Posted on June 7, 2010.
Children and adolescents mental health: the right career at the right time According to the Addiction and Mental Health Services, approximately two-thirds of youth who need mental health services do not get it. The time is now to a career in child and adolescent mental health.
Mental Health Career Profile
Establish and maintain interpersonal relationships, discover private and often hidden, information, and then use this information to potentially save someone's life. If you think a good career is more than just a paycheck, mental health could your profession. With a growing population and the identification of new disorders, the field is ripe for growth and discovery.
Children and adolescents with mental health services generally focus on a variety of mental, emotional, and substance abuse problems children experience daily. This may mean working with patients as individuals or in groups to find answers to problems of development. Working environments may include hospitals, clinics, schools, and mental health facilities.
A career in competitive advantage
Why mental health services? In a word, diversity. One of the main advantages of a career in this business is that you're usually not confined to a track predictable. There are tiered levels that meet a variety of interests and levels of education. Many niches overlap, allowing you to explore your preferences. Some of your options include:
aec Psychiatric Occupational Therapy
aec Clinical Psychology
aec Psychiatric Nursing
aec social services
aec Psychotherapy
aec language development
Flexibility is another key advantage. A surprising percentage of mental health professionals are self-employed, working within their own practice or as an independent consultant. Because mental health is such an occupation in demand, graduates may find they can create their own schedules, decide when and how to work according to their own professional and personal obligations.
Mental Health in Numbers
When most people think of mental health, the psychologist is usually immediately to mind. And it may be a good starting point when looking at the growth potential in the field of child and adolescent mental health. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that psychologists alone held 166,000 jobs in 2006. And employment of psychologists is expected to increase by 15 percent until 2016 - which is faster than the national average. In addition, psychologists working in primary and secondary schools experienced one of the annual average wage levels to $ 66,040.
To follow this career path
While all professionals in the field of mental health usually have a bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, students who wish to compete for top jobs should pursue a specialist or doctoral degree in psychiatry, psychology, or counseling. For example, if you have your sights on service in an educational specialist (EdS) degree in School Psychology usually requires three years of graduate full-time internship plus 1 year full time.
The potential requirements for psychologists are generally more stringent. Geri Fox, Director of Psychiatry Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, promotes board certification by completing two years of child and adolescent psychiatry training, in addition to winning the Council of certification in general psychiatry.
