Understanding the Skills Needed
for a Career in Mental Health
The new year is the perfect time to assess your life, especially where your career is heading. If you’re able to achieve plenty of job satisfaction and reward, you’ll be successful in more ways than one. If a career caring for those in need of mental health support, or something that needs a psychology background is what you’re interested in; there are several areas of the field you can enter, depending on your skills and qualifications. If you’re naturally gifted at listening and offering care and support; mental health might be an area you wish to look into for your next career move. Perhaps you are already working in an area of mind management, or a supportive role for those in need and want to push your job into a new direction, or further up the career ladder.
If you feel that you’re eager to gain more knowledge, take on various challenges, and develop your skills as someone who can work with others and their mind health; make 2018 the year you make changes. There will be several things to consider, including your budget, time, and the feasibility of what you desire to do, but once you have worked these elements out, there’s no reason you can’t pursue your career goals further. Aside from being able to gain a person’s trust and offer empathy and understanding to a variety of people and personality types, you’ll need to be prepared to get plenty on on the ground experience, and put hard work and dedication into your chosen path. The following are some ideas, advice, and inspiration for those looking to begin or further their career within the field of mental health this year, and some of the traits they’ll need to be successful.
A Boost To Your Resume and Qualifications
To work in any area of healthcare, you’ll need to have gained the right qualifications. Therefore, the perfect place to start is with your resume. Research into how your current skills will complement what it is you want to do. You can then plan how to study for the right certification that positions will require in order to hire you. If you’re already working in mental health care and want to take a step further up the ladder to take on more responsibilities and challenges, it’s worth looking into the various courses available that go beyond your current role. Speak to your peers and senior members of staff about your options and see what they feel would be a wise choice. They’ll have seen your work and will be able to give you objective advice on the matter. Maybe this year is your chance to begin branching out on your own in mental health, psychology, and counseling. This will mean that you need to study for the next step in your chosen field so that you can gain enough knowledge and skills. The more qualifications you have, the more likely a person seeking private mental health care or assistance will reach out and utilize you and your services.
If you’re deciding to take the route of boosting your current career so that you can further develop it and move up the ladder, you’ll need to take on extra study as you work. Many places will offer training programs where paid work is part of the process, so look into these options first. If you want to increase your level of certification, you could consider a master’s degree in mental health counseling online so that your hours are a little more flexible and you can fit the work needed in around your job. Again, it’s always a wise idea to inform those around you of your plans, your place of work may be accommodating of your new study hours, especially if it means that they’ll have someone they can hire in-house for a role with added responsibility and when they need a more specialized skill set. Therefore, always communicate your plans to your employers and see if they can help you in any way. Perhaps they have contacts and places you can go for added work experience, which would be a shame to miss out on just because you kept your extra studies to yourself.
Traits Needed for Counseling Those In Need
Whether you branch out to have your own practice or work within public mental healthcare, counseling is an important role, and can help people deal with trauma, rehabilitate individuals, and better their coping mechanisms for a variety of conditions. Therefore you’ll need to ensure that you have the required personality traits and skills, on top of the qualifications you’ve worked hard for, to give your patients the best in care. It helps if you take a nonjudgemental approach at all times and can look in on each situation objectively. This can be challenging, but you’ll find this skill will develop as you get more experience and meet an array of people. You haven’t chosen an easy or straightforward career path, so it’s crucial that you have a genuine passion and interest in other people and remain patient and determined when you’re offering them help and services.
There are many rules regarding patient confidentiality, so you’ll need to adhere to these at all times. This can take resilience and humility, but if you persevere in the right manner with someone, you’ll often have the rewarding experience of seeing them have a far better life than when they first came to see you. You’ll need to know where to draw the line regarding patients and professional boundaries so that everyone in the situation understands the relationship. Again, this can be challenging, especially when you’ll have a naturally caring nature, but it’s as much for your benefit as theirs.
You’re bound to understand how much hard work will go into your studies, and the work involved in being a great mental health carer. However, it’s important to take time for yourself and your own mind management so that you can continue a long, successful, and rewarding career in helping others.
