Career opportunities for counselors cover the corporate environment in human resources departments, school student services departments, academe, NGOs, court, detentions, and prison settings, as well as in a wide range of human development service providers. They can work as individual professionals or as members of a team or as employees in agencies and departments that deal with people.
Educational and school counselors. They offer personal, educational, social, and academic counseling services. The professionals often work in elementary school, high school, or university settings to help students assess their abilities and resolve personal or social problems, and do so in tandem with teachers and school administrators.
Vocational or career counselors. These professionals facilitate career decision- _ making. They aid individuals or groups in determining jobs that are best suited to their needs, skills, and interests. In some cases, they may also help clients who are already employed to improve their skills, including how to manage work-related stress or burnout. This can also stretch to providing support to individuals who have lost their jobs. For those seeking jobs, they also provide skills such as practicing for an interview and developing a meaningful and acceptable resume.
Marriage and family counselors. These professionals offer a wide range of services for couples-and families. They help couples and families deal with social issues, emotional problems, and in some cases, mental health treatment. They do conduct counseling sessions with couples or the entire family unit.
Addictions and behavioral counselors. These professionals avork with people suffering from addictions. These may range from drugs, alcohoi, sex, eating disorder, to gambling. They help family members who have been affected by the addicts’ actions to deal well with the situation and as much as possible survive the wounds.
Mental health counselors. These professionals work with people suffering from mental or psychological distress such as anxiety, phobias, depression, grief, esteem issues, trauma, substance abuse, and related issues. They aim at promoting mental health. Their clients can be individuals undergoing treatment; that is why mental health counselors often work as part of a treatment team. In treatment centers or facilities, counselors have physicians, psychologists, social workers, and other health care professionals as their treatment team.
Rehabilitation counselors. These professionals are engaged with individuals suffering from physical or emotional disabilities. In many cases, such disabilities may even affect their family, social, school, or work life. Rehabilitation counselors provide services such as evaluation of the strengths and limitations of clients. The goal is to facilitate the rehabilitation process and prevent relapse. To that end, they provide personal and vocational counseling. They can provide effective case management support that may include, but not limited to, arranging for medical care, vocational training, and even job placement.
There are individuals who may have expericneed an injury and this group of professionals can help in making the transition back into the workforce. Generally, they serve as advocates for their clients. Dealing with post-trauma management and self-acceptance issues can be very complex and too hard to endure. These professionals step up to help their clients connect well with other services, maximize their ability to live, and work independently.
Genetics counselors. These professionals operate in a very specialized context of dealing with genetic information for individuals and the decisions that come with it. The common area here is counseling parents who are concerned with determining if their potential offspring might be at risk for being born with an inherited disorder, or individual adults themselves who may be at risk of developing a genetic disease such as heart disease and breast cancer. They help individuals and families to make informed decisions about their health and to assist them in finding the services that best meet their needs. Very often, this group of professionals work as members of health care teams composed of doctors, geneticists, nurses, and social workers.
