The main responsibility of a counselor is to aid people with personal, family, educational, mental, emotional and career decisions and problems. However, specific goals of counselors vary among the fields of study they choose.
Mental Health Counselors work with individual people, families and other groups to find and treat both mental and emotional disorders. They use numerous therapeutic techniques in order to promote the highest level of positive mental health. These counselors are trained to address many issues that include depression, addiction, suicidal tendencies, stress management, career considerations, self esteem issues, educational decisions and other issues related to mental and emotional health. Counselors are also trained to address any family, parenting and marital relationship problems.
Marriage and Family Counselors specialize in the comprehensive field of human development and personal relationships. They use various therapeutic techniques to individuals, families and couples in order to resolve emotional conflicts in certain relationships. By applying different principles and methods of treatment, they are able to modify group perceptions and behaviors and increase communication and understanding within each relationship. These techniques can aid in solving current crises and preventing future crises.
School Counselors assist students in understanding and learning to handle social, behavioral and personal problems. They underline preventive and developmental counseling in order to supply students with the important life skills they need to control problems before they occur. They also assist in enhancing personal, social and academic growth for each student. School counselors provide special services such as alcohol and drug prevention programs as well as conflict resolution courses. These counselors are also trained to identify cases of domestic abuse and various family issues that can largely affect the development of the student. Counselors can work with students individually, in small groups or even in classroom settings.
Career Counselors, or vocational counselors, provide counseling and evaluations for careers and various career decisions. Their main focus is helping individuals with their career goals and decisions. In order to find the correct career path these counselors evaluate each client�s education, training, career history, interests, skills and other personality traits. They arrange for aptitude and achievement tests to assist in making career decisions. Career counselors also help individuals develop their job searching skills and they assist in both locating and applying for jobs. Additionally, these counselors provide support to clients that are experiencing job loss, stress and other transition issues.
Rehabilitation Counselors assist people in dealing with personal, social and vocational effects of disabilities such as birth defects, illness, disease, accidents or simply the stress living with a disability causes. These counselors are trained to evaluate strengths and limitations of their clients, provide both personal and vocational counseling and even plan out medical care, provide vocational training and seek employment opportunities. Rehabilitation counselors confer with individuals with disabilities and also speak with their families. They develop personalized rehabilitation programs based on education and medical reports and by consulting with physicians, occupational therapists and employers to establish capabilities of the individual.
Because being a counselor can cause very stressful situations on a daily basis, all counselors must possess the physical and emotional energy needed to handle the wide variety of people and problems that they address.
