Mental Health Counseling

 

Types of Degrees Mental Health Counseling Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many mental health counseling/counselor graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	103
Associate Degree	71
Bachelor’s Degree	27
Undergraduate Certificate	4

What Mental Health Counseling Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to mental health counseling/counselor and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Mental Health Counseling/Counselor Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Mental Health Counseling/Counselor Majors

When studying mental health counseling/counselor, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Mental Health Counseling/Counselor Majors

Mental Health Counseling/Counselor majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling?

This major is dominated by women with about 79% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of mental health counseling/counselor majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	12
Hispanic or Latino	24
White	23
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

Geographic Diversity

Mental Health Counseling/Counselor appeals to people across the globe. About 1.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Mental Health Counseling

Some degrees associated with mental health counseling/counselor may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to mental health counseling/counselor have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.8%
Master’s Degree	63.0%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.4%
Doctoral Degree	0.7%

Online Mental Health Counseling Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	5	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	24	1
Bachelor’s Degree	27	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	253	37
Post-Master’s	38	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Trades Related to Mental Health Counseling

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to mental health counseling/counselor.

Major	Number of Grads
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	5,915
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	3,697
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	3,683
Clinical/Medical Social Work	2,864
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician	2,762
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2,419
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	299
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling	217
Trauma Counseling	104
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy	12
Medical Family Therapy/Therapist	12
Hospice and Palliative Care	3

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.