Career Options for Counselling Students

by Chad Agrawal

Counselling is an effective tool to help people through difficult changes and turbulent times in their lives. Everybody at some point goes through such times. Today there is no stigma to openly admitting to seeing a therapist or counsellor for emotional assistance.

This is great not only for society in general but for counselling students as well. The field is opening up and an increasing number of options for counsellors are emerging.

Career Counselling

Careers are much more dynamic then they were in previous generations. People will often switch from one career to another more than once in their lifetime. Career counsellors will guide their clients through this process. A counsellor in this role will provide career assessment to help their client figure out if they are on the correct path. From there the counsellor and client together explore various options. They identify the abilities and skills of the client and put together a career plan of action. These counselling sessions can be done in groups or one-on-one.

Addiction Counselling

Counsellors in this field have a deep understanding of the effects of alcohol and various drugs. They understand how the addictions impact not only on the user but also on their close friends and family. This can be a very emotionally taxing route for counsellors, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Within this field counsellors have various options; some provide support for patients in a live-in rehabilitation and detoxification centre. It is an option to do one-on one-counselling in this specialisation or to support small groups through a 12-step programme. Experts note that binge drinking is on the rise and there is an increasing level of alcohol dependency.

Telephone Support Counselling

Support line experience is very valuable for counsellors. When these counsellors pick up the phone they do not know what to expect on the other side. In this field you will deal with violence, addiction, stress, depression or any number of problems. Because of this, staff receive regular and intensive specialised training. Patients can be very difficult and this type of counselling requires excellent communication skills.

Private Practise

This kind of private counselling is in very high demand. Students cannot, however, walk away with their qualification and open a private practise immediately. To have a successful practise a counsellor needs extensive training and years of strong counselling experience.

As the field continues to grow and more people recognise the value in counselling, more career options will emerge. Already it is an interesting and satisfying field to enter. There are career options to suit the interests of just about every counselling student.

This post was written by Chad Agrawal

Chad Agrawal is the founder of CCTS, helping students transfer from community college to Ivy League, tier 1 or anywhere else by following this community college guide.

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