Certifications and Licensure for Counselors: Types, Requirements, Salary, Skills

Who are Counselors

In simple words, a counselor is someone whose job is to listen and give advice to a person, couple, family, or group of an organization. Especially advice for those who are unable to deal with current ongoing situations or childhood fears and can’t maintain their mental well-being. Well, after getting a bachelor’s in sociology, psychology, social work, medical science, or nursing you may pursue a master’s or diploma in counseling in mental health or career counseling, or marriage counseling.

Types of Counselors

There are basically 5 broad classifications of Counselors. They are listed below for your reference,

1. Licensed Professional Psychologist: A LPP is someone who is a professional, one with a doctoral or master's in mental health services providers, who practices and studies different normal and abnormal states of individuals including mental, emotional, and behavioral conditions related to one environment by using defined ways, observing the responses and interpreting them without adhering to his predictions of oneself.
2. Licensed Guidance Counselor: A LGC works in the field of education guiding students with problems on the career level or family or personal issues. They may help students gain knowledge about different career paths and in selecting college and counseling. The LGC should know government education policies, foreign policies, and different career scopes.
3. Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor: A LCAC works for a person, along with their family who is addicted to drugs, alcohol, or smoking, by analyzing and creating strategies and plans specific to that person to help that person recover. The counselor should understand, care, and be non-judgmental in helping an addict. They suggest ongoing therapy, assist improvement and provide necessary guidance.
4. Marriage Counselor License: A counselor that helps couples, and families to improve their relationships and resolve conflicts by listening, observing, and communicating. They enable couples to speak to themselves and listen to others, help understand each other's feelings and normalize communication. They highlight the relationship’s difficulties and direct ways to turn an unhealthy relationship into a healthier one.
5. Licensed Rehabilitation Counselor: LRC works on an individual who may have recently had an accident and is facing difficulties in getting back his life on a normal track. They work on various disabilities that one has and use different defined ways to rehab oneself to his old life. They try to create a bridge between a disabled person and a normal life that he may lead shortly.