Mental Health Counselors

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.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Social Perceptiveness
Speaking
Reading Comprehension
Writing
Critical Thinking
Judgment and Decision Making
Service Orientation

Key knowledge

Therapy and Counseling
Psychology
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Sociology and Anthropology
Education and Training
Administrative
Telecommunications

What the work involves

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.
Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
Act as client advocates to coordinate required services or to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Master's Degree (89.3% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (35.7%)
On-the-job training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (25%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Mental Health Counselors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 21-1019 (aggregate); it may describe a broader group.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Very high	Higher on contact with others than 84% of occupations compared	86% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 66% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very low	Lower on teamwork than 96% of occupations compared	33% of surveyed respondents chose “Important”
Freedom to make decisions	Very high	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 89% of occupations compared	68% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom”
Time pressure	Moderate	Lower on time pressure than 50% of occupations compared	36% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 92% of occupations compared	68% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Consequence of error	High	Higher on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared	29% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: moderate
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions