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 in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	81
Basic Certificate	75
Bachelor’s Degree	33
Undergraduate Certificate	22

What Mental Health Counseling Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to mental health counseling/counselor were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Mental Health Counseling/Counselor Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in mental health counseling/counselor should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to mental health counseling/counselor:

• 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

As you progress with your mental health counseling/counselor degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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 85% 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	9
Hispanic or Latino	33
White	28
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	7

Geographic Diversity

Mental Health Counseling/Counselor appeals to people across the globe. About 3.7% 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. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for mental health counseling/counselor careers below.

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

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 285 schools offered some type of mental health counseling/counselor program. 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)	6	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	22	0
Bachelor’s Degree	20	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	238	28
Post-Master’s	34	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	2
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	4,420
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician	2,771
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	2,248
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2,209
Clinical/Medical Social Work	356
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	16
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling	4
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	2

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.