How to Start a Career in Mental Health Care
Pursuing a career in mental health care is not for the faint of heart! Despite this, individuals who choose to pursue a career in mental health care can expect to be rewarded with a fulfilling and inspiring profession – a job that truly makes a difference in society. Indeed, careers in mental health care have many benefits. However, sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain where to start! Of course, the best route to a job in mental health care is through education, and by completing the relevant tertiary qualifications.
Once completed, mental health care graduates have access to many career options, with an abundance of potential job roles in the industry at their fingertips! Needless to say, however, while a career in mental health care can be extremely rewarding, it can also take a certain emotional toll on the individual. As such, mental health care professionals must take all possible steps to also look after their own mental health and well-being, throughout their career.
Education Pathways: Completing Mental Health Care Qualifications
It goes without saying that to be successful in the profession of mental health care, an individual must be adequately prepared! Indeed, preparation for a challenging yet rewarding career in mental health care takes time, effort and dedication. It is also equally important to be well-educated in the field, as well as to develop the necessary personal skills that can assist with navigating the challenges that will inevitably arise in day-to-day life on the job as a mental health care professional. However, while personal resilience, genuine passion, and willingness to truly help others will take you far, completing a tertiary qualification in mental health care will also assist greatly in preparing for a successful career in mental health care.
Fortunately, higher education courses in mental health care are readily available to complete at many tertiary education facilities and institutions today. For aspiring psychologists, for example, a Graduate Diploma in Counselling is an excellent choice. By choosing to complete this particular qualification, students can expect to learn all about the foundations of counselling practice – including ethical conduct, how to navigate diversity and inclusion, and how to develop a respectful approach to patients and their issues. Core units of study within the diploma include theoretical and analytical studies of psychology, practical counselling skills development, and learning about counselling principles based on ethics, inclusion and diversity, as well as how to support patients presenting with loss, grief, and mental illnesses.
Career Options: What Jobs Are Available in Mental Health Care?
Photo by Alex Green: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-faceless-multiethnic-interviewer-and-job-seeker-going-through-interview-5699475/
For aspiring mental health care professionals, the job opportunities once qualified are abundant. The career options available to graduates of mental health care degrees can include:
Counsellor or Psychologist in a Private Practice
Arguably the most lucrative career pathway in the mental health care industry, private practice counsellors or psychologists can expect to earn up to AUD 280 per session! This can translate
into an annual salary of up to AUD 100,000 per annum! Certainly, nothing to sneeze at. However, admittedly, this profession can be exceptionally challenging, and it can be difficult for counsellors not to be adversely affected by the emotional traumas their patients present with. As such, counsellors need to develop self-care tools to look after their own mental health, stress levels, and general well-being.
Social Worker, Youth Worker or Substance Abuse Counsellor
Albeit somewhat less well-paid than the role of a private practice psychologist, to be a social worker, youth worker or substance abuse counsellor, the individual must truly want to make a difference in the lives of others. Often driven by passion and genuine care for their patients, individuals who pursue this career path can expect to feel a great deal of job satisfaction and fulfilment. Of course, these types of roles can also take a great emotional toll on the individual, and can also be very emotionally challenging and stressful.
Corrections and Prison Support Officer
A mental health care graduate can also choose to let their qualification take them down the route of counselling support in correctional facilities. Often involving an element of career counselling and guidance, these are essential roles in assisting people to re-enter society after having been incarcerated.
Regardless of the specific career pathway a mental health care professional chooses to pursue, the benefits – both to the individual and society – are great. As well as a sense of personal fulfilment and job satisfaction, mental health care professionals can rest in the knowledge that they are truly making a difference in the lives of those under their care. For this reason, a career in mental health care is appealing to many. Of course, the best way to pursue this career pathway is to educate oneself in the field. And with mental health care professionals more in demand than ever, there is no better time to start than the present!
Feature image: Photo by Alex Green: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-ethnic-psychologist-writing-on-clipboard-during-session-5699456/