Occupations · Community and Social Service
Mental Health Counselors
Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention. May help individuals deal with a broad range of mental health issues, such as those associated with addictions and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; or aging.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 21-1014.00
Pay over time
Median up 37% between 2003 and 2016, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Maintain confidentiality of records relating to clients' treatment.
- Encourage clients to express their feelings and discuss what is happening in their lives, helping them to develop insight into themselves or their relationships.
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Assess patients for risk of suicide attempts.
- Fill out and maintain client-related paperwork, including federal- and state-mandated forms, client diagnostic records, and progress notes.
- Perform crisis interventions to help ensure the safety of the patients and others.
- Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems.
- Perform crisis interventions with clients.
- Prepare and maintain all required treatment records and reports.
- Develop and implement treatment plans based on clinical experience and knowledge.
- Collect information about clients through interviews, observation, or tests.
- Modify treatment activities or approaches as needed to comply with changes in clients' status.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Access | 71 | 265 → 372 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | 69 | 400 → 629 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Outlook | 68 | 348 → 642 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2025-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2025-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
Tasks O*NET flags as emerging
- Guide clients in the development of skills or strategies for dealing with their problems and coping with triggering factors.
- Respond to client communications by monitoring voicemail and email, returning phone calls, and making follow-up calls for missed appointments.
O*NET 30.3 emerging tasks
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 1 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 4
No longer listed 3
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| mental health social worker | 2635.3.17 | exact |
| clinical social worker | 2635.3.3 | close |
| social counsellor | 2635.1 | close |
| drug and alcohol addiction counsellor | 2635.1.2 | broader |
| substance misuse worker | 2635.3.24 | broader |
| marriage counsellor | 2635.1.4 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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