Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt desperate for counseling? Or have you had to recommend counseling to someone? Life is full of ups and downs, which sometimes can be very challenging. Both young and old people all over the country are experiencing depression, anxiety, anger, emotional, substance abuse, eating disorders, and sexual struggles.

However, talk therapies, and one on one and group counseling have proven very helpful.

To become a counsellor, a masters in social work is necessary in most states. The program takes one to two years to complete and offers a wide education to help students acquire a foundation in basic concepts and theory across the interconnected areas of social work practice. From there, students will choose a specialty of practice and study, including:

1. Child and adolescent counseling
Child and adolescent counselling teaches students how to identify and address the underlying emotional problems associated with childhood development. It counsells through talk therapy, play therapy, and teaching coping mechanisms to help patients identify triggers to negative behavior and deal with it healthy, permanent ways.

2. Mental health rehab, and addiction counseling
Students who choose a mental health and addiction route to counselling learn to create customized therapies for helping patients overcome drug and alcohol addiction, depression and other mental health issues. Many take up jobs in rehabilitation and hospital settings.

3. Career readiness counselling
Career readiness counsellors learn to provide an array of community-based career resources and planning support to both companies seeking employers and employees seeking work (via employment agencies, community groups, industries, etc.). This counselling delves into employment history, educational background, and career goals.

4. Marriage and family counselling
Marriage and family counsellors (or MFTs) are therapy professionals trained in psychotherapy and family systems, which means they diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders within the context of couples (i.e., marriage) and family systems. They do this by assessing the behaviors of all family members and look at the way these impact individuals within the unit, as well as the entire family. They may divide time, focusing some on one-on-one therapy and some on family or couples therapy.