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Exploring The Best Mental Health Care Career Opportunities

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November 16, 2022

Exploring The Best Mental Health Care Career Opportunities

Mental Health

As anxiety and depression rates rise, the need for mental health care professionals grows. One in four adults suffers from mental illness every year, yet it can be difficult for people to get help. If you’ve contemplated a career in mental health care, now could be the perfect time to explore opportunities. This article will discuss the different positions available to you under the broad umbrella of mental health care professionals and ten tips to help you get started.

Mental Health Care Career Options

There are many different career options available to those interested in working in mental health care.

Social Work

Mental Health Social Worker: Helps individuals with mental health problems that affect their everyday lives. They provide support and education on how patients can manage their mental health issues.

Social & Community Service Manager: Run non-profit organizations that provide mental health services to the general public.

Counseling

Mental Health Counselor: Meet with those who struggle with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and grief. They can diagnose mental health disorders and work with individuals, families, or groups.

Addiction Counselor: Mental health counselor who meets with and treats someone battling a substance use disorder. They come up with a treatment plan to help them during their recovery.

Psychiatry

Mental Health Psychiatrist: specialize in diagnosing mental health problems and can prescribe medication as a treatment, unlike mental health counselors and psychologists.

Psychology

You can get schooling or training in several types of psychology, but most of them fall under the following categories.

Clinical Psychology: Focuses on providing mental health care to individuals or families, usually for more severe mental health needs and behavioral disorders.

Industrial/Organizational: Focuses on understanding the behavior of employees in a work environment and how a given employee affects employees and their behavior.

Cognitive: Focuses on mental factors like memory, attention span, and reasoning, while delving into how the brain processes information.

Developmental: Focuses on how the brain develops as a child grows; psychologists who work in this field usually treat developmental, behavioral, and learning disorders.

Forensic: Focuses work in the criminal justice system to help police and lawmakers understand why behaviors occur and how a criminal mind works.

Social: Focuses on how people think and act in relationships with others.

Behavioral: Focuses on examining people’s behavior and helps them change that behavior if it is not serving them/harming them.

Abnormal: Focuses on and treats people who struggle with psychopathic or other abnormal behaviors.

Neuropsychology: Focuses on treating people with nervous system disorders.

Nursing

Psychiatric–Mental Health Nurse: Typically, registered nurses work with psychiatric patients and provide treatment when necessary.

Substance Abuse Nurse: Care for patients struggling with substance use disorder. They provide both emotional and medical assistance.

10 Tips for Getting Started in a Mental Health Career

Get the proper education: For some mental health careers, you need your associate’s or bachelor’s degree, but for others, you need your master’s or doctoral degree. Do your research to see what is required to practice in the particular field that interests you.

Gain volunteer experience: While you’re in school, getting some volunteer experience is a great idea. This experience will teach you what your work environment could be like and the types of people you could be working with and helping. It’s best to have a realistic understanding of what you’re signing up for before making a career out of it.

Complete an internship or residency: In most cases, to get your degree or license to practice a mental health profession, you’ll need to complete an internship or residency to gain hands-on experience. The good news is it gives you a real glimpse into the world you could be working in upon graduation.

Reach out to professionals in the field: It’s always a good idea to reach out to other professionals in the field so you can pick their brains and hear about the highs and lows of the profession.

Get licensed: Depending on what mental health professionals you go into, you may have to study and take a test to get your license. Stats can vary, so do your research to ensure you understand the steps you must take before practicing.

Get the job: While doing an internship or residency, look for job opportunities in a related field. Don’t limit yourself to just one position available; it’s a good idea to apply to a few jobs at once to better your odds of finding what you’re looking for in a career.

Make good connections: Like most careers, having good contacts in the community can help a lot. Collaborate with other local professionals to see if they can help market your services to people they know who are in need.

Keep learning: Never stop learning when it comes to mental health. There is always new research, and it’s essential to stay up to date on best practices and tools used to help patients and clients.

Practice self-care: A big problem many are seeing in the world after Covid is how burnt out mental health care workers are; be sure to prioritize your wellness and well-being because you can only show up to others when you take the time to show up for yourself.

Invest in mental health care yourself: Because mental health care workers give so much of themselves to their patients and clients, they must invest in their wellness too. Seek out a mental health care professional of your own to work with, so you can ensure you’re living a healthy lifestyle.

Contact Us

At Advanced Behavioral Health, we want to ensure that you have a safe place to turn to if and when you need someone to talk to about mental health issues. In addition, if speaking with one of our experts can help you explore a career in mental health care, we would love to be of service. Depending on the time you reach out to us, we also may have job opportunities available for you to apply to once you’re ready. Visit us here or call us at 301-345-1022. We’re happy to assist and support you!

When you think of the well-being of a child, you first think of basic needs: food, water, and shelter. Once these needs are met, however, it’s crucial for a child to have emotional and social wellness as well. In this article, we will explore the impact social wellness has on the overall health of a child and great ways for children to garner social support in their lives.

It comes as no surprise that as human beings, we all need connection with others, no matter what stage of life we are in. In fact, having social support is a social determinant of health (SDOH) that significantly impacts the health of an individual. After spending the last few years in and out of isolation due to the Covid-19 outbreak, social support is more important now than ever before. Having social support means having family members and friends you can talk to and seek advice from when life feels challenging and overwhelming. Knowing you’re not alone in your life journey, especially as a child, creates a sense of belonging and empowerment throughout one’s life.

4 Types of Social Support

Emotional Support. This type of support lets you know that people care about you and have empathy for your experiences. Emotional support often looks like people checking in on you to let you know they’re thinking of you, and that they are there if you need anything. As a parent, make sure your child knows you can be a sounding board for them. If you have family members who can also show up for your children in this way, even better!

Practical Help. This type of support is when people give you something tangible or offer a service to help you out. This could be in the form of money, making food when you are sick, or helping to pack when moving. Having family and friends show up in this way shows your child what it looks like to be present for people you love.

Sharing Points of View. This type of support can often come in the form of affirmations and encouragement. For example, pointing out your child’s strengths to them and reminding them they can do anything they put their mind to. It can also look like sharing another perspective if they are being hard on themselves. For example, if they are angry with themselves after receiving a bad grade on a test, you can help them see it as a learning experience and a way for them to grow.

Sharing Information. This type of support is when someone shares what they’ve learned from their own life experiences. For example, if another parent has a child who struggles with socializing, they can share some tips and tricks they’ve learned to help their child find and create social support.

The Importance of Social Groups and Extended Support

Children who are connected to their family, friends, and people in their community have opportunities to learn how to speak, share, and get along with others. When your child feels connected to people in your neighborhood, it often allows them to feel physically safe which can alleviate stress and worry. Simply riding bikes, going on walks, and saying hello to neighbors with your kids can create this sense of security for them.

In addition to engaging with your neighbors, getting involved in local organizations can also create social support for your child. Signing up for a sports team, musical theater, art class or summer camp are all great ways to help your child meet new friends and learn important social skills that can carry them through their lives.

Tips for Helping Kids Make Community Connections:

Spend time outside in your neighborhood playing on the playground, going to a local farmer’s market, or scheduling a playdate with neighborhood kids.

Show your kids that connection is a two-way street. If your neighbors or friends go out of town, offer to get their mail, or water their plants and take your child with you when you go. This will show your child how you show up for people you care about.

Make sure you make time for socializing with friends as well. Your child looks to you first and foremost for how they should act and live their own life.

Encourage your child to step out of their comfort zone and do something they may be scared to do. As a parent, it’s your job to push them into something social for their own well-being at times.