Types of Counseling

Counseling Specialties

There are many ways in which to specialize during your counseling career. Here are some of the most common types of counseling specialties:

• Marriage and family counseling
• Educational, career, school counseling
• Rehabilitation counseling
• Mental health counseling
• Substance abuse counseling

It is not necessary to choose a specialty before you begin your master's program in counseling, although many students go into their counseling programs with one in mind.

Do not be surprised if, during your two-year degree and one year of post-graduate work, you end up in an area you had not considered prior to grad school. Keep an open mind, and unless you truly know what type of counseling you would like to pursue, choose a counseling degree that offers a variety of options.

In addition to the main specialties listed above, counselors can also assist their clients using techniques in areas such as these:

• Debt counseling
• Child development counseling
• Eating disorder therapy
• Grief counseling
• Art therapy
• Musical therapy

Types of Mental Illnesses

According to the National Institute for Mental Illness, approximately 26.2 percent of adult Americans (over 1 in 4) are affected by some type of mental illness each year.* Here are some of the common mental illnesses that counselors work with:

• Anxiety disorder
• Attention deficit disorder
• Bipolarity
• Borderline personality
• Depression
• Eating disorder
• Generalized anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Social phobia

*quoting Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and co morbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Co morbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.