A Counselor, or Mental Health Counselor, works with patients to help them overcome and manage different mental and emotional challenges. Their duties include meeting with patients to listen to their problems, diagnosing their mental or emotional disorder and building treatment plans and coping strategies for the patient to follow.
A Counselor should be able to fulfill various duties and responsibilities. The following are some duties and responsibilities a Counselor should be able to execute:
- Perform initial evaluations of client needs and develop customized treatment plans.
- Educate staff and clients on stress and trauma coping mechanisms.
- Provide individuals with the resources they need to reach personal goals.
- Monitor client progress and modify their treatment plans as needed.
- Coordinate with social and medical agencies, healthcare providers and community outreach programs to provide clients with needed services.
- Complete continuing education courses to maintain National Certified Counselor certification and stay up-to-date on the latest practices.
A competitive Counselor will have certain skills and qualifications, including:
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to empathize with clients
- Ability to consider internal and external resources to develop a client treatment plan
- Willingness to work on-call or at a sudden notice
- Organizational skills
