Different Types Of Mental Health Careers
If you're interested in pursuing a career in mental health, there are many roads that you can choose to go down, including mental health careers in Washington DC. In this article, we'll discuss different kinds of mental health jobs and human services roles.
These roles don't just include practicing therapy, working as a social worker, or conducting research for national institutes; there are a multitude of different ways that you can make a difference as someone who works in the mental health or general healthcare field, such as substance abuse counselors or positions in human resources.
Working in psychology
Some clinical psychologists can diagnose and treat people with mental health disorders and conditions. Clinical psychologists have doctorate degrees and can provide assessments to individuals to diagnose and treat them. In addition, they can help people understand their behavior and manage mental health issues effectively.
Neuropsychologists, often holding a master's degree or higher, may be more research-oriented by nature of the field. They can be essential to the world because they research things associated with our brains and allow us to learn more about neuroplasticity daily. Neuropsychologists help us discover information about the brain and how it works. They can also keep us updated on the latest information and studies, contributing to the high demand for their expertise.
The world of psychiatry
Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating those with mental illness and behavioral issues. A psychiatrist's career can be gratifying and offer opportunities for career development. They differ from psychologists and social workers in that they can prescribe medication as a licensed medical professional.
Some psychiatrists provide therapy and medication, whereas others exclusively work with medication management. Psychiatry is an excellent field for people who want to specialize in helping people who are neurodiverse or who have brains that function differently in various ways. If you want to work with a diverse population of people with mental health issues or similar conditions and hold a valid unrestricted state license, the world of psychiatry might be a fabulous fit for you.
Social work
People who are social workers typically work in organizations or nonprofits. They might work in clinics, too, but they don’t diagnose mental health conditions. However, they do sometimes provide therapy and can refer clients to different mental health services depending on their needs. A bachelor's degree is often a basic requirement for entry-level positions in this field.
Social workers play an integral role in understanding family dynamics and providing referrals for family issues. In addition, social workers can help the community, address how much of a support system a person has, and offer referrals if an individual would benefit from having their needs met in a different capacity.
Substance use counselors
A substance use counselor works with individuals who have issues with substance abuse, such as using drugs and alcohol.
This individual may counsel their clients and help them maintain sobriety via therapeutic counseling. They may facilitate group therapy sessions with other clients living with substance use disorders, which are vital in the community.
Nursing
Nursing is another vital field. If you’re working in an inpatient residential facility, you may help treat clients in the hospital under long-term care for mental illness. If you work as a detox nurse in substance abuse, you may help clients safely detox from alcohol or drugs and start their mental health recovery.
Nurses play an essential role in society regarding what they can do for people with mental health issues, and it’s a very dynamic field.
Counselors, therapists, or clinicians
You may be considering additional mental health training after achieving an undergraduate degree. There are more options for clinicians when you move on to higher education. Pursuing a master’s degree may open doors for mental health jobs. When you have a master’s degree, there are many options for careers in the mental health field. For example, LPCs are medical professionals certified as licensed professional counselors, while LMFTs are licensed marriage and family therapists. As a therapist, counselor, or other medical professional who has successfully completed their education, you can specialize in various areas to provide specialized support for clients with diverse emotional issues.
Clinical social workers
MSW stands for “master’s in social work.” LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker.
Licensed clinical social workers require a master’s degree in social work and must complete special training in case management. Social workers can treat clients in a variety of environments. They may work in the community at job training centers, welfare-to-work programs, the local department of human services, or a nonprofit organization. If you have an LCSW, you may work with clients in a practice setting.
Social workers understand family dynamics and consider sociological concerns when treating clients. They often consider the cultural and economic circumstances a client is dealing with when treating that person with therapy.
In many ways, looking at these outside factors can improve the quality of care the client receives. The social worker often understands the environment where the client lives, their family dynamics, and how they relate to their support system. If there are safety concerns, an LCSW can provide referrals to a client for assistance with parenting courses, housing, or government assistance. LCSWs will be more apt to provide these referrals if they work in community-based organizations.
Family nurse practitioners
Family nurse practitioners typically provide health care for the entire unit. From giving regular checkups to assessing mental health issues, FNPs care for the whole family. FNPs ask questions about mental wellness in addition to evaluating physical wellness. If you’re a family nurse practitioner and you see the entire family, you can play a role in monitoring the familial dynamics and mental health as a whole.
To be a family nurse practitioner, you must have a master’s or doctorate. You can play an essential part in mental health in this role. A family nurse practitioner takes each of the family unit’s mental health seriously. They can make referrals to psychiatrists or therapists if the parents or children have mental health concerns or conditions.
Certified peer specialists or peer-to-peer support
Sometimes it’s nice to speak to someone who isn’t a clinician to get mental health support. That’s the idea behind a peer support role.
A peer support specialist typically has lived experience with mental health conditions. A peer support worker can provide a shoulder to lean on during hard times. Peer support workers have a vital role in the sense that they understand what it’s like from lived experience to have a mental illness and can guide people in this position to help them maintain support systems.
They may have a sense of empathy and understanding towards the people they work with and can touch lives uniquely because of what they’ve been through. Knowing that you’re not alone can be invaluable. Sometimes you need someone who has been through a similar experience to guide you or listen to your concerns. A peer support specialist normally has keen listening skills that enable them to genuinely hear you and offer advice, empathy, tools, and support.
Getting help
Whoever your clients are, it can be important that you care about them like the counselors at BetterHelp have demonstrated. The online therapists here are passionate about helping people cope with various life stressors and mental illnesses. If you’re seeking mental health services, online counseling can be an excellent place to get assistance with your mental health needs. Search the network of BetterHelp counselors to find the perfect fit for you.
A review of 17 studies found that online counseling may be even more effective than in-person therapy when treating certain conditions. In addition, other studies have revealed that many people feel more comfortable telling information about themselves via video chat than they might feel face-to-face.
Takeaway
One way to achieve mental health goals is to seek online therapy. Our mental health matters as much as our physical well-being. It’s a holistic picture; one without the other may not be enough to lead a healthy life. That’s the idea behind integrative medicine. A provider in the varied mental health field considers your physical well-being and your mental health and can treat both.
What is a career that focuses on mental health?
Many different kinds of careers involve a focus on mental health. The various types of mental health professionals include:
- Therapists or counselors, who provide primarily talk-based therapy, coaching, and expert advice
- School psychologists, who perform mental health assessments and care in educational settings
- Marriage and family therapists, who provide family therapy or couples therapy to help people strengthen their well-being, conflict resolution skills, and behavioral health
- Addiction counselors, who assist clients in recovery from substance use disorders
- Social workers, who assist clients with mental health while helping them obtain crucial resources and manage their lives
- Psychiatrists, who can prescribe medication for mental illness in addition to providing psychotherapy
- Psychiatric nurses, who can offer medical and mental health care services in both inpatient and outpatient settings
- Psychological researchers, who work to expand scientific knowledge on mental health and the workings of the mind and brain
These are just a few examples of the many careers available in mental health. Anyone whose work focuses on promoting emotional, psychological, and behavioral well-being could be said to have a mental health career.
Is mental health a career field?
As a career field, mental health can encompass a wide variety of professional and academic pursuits. If you’re considering a career in mental health, it may be worth considering what specific type of work you think would be fulfilling for you.
Are you interested in investigating how the mind works or how people can achieve better mental health outcomes? If so, psychological research might be a good field for you. Do you want to assist people in difficult circumstances to take control of their lives and work toward their goals? Social work and/or counseling could be a good fit.
These fields can be broken down even further into more specific career paths and specialties. For example, a marriage and family therapist might have a particular focus on helping with eating disorder recovery or assisting families impacted by grief. The more you can narrow down your field of interest, the easier it may be to find the right mental health career for you.
What are the highest-paying jobs in mental health?
In general, the highest-paying jobs in mental health are those that require the highest levels of education. A psychiatrist, for example, is a licensed medical doctor with a doctoral degree. This position comes with a substantially higher earning potential than one requiring a master’s or bachelor’s degree.
Other high-earning mental health jobs include those that may not require doctoral degrees but do have rigorous training and licensing standards. A psychiatric nurse is a good example. This position can be performed by someone with a bachelor’s degree, but they must also qualify for RN registration and undergo specialized training in mental health care.
Why did you choose mental health as a career?
People may have many reasons for selecting a career in mental health treatment or research. Common motivations include:
- Desire to help suffering people
- Interest in learning about the mind
- Personal experience with the negative effects of mental illness
- Desire to make use of personal strengths such as empathy or analytical skills
- High earning potential
- Belief in the importance of mental health to society
- Inspiration from a personal hero or mentor
This list isn’t exhaustive, and the reasons provided aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Prospective mental health workers may have many other reasons for their chosen careers.
How do I start a career in mental health?
A career in mental health typically starts with education. According to the American Psychological Association, working in psychology typically requires at least a master’s degree. It’s often helpful to prepare for this by focusing specifically on psychology during undergraduate studies.
During graduate school, you’ll typically refine your career goals and deepen your knowledge through research. Future mental health counselors, psychiatrists, and others focused on patient treatment may work toward a degree in clinical psychology. Those more interested in research will likely pick a degree aligned with their primary area of interest, such as developmental psychology or social psychology.
Your work in mental health care will often begin while you’re still in school. Many master’s programs in clinical psychology include a certain number of supervised clinical hours, giving you experience treating patients under the guidance of a more experienced professional.
Upon completion of a master’s degree, you can choose to continue to a doctoral program, find a position at a healthcare facility, or open a practice. The latter two options will likely require additional practical training and licensure. A doctoral degree is required for work involving medication prescription and management.
What profession helps people with depression?
Any or all of the mental health professions we’ve described above can offer help to those living with depression. Even some people without a specific focus on treating psychiatric illness may be able to provide assistance. For instance, primary care physicians at hospitals or in practices can often provide mental health advice and prescribe medications that could relieve depression.
Other professions that might help with depression include:
- Exercise coaches
- Yoga teachers
- Life coaches
- Nutritionists
Many people with depression can benefit from an integrative or holistic treatment approach in which they receive help from a diverse care team. You could see a counselor for cognitive-behavioral therapy, a psychiatrist for medication management, and a lifestyle coach to assist you with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen. This blended approach might work better than any single treatment on its own.
Is career more important than mental health?
Each person may have to determine their own priorities. However, there’s substantial evidence that focusing too much on your career and neglecting your mental health may have serious consequences. A cross-cultural study of more than 1400 employees found that a balance between work and personal life was strongly correlated with:
- Higher job satisfaction
- Lower anxiety
- Lower depression
- Higher satisfaction with life overall
There may be times when it’s important to push ahead in your career, but the research suggests that it’s helpful to counterbalance this effort with non-work-related activities and self-care. Those who don’t may be in danger of burnout — a combination of emotional exhaustion and detachment from their work. This risk applies to mental health care professionals at least as much as those in any other field.
What career focuses on the brain?
Several different careers are available for people who want to focus on the brain. Some psychological researchers focus on brain and cognitive science, studying how brain activity maps to various kinds of thought and behavior. Other researchers may focus on neuroanatomy, neurobiology, or neurodevelopment, investigating the formation and physical workings of the nervous system.
Psychiatrists may also focus a great deal on the brain in their studies and practice. They regularly prescribe and manage medications that directly affect the chemistry of their patients’ brains to assist in their recovery from mental health challenges.
Those interested in focusing even more directly on the brain might want to consider a career in neurology or neurosurgery. These medical fields focus on treating conditions arising directly from the biology of the brain, whether due to deformations, injuries, or diseases.
What is the highest degree of mental health?
The highest academic degrees required for specific mental health jobs are doctoral or professional degrees. Mental health specialists who wish to be able to prescribe medicine or perform surgeries must usually attain medical degrees and complete the relevant requirements for training, licensing, and clinical supervision. The relevant degrees would generally be an M.D. or D.O.
For psychologists intending to focus primarily on talk therapy and other non-pharmacological interventions, a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) might be the highest relevant degree. This typically indicates a specialization in clinical care. In some states, a Psy.D. may also qualify a psychologist to prescribe psychiatric medication. Psychologists who aim to pursue research on mental health rather than offering treatment may attain a Ph.D.
What field of psychology deals with mental health?
Most subfields of psychology have at least some relevance for questions of mental health. Any field of knowledge that scientifically investigates human thought, emotion, and behavior may shed light on how people can develop and recover from psychological illness.
That said, the subfield most directly relevant to mental health care is called clinical psychology. A dedicated mental health counselor, family therapist, psychiatrist, or any other professional treating psychological challenges can be considered a specialist in clinical psychology.
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