Mental health counselors work in roles that range from treating individuals in outpatient settings to educating communities about mental health.

As a mental health counselor, “you’re not just eliminating disease; you’re promoting wellness,” says Eric Beeson, a clinical associate professor at Northwestern University and former president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association. “It’s not, ’How do we get you unsick?’ It’s, ’How do we get you well?’”

The approach mental health counselors bring to their work comes from training based in “a wellness and human development framework,” Beeson says. That framework “prepares us well to work with individuals, groups and families across the lifespan in traditional clinical settings, providing diagnosis, psychotherapy, clinical mental health counseling, prevention (and) aftercare support.”

Mental health counselors can work in a variety of settings. While some work in or start private practices, others provide care at the community level or in settings such as inpatient residential programs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 10.6% employment growth for mental health counselors between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 12,000 jobs should open up.

Mental health counselors typically must complete a master’s program and internship, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Though there’s not a particular undergraduate major prospective mental health counselors must pursue, it may be helpful to earn a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as psychology, sociology or human services.

“It’s just a really broad interdisciplinary field at our core, so that brings a lot of unique perspectives into the traditional psychological concepts that we explore in the graduate program,” Beeson says.

After graduating, mental health counselors need to complete supervised clinical training before they can receive a license.

Mental health counselors should also expect to continue learning after their program ends, since relevant areas of the field including diagnostic systems, treatment interventions and neuroscience frequently change. “It’s crucial to be engaged in continuing education,” Beeson says.

Having certain personal characteristics can also be important for success in the field.

Empathy “gets people in the door, but then … it’s a real commitment to be curious and to elevate self-understanding and self-exploration,” Beeson says. “A lot of people don’t understand the degree of self-awareness and exploration that goes into the training, and that continues into your clinical work.”