Mental Health Counselor job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 5 of 5

extensive preparation

1. Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment. importance 5.0 of 5
2. Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships. importance 4.9 of 5
3. Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes. importance 4.8 of 5
4. Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others. importance 4.8 of 5
5. Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes. importance 4.8 of 5
6. Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts. importance 4.8 of 5
7. Perform crisis interventions with clients. importance 4.8 of 5
8. Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems. importance 4.8 of 5
9. Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports. importance 4.7 of 5
10. Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge. importance 4.6 of 5
11. Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests. importance 4.5 of 5
12. Modify treatment activities or approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status. importance 4.5 of 5
13. Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling programs on clients' progress in resolving identified problems and moving towards defined objectives. importance 4.4 of 5
14. Evaluate clients' physical or mental condition, based on review of client information. importance 4.3 of 5
15. Supervise other counselors, social service staff, assistants, or graduate students. importance 4.2 of 5
16. Discuss with individual patients their plans for life after leaving therapy. importance 4.2 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Assisting and Caring for Others, Getting Information, Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships, Making Decisions and Solving Problems and Documenting/Recording Information.

Knowledge areas: Therapy and Counseling, Psychology, Customer and Personal Service, English Language and Sociology and Anthropology.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 5 of 5 (extensive preparation). Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become a mental health counselor.

Most O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation (89%) name a master's degree as the education the job requires.

Job title: Mental Health Counselor
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Mental Health Counselor to counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
- Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
- Perform crisis interventions with clients.
- Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.

What we are looking for
- [Education this role truly needs]
- Strength in social perceptiveness, active listening and speaking
- Working knowledge of Therapy and Counseling and Psychology
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

See the full mental health counselor salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real mental health counselor posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only mental health counselor work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (social perceptiveness and active listening).