Cali Dibello

Lesson 8
Career Expl 1
Career Research Essay

The job that I picked for my chosen career is to be a Mental Health Counselor, also

known as we all know a Therapist. The occupation involves helping and treating mental and

emotional health disorders, relationship issues, as well as life challenges. Some of the mental

health disorders that are often in need of help like OCD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. All of

these disorders are assessed by therapists through lots of methods of psychotherapy. There are

many tasks that a Therapist takes on in their career but one task that stands out the most is

having to work with the patients in order to develop a certain kind of behavioral change.

There are many skills and abilities that a professional therapist needs to have in order to

be successful, just as any career does. I think it's most important when it comes to mental health

to be able to be very efficient in the way you work with the patient. The top common skills you

need to attain in the career are definitely communication skills, empathic, patience, observant,

respectful, and to have confidence in your work environment. In order to have communication

skills you need to be able to set boundaries and communicate ideas with the patient. Overall the

communication from the therapist should be able to help the patient understand they can trust

you and that goes for all of the skills definitions.

Here are some colleges that offer the training in therapy, communications, and mental

health counselors, Arizona State University, California State University Fullerton, and Chicago

School of Professional Psychology at San Diego. There are many ways to obtain the necessary

training in this career. You can get a Bachelor's degree in behavioral, social science, or a
Cali Dibello
Lesson 8
Career Expl 1
psychology field or do a diploma, degree or postgraduate course in counseling or

psychotherapy. There are some undergraduate courses that offer counseling in other subjects as

well. For ASU you can get a BDH (Behavioral Health Management) degree as a graduate in

(BA) psychology- forensic. California State University Fullerton offers many majors and

courses from basic counseling skills to Advanced Practicum. For Chicago School of

Professional Psychology in San Diego the majors that they are are Doctoral degrees to

certificates. For example a doctoral degree in Psy. D. Applied Clinical Psychology and a

certificate in Post-Bachelor's Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. I'm not set on an area to

live in so I'm not sure of all of the salary and benefits yet.

Another career that is related to being a Therapist or a Mental Health Counselor is a

Social worker. They are the same because they involve a sense of understanding of mental

health disorders and working on individuals. They are different because a Counselor tends to

work on a specific set of problems with a person, while a Social Worker focuses on trying to

provide a wider range of services. The occupational outlook for the career that I'm seeking is

27% growth. The employment is growing much faster than the average for all occupations. Yes

there is a demand in this field of work.

I think I would be successful in this career because overall I love to communicate with

others in order to fix things. As a little kid I always had an interest in doing something in the

health industry. As I grew older I started to realize some things that came natural to me and

started to fit them into job requirements. I would say some of my strengths that would allow

myself to be successful in this job would have to be my communication skills as well as listening
Cali Dibello
Lesson 8
Career Expl 1
skills. I would describe myself as an empathic person just because I like to put myself in

someone else's shoes to really understand the meaning of the situation. I never shame and I

always acknowledge a person's feelings, and I think I have good ways to solve a problem. My

interests and values come together when it comes to this career field just because I think that

social justice is important as well as independence.

Work Cited:

“Counseling Degrees and Programs in California.” Counseling Degree Guide, 12 Jan.

2022, https://www.counselingdegreeguide.org/schools/california/.

Duszynski-Goodman, Lizzie. “What Does a Mental Health Counselor Do?” Forbes, Forbes

Magazine, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/what-is-a-mental-health-

counselor/.

“Occupational Therapists : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 Sept. 2021,

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm.

“The Traits That Will Help You Thrive as a Counselor.” Post University, 21 June 2021,

https://post.edu/blog/the-traits-that-will-help-you-thrive-as-a-counselor/.