Brief History of Counseling Major
A degree in counseling can lead to a career in addressing clients’ mental health, education, and family issues. Society’s increasing emphasis on proper precautions and responses for addressing psychological and emotional needs has led to greater demand for guidance counselors (in addition to other types of counselors).
A bachelor’s or associate degree in counseling can give you the knowledge and background of theories of human behavior, psychology, and general health. A more specialized undergraduate degree in counseling psychology can give you a focus on human interactions, brain processes, and behavior. A graduate degree in counseling psychology or guidance counseling, can give you an even more specialized focus. There are actually more graduate programs than undergraduate programs in the education market.
A variety of both traditional and online programs are available, and you can find a program most suited to your needs. An online program can be just as valuable as a degree from a brick-and-mortar school, as the majority of training and learning comes from hands-on experience in the field. Get the background coursework, theories, and seminars from your degree, and delve into any one of the careers available for counseling degree holders: research, high school counselor, family counselor, university or school administration, crisis management counselor, or one of the many other great opportunities available to you!
Delving into the Counseling Major
If you are planning on pursuing a counseling degree, you may be required to take courses pertaining to general education before committing to an actual counseling major. While studying counseling, in a more general sense, you will take courses on (but not limited to): the social basis of counseling, educational assessment, crisis intervention, diversity and how it affects clients and schools, addictions and how to battle them, stress management, family relationships, and counseling theories and techniques.
Students, especially undergraduates, will also be required to take prerequisites, such as science (usually biology), math, English, and other university requirements to graduate. Furthermore, you may have to take a wide range of courses in psychology such as: developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, behavior medication, psychological testing and evaluation, and psychology statistics.
Most of the time, students are required to take exams like any other major. They are usually assigned course work and readings at the beginning of the semester. Course readings can come from online journals, news articles, and actual textbooks. However, there will also be clinics and audio recordings for various seminar lectures. In seminars, you may be able to have a more hands on approach to the subject matter.
Some counseling degree programs require students to volunteer in their communities as well. For a graduate level program, students are required to get more clinical or real-world experience (based on the type of counseling work you plan to do).
Degree Levels
Associate
Associate degrees in counseling are less common than bachelor’s or graduate degrees in the same field. However, you can find a specialized program in your area of interest. For example, you could pursue a career as a substance abuse counselor or career counselor with two years of work experience and an associate degree in counseling.
There are many online associate programs, and most of them will require you to take courses on the following subjects: group therapy, student affairs, relationship therapy, career development, human growth and development, and program evaluation and research. Based on your career path, you can take specialized courses on school counseling, pediatric counseling, substance abuse, career counseling, and/or family and marriage therapy. In addition to two years of experience and an associate degree, most counselors must be certified to practice in their state.
Bachelor’s
Bachelor’s degree programs usually require students to take more prerequisite courses than those pursuing associate degrees in counseling. For example, you may be required to take biology, statistics, education courses, and sociology courses. Those who become counselors don’t always major in counseling, but major in related fields such as psychology, sociology, or social work. In fact, many schools don’t have counseling majors. Some of them have a counseling specialization within the psychology department.
There are plenty of online schools which offer counseling bachelor’s degree programs, and students are required to take a few courses in psychology, battling substance abuse, educational counseling, marriage and relationship counseling, counseling theories, and stress management.
Master’s
Most high schools and universities expect their career and general school counselors to hold a master’s degree in related subject matter. Additionally, public school counselors are usually required to pass a certification exam in order to be certified for the public school system.
Holding a master’s degree usually increases your career options, as you can also become an educational consultant or work in the education sector of various government offices after obtaining your degree. Most master’s programs are two years and specialize in a specific area of counseling. It is important to choose your specialization before you begin the program. You can choose to specialize in various fields, but common areas include: abnormal psychology, social behavior, juvenile system, family counseling, and educational counseling.
If students have not completed prerequisites at the bachelor’s levels they may have to take additional psychology courses. Master’s students are also required to write a thesis on a chosen topic in their field, and they also must complete some field work in either schools, hospitals, or other volunteer opportunities.
Doctorate
Doctorate programs in counseling usually delve into more advanced psychology topics such as psychopathology, the evolution of consciousness, the processes of cognition and learning in humans, and the biological processes and structures of the brain. A doctorate program will allow students to learn how to manage their own practice/office of psychological counseling and how to provide therapy in both individual and group situations. It also delves deeper into application of counseling theory and individual and group intervention (when necessary).
Furthermore, many courses focus on how to best maintain client/counselor relationships, how to evaluate and test patients, and various types of therapy. Types of therapy include: group, marital, family, and teen therapy. Most doctorate students specialize in a specific type of therapy and write their thesis on subjects or issues in that area.
Supplementing Your Counseling Major
You can supplement your counseling major by doing a minor in psychology or a minor in an unrelated field. Based on your interests and future career options, you may want to do a minor in a field like economics or even pre-medicine. For example, if you plan on opening up your own counseling center or office, a degree in economics or business may be useful. You could potentially use the things you learn in an economics minor to manage your finances and investments.
If you may want to attend medical school after your bachelor’s degree, you could also use the counseling degree to help prepare you to become a psychiatrist. As long as you fulfill premed requirements, you could apply to medical school after completing your bachelor’s degree.
Psychiatrists also have to deal with issues familiar to counselors. For example, psychiatrists may deal with clients or patients facing family issues, anxiety problems, stress, and other more serious diseases. A major in counseling, an area which deals with similar issues and topics, could help future psychiatrists get early training in the field. Psychiatrists are also able to prescribe necessary drugs to deal with more serious problems, making proper medical school training very important.
Students who complete a major in counseling a minor in psychology (or vice versa) can pursue their graduate studies in either psychology or counseling. After completion of a graduate program (whether it is a Ph.D. or a master’s degree), students can also practice clinical psychology. Psychologists are unable to prescribe medicine to patients, but they act as counselors to some extent.
Lastly, students interested in pursuing careers as high school counselors or college career counselors may want to pursue a minor in education. An education minor will help students gain exposure to how the education system works.
Learn More About the Counseling Major
- Master’s in Counseling
- Counseling Jobs
- Journal of Counseling Psychology
- British Journal of Guidance and Counseling
The Counseling Major In the Job Market
In order to be an effective counselor (or work in careers related to counseling), you need to be patient, willing to listen to others, willing to learn about and meet new people everyday, enjoy working with others, and be aware and willing to accept sociocultural differences.
While studying counseling, you will learn how to manage client patient relationships, how to support group interventions or individual interventions (when necessary), and ethics dealing with the counseling profession. You will also learn how to attribute certain characteristics and behaviors to certain biological processes or malfunctions. For example, imbalances in hormones could lead to depression or other problems in your patient or student.
Based on your studies and area of interest, you could find a variety of jobs. If you are interested in pursuing (or have already) a graduate degree in counseling, you could work as a marriage/family therapist or clinical psychologist. According to PayScale, family/marriage therapists can get paid anywhere from $29,635 to $78,073. Salary ranges depend on level of experience, location of practice, and actual success.
If you chose to work as a guidance counselor in secondary school, your median salary would be around $45,367. Salary of course can vary based on location, school district, and school funding. Most public schools require guidance counselors to not only possess a graduate degree, but they also must be certified counselors. This means they are required to pass a certification exam before their start dates.
For someone with an associate degree and at least two years of work experience, a substance abuse counselor may be an interesting rewarding career choice. If you took courses on the topic during your degree program, and are willing to work with those with addictions, this could be a rewarding career choice, both emotionally and financially. According to PayScale, substance abuse counselors make anywhere from $27,583 to $38,585.
It is important to start networking for future jobs while you are still in school. Most online and traditional universities ask you to complete hands-on volunteer work (in your subject area) to graduate. You should keep in touch with any supervisor you work with. For example, if you are working at a school, as an assistant to a guidance counselor, be sure to keep in touch with that guidance counselor and principal of the school. If you enjoy the experience, you may want to come back to work there part time. This is also important for anyone else you work for. The earlier you start networking, the more career options you will have. Also, feel free to use sites like MonsterJobs or SimplyHired to find jobs in your city or region.
Careers I Can Get with This Degree:
