of Columbia had some form of counselor credentialing legislation licensure, certification, or registry for practice outside schools. Requirements vary from State to State. In some States, credentialing is mandatory; in others, voluntary.
Many counselors elect to be nationally certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which grants the general practice credential, National Certified Counselor. In order to be certified, a counselor must hold a master's degree in counseling, have at least 2 years of professional counseling experience, and pass NBCC's National Counselor Examination. This national certification is voluntary and distinct from State certification. However, in some States those who pass the national exam are exempt from taking a State certification exam. NBCC also offers specialty certification in career, gerontological, school, and clinical mental health counseling.
All States require school counselors to hold State school counseling certification; however, certification varies from State to State. Some States require public school counselors to have both counseling and teaching certificates. Depending on the State, a master's degree in counseling and 2 to 5 years of teaching experience may be required for a counseling certificate.
Vocational and related rehabilitation agencies generally require a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, counseling and guidance, or counseling psychology for rehabilitation counselor jobs. Some, however, may accept applicants with a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation services, counseling, psychology, or related fields. A bachelor's degree in counseling qualifies a person to work as a counseling aide, rehabilitation aide, or social service worker. Experience in employment counseling, job development, psychology, education, or social work may be helpful.
The Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) accredits graduate programs in rehabilitation counseling. A minimum of 2 years of study including a period of supervised clinical experience are required for the master's degree. Some colleges and universities offer a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation services education.
In most State vocational rehabilitation agencies, applicants must pass a written examination and be evaluated by a board of examiners. Many employers require rehabilitation counselors to be certified. To become certified by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, counselors must graduate from an accredited educational program, complete an internship, and pass a written examination. They are then designated as Certified Rehabilitation Counselors.
Some States require counselors in public employment offices to have a master's degree; others accept a bachelor's degree with appropriate counseling courses.
Mental health counselors generally have a master's degree in mental health counseling, another area of counseling, or in psychology or social work. They are voluntarily certified by the National Board of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors. Generally, to receive this certification as a mental health counselor, a counselor must have a master's degree in counseling, 2 years of post-master's experience, a period of supervised clinical experience, a taped sample of clinical work, and a passing grade on a written examination.
Some employers provide training for newly hired counselors. Many have work-study programs so that employed counselors can earn graduate degrees. Counselors must participate in graduate studies, workshops, institutes, and personal studies to maintain their certificates and licenses.
Persons interested in counseling should have a strong interest in helping others and the ability to inspire respect, trust, and confidence. They should be able to work independently or as part of a team.
Prospects for advancement vary by counseling field. School counselors may move to a larger school; become directors or supervisors of counseling or pupil personnel services; or, usually with further graduate education, become counselor educators, counseling psychologists, or school administrators. (See the statements on psychologists and education administrators elsewhere in the Handbook.)
Rehabilitation, mental health, and employment counselors may become supervisors or administrators in their agencies. Some counselors move into research, consulting, or college teaching, or go into private practice.
Overall employment of counselors is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2005. In addition, replacement needs should increase significantly by the end of the decade as a large number of counselors reach retirement age.
Employment of school counselors is expected to grow because of increasing enrollments, particularly in secondary schools, State legislation requiring counselors in elementary schools, and the expanded responsibilities of counselors. Counselors increasingly are becoming involved in crisis and preventive counseling, helping students deal with issues ranging from drug and alcohol abuse to death and suicide. Despite the increasing use of counselors, however, employment growth may be dampened by budgetary constraints some counselors serve more than one school.
Rehabilitation and mental health counselors should be in strong demand. Insurance companies increasingly provide for reimbursement of counselors, enabling many counselors to move from schools and government agencies to private practice. The number of people who need rehabilitation services will rise as advances in medical technology continue to save lives that only a few years ago would have been lost. In addition, legislation requiring equal employment rights for persons with disabilites will spur demand for counselors. Counselors not only will help individuals with disabilities with their transition into the work force, but also will help companies comply with the law. More rehabilitation and mental health counselors also will be needed as the elderly population grows, and as society focuses on ways of developing mental well-being, such as controlling stress associated with job and family responsibilities.
Similar to other government jobs, the number of employment counselors, who work primarily for State and local governments, could be limited by budgetary constraints. Employment counselors working in private job training services, however, should grow rapidly as counselors provide skill training and other services to a growing number of laid-off workers, experienced workers seeking a new or second career, full-time homemakers seeking to enter or reenter the work force, and workers who want to upgrade their skills.
Median earnings for full-time educational and vocational counselors were about $30,000 a year in 1992. The middle 50 percent earned between $24,000 and $41,500 a year. The bottom 10 percent earned less than $17,800 a year, while the top 10 percent earned over $51,900 a year.
The average salary of school counselors in the 1992-93 academic year was about $40,400, according to the Educational Research Service. Some school counselors earn additional income working summers in the school system or in other jobs.
Self-employed counselors who have well-established practices generally have the highest earnings, as do some counselors working for private companies, such as insurance companies and private rehabilitation companies.
Counselors help people evaluate their interests, abilities, and disabilities, and deal with personal, social, academic, and career problems. Others who help people in similar ways include college and student personnel workers, teachers, personnel workers and managers, human services workers, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, members of the clergy, occupational therapists, training and employee development specialists, and equal employment opportunity/affirmative action specialists.
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Reprinted with Permission of U. S. Department of Labor