Mental health counselors work with individuals, families, and groups to address and treat mental and emotional disorders and to promote mental health. They are trained in a variety of therapeutic techniques used to address issues, including depression, addiction and substance abuse, suicidal impulses, stress, problems with self-esteem, and grief. They also help with job and career concerns, educational decisions, issues related to mental and emotional health, and family, parenting, marital, or other relationship problems. Mental health counselors often work closely with other mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, and school counselors. (Information on psychologists, registered nurses, social workers and physicians and surgeons, which includes psychiatrists, appears elsewhere in the Occupational Outlook Handbook.) In many states mental health counselors may diagnose as well as treat mental illness. ( http://http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm )

5.21.08 This page is currently undergoing a revision by founders and former presidents of the American Mental Health Counselors Association and others who became aware that the material presented here was not entirely accurate or factual. This will be an independent offering and not part of any official organizational offering. We regret any misrepresentations of the field of mental health counseling. For further information, contact, Dr. Edward Beck at edward.beck@waldenu.edu.

William J. Weikel, Past President AMHCA, Founding Editor, AMHCA Journal, now Journal of Mental Health Counseling,

Howard Smith, Past President, American Mental Health Counseling Association and form Professional Affairs Officer, American Counseling Association

James J. Messina, Co-Founder and Past President, American Mental Health Counselors Association, and Co-Founder and Past Chair, National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors

Edward S. Beck, Past President American Mental Health Association, Past AMHCA Representative to the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs

William Krieger, Past Chair, National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors and Past President, AMHCA

Jonah Steinhaus, Past Chair National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors

Richard Wilmarth, Past President, American Mental Health Counselors Association and Past Chair, National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors

Description of duties

A significant point of reference to distinguish Mental Health Counselors from Social Workers, Psychologists, Nurse Practitioners, and Psychiatrists, is that Mental Health Counselors increasingly utilize a psycho-educational model for counseling clients, in conjunction with the more traditional medical/illness model for assessment and diagnosis. ==See also==

• List of counseling topics
• Mental health professional
• Psychotherapy
• Nonviolent communication
• Social worker
• Psychologist
• Psychiatrist
• Occupational therapist
• DO
• MD
• PhD
• PsyD
• ScD
• EdD
• Expressive therapy
• Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Rational emotive behavior therapy
• Dialectical behavioral therapy

This is an List of counseling topics is incomplete list. ... A mental health professional is a person who offers services for the purpose of improving an individuals mental health and/or researches in the field of mental health. ... Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. ... Nonviolent communication (NVC) is a process developed by Marshall Rosenberg and others which people use to communicate with greater compassion and clarity. ... A social worker is a person employed in the administration of charity, social service, welfare, and poverty agencies, advocacy, or religious outreach programs. ... A psychologist is an expert in psychology, the systematic investigation of the human body, including behavior, cognition, and affect. ... For other uses, see Psychiatrist (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Occupational therapy. ... Look up do in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or MD, from the Latin Medicinae Doctor meaning Teacher of Medicine,) is an academic degree for medical doctors. ... PhD usually refers to the academic title Doctor of Philosophy PhD can also refer to the manga Phantasy Degree This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... The Doctor of Psychology (Psy. ... The abbreviation, acronym, or initialism SCD has several different meanings: Sc. ... For the word, see Edd. ... Expressive therapy know alse as art therapy provides the means and support to express and explore feelings, thought problems and potentials through the use of art media and imagery. ... Cognitive therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other forms of mental disorder. ... A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy based on modifying cognitions, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors, with the aim of influencing disturbed emotions. ... Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a comprehensive, active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy which focuses on resolving cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems in human beings. ... Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is a psychosocial treatment developed by Marsha M. Linehan specifically to treat individuals with Borderline personality disorder. ...

References

Mental Health Counselor http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm

External links

• American Mental Health Counselors Association
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