Mental Health Counselors
Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention.
About the profession
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.
How to Get Started
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Jump to Learning Path →Video
Occupation on screen: Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors (O*NET 21-1011.00). The Department of Labor publishes one film per occupation family, and this is the film it lists for Mental Health Counselors (21-1014.00), which is how Mental Health Counselors is classified. Closed captions in English and Spanish. CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration)
Personality Fit
Based on the Mental Health Counselors role, here are the RIASEC personality types that tend to thrive in this career. While these alignments are common, individual success depends on motivation, skill development, and finding the right work environment.
Social
Helping, teaching, working with people
Investigative
Research, analysis, problem-solving
Conventional
Organizing, detail-oriented, structured
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Career Path
Your career progression roadmap with salary growth at each level
Career Ladder
Resident/Fellow Mental Health Counselor → Practitioner Mental Health Counselor → Senior Mental Health Counselor → Department Lead Mental Health Counselor
Where are you on this career path?
Click a level below to set your current position
Salary Growth
4
Levels
$91K
Top Salary
8+
Years
Learning Path
Skills you need to develop and courses to get there
🚀
Set your current level first
Go to the Career Path tab and select your current level to see your personalized learning plan.
Go to Career PathCareer levels
Timeline: 0-2 | Entry Level Base: $35,573 - $49,320/year With equity/bonuses: $39,130 - $59,184 Top markets (SF/NYC): $40,909 - $59,184 Execute core tasks using Active Listening…
Skills used in this career
Click any skill to see how to learn it and what salary boost it gives
Day in Life
Junior vs Senior, daily schedule breakdown
9am, Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment. 10am, Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping…
Income Dynamics
Conservative and aggressive scenarios for 10–15 years
Year 1: Entry level $24,901 - $44,388 Year 2-3: Junior level $49,320 - $59,914 Year 4-6: Mid level $59,914 - $64,959 Year 7-10: Senior level $64,959 - $80,654 Year 10+:…
Is this for me?
15 questions, answer honestly
You find the craft of a Mental Health Counselor genuinely interesting, not just a paycheck You enjoy working with Active Listening and Social Perceptiveness You communicate…
💰 Pay for Counselors
BLS OEWS, May 2023The federal survey does not count this job title on its own — it is counted under Counselors (21-1010).
Half of U.S. workers in this occupation earn more than this, half earn less.
No figure is published for the specific occupation, so this covers the wider group it belongs to.
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Create Free AccountPersonality types that fit this career
Based on career-match data from our Result Library:
The % is JobCannon’s editorial fit rating (0-100) for how well a result suits this career — not a statistical prediction. How we rate each test’s validity →
🎯 Is Mental Health Counselors right for you?
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Related Reading
Related Holland / RIASEC Types