Careers in Counseling & Human Services
The counseling and human services industry focuses on enhancing individual and community well-being through prevention, intervention, advocacy, and support services. Professionals in this sector work in diverse settings such as healthcare organizations, community-based agencies, educational institutions, and governmental programs to address mental health, social, and behavioral challenges. These career paths often emphasize collaboration, cultural competence, ethical practice, and evidence-based approaches that promote empowerment and resilience within our communities. Whether you’re in a school, hospital, counseling office, non-profit, or health care agency, you will be providing meaningful support to those in need.
What Can I Do With a Career in Counseling & Human Services?
There are a variety of career options available to those in the Counseling & Human Services industry. Focus areas in Counseling & Human Services include:
Counseling: Mental Health
Counselors help people cope with mental, physical, social, or economic challenges by helping their clients learn adaptive behaviors and by providing tools to better communicate with and understand others. On the mental health side of counseling, some potential career paths include being a mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, grief counselor, rehabilitation counselor, and substance abuse counselor. Counselors work in a variety of settings including private practice, schools, hospitals, community health organizations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and inpatient and outpatient detoxification centers. Mental Health Counselors
Counseling: Education
Counselors in the Education industry can be broken up into two main types: a focus on educating others, or mental health counseling in an educational setting. Careers that involve using counseling to educate or advise include career counselors, college counselors, and school counselors. Their main focus is to utilize counseling techniques to help students navigate their academic, college, or professional careers. These counselors typically work in schools, private agencies, or non-profit organizations. On the other hand, counseling in an educational setting includes school adjustment counselors or therapists that focus on mental health counseling for students in K-12 schools or colleges by directly working in the school itself. Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Psychology: Intervention
Psychologists study cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by observing, interpreting, testing and recording how people relate to one another and to their environments. They use their findings to help improve processes and behaviors, and to potentially evaluate and diagnose a client with a mental disorder. These individuals are typically therapists with a focus in psychotherapy. There are many types of psychologists including, but not limited to, clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, developmental psychologists, forensic psychologists, industrial–organizational psychologists, rehabilitation psychologists, and school psychologists. Psychologists work in a variety of settings including private practices, schools, hospitals, research laboratories, and prisons. Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
Psychology: Medicinal
Psychology crosses over into the medicinal world with the Psychiatry profession. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in psychology, and typically diagnose, treat, and evaluate patients that may have emotional, mental, and/or behavioral disorders. As a medical doctor, they can conduct exams, order lab tests, diagnose, and prescribe medication, in a similar way that your primary care physician does, but with a main focus on mental health. Psychiatrists typically work in hospitals, pediatric care facilities, physicians offices, substance abuse hospitals, and outpatient care centers. Psychiatrists and Psychologists often get mistaken for being of the same role, but the main differences are:
Psychiatrists are Medical Doctors (MD) who are physicians and can prescribe medication for mental disorders. Their main focus is medicinal treatment for mental disorders.
Psychologists can be Master’s level (MS) or Doctors of Psychology (PhD or PsyD), who are therapists and generally can not prescribe medication (dependent on state). Their main focus is psychotherapy to treat mental disorders. What Is the Difference Between Psychologists, Psychiatrists and Social Workers?
Social Work
Social Workers help individuals, groups, and families prevent and cope with problems in their everyday lives. Social workers can be licensed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), who can diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders. What sets social workers apart from previous professions mentioned, is that they have a particular emphasis on connecting people with their community and the services available there. There are many types of social workers including, but not limited to, child and family social workers, school social workers, healthcare social workers, mental health social workers, and substance abuse social workers. Social workers can work in a variety of settings including schools, clinics, private practice, government agencies, counseling agencies, community agencies, hospitals, and healthcare agencies as well as county, state, and federal legal agencies.
Gaining Experience in Counseling and Human Services
Students can gain meaningful experience in the Counseling and Human Services industry through a variety of experiential learning opportunities both on and off campus. Many begin by volunteering or interning with community organizations, nonprofits, social service agencies, or healthcare providers that support mental health, youth development, or family services. On campus, students can build skills through roles in peer mentoring, student support programs, residence life, or wellness programs. Additional opportunities include shadowing licensed professionals, assisting with faculty research on human behavior or social issues, and participating in academic or community engagement projects on campus. These experiences help students better understand future client needs, develop interpersonal and problem solving skills, and gain exposure to social, emotional, behavioral, and community obstacles.
Helping professions are jobs with duties that primarily involve direct outreach to individuals, improving their quality of life. Counseling, psychology, and social work are the key fields that come to mind when considering a helping profession.
