A counseling psychologist treats patients undergoing issues such as stress, substance abuse, AIDS, anxiety and eating disorders. The profession of counseling psychologists differs from clinical psychologists, who treat patients diagnosed with extreme mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Becoming a counseling psychologist takes extensive education and training, available at many colleges across the country.
Instructions
1. Determine whether you want to seek a master's or doctoral degree in counseling psychology. Master's programs range from two to three years; PhD programs last about five, including a year of clinical rotation in a counseling setting. Psychologists with master's degrees make less money than those with a PhD, but jobs may be more available at a lower pay rate, according to San Diego State University.
2. Ensure you qualify for a master's or PhD program and gather application materials, such as a minimum of three letters of recommendation, Graduate Record Exam scores, any record of prior psychology work experience or volunteering and a transcript of your undergraduate education. Some schools may require a major in psychology, others allow candidates of any major. According to Purdue University's data on admissions to its counseling psychology program, the average admission grade point average of its bachelor candidates was 3.68 and 3.9 for the master's.
3. Take courses such as those in the University of Florida's graduate counseling psychology program, including survey of behavior analysis, psychotherapy with older adults, human factors, psychology of counseling, psychological assessment, professional ethics and skills in counseling psychology, vocational psychology, group counseling, behavioral pharmacology and survey of developmental psychology.
4. Join on-campus groups such as the Psychology Club and Psi Chi, the national psychology honor society. Honor societies list job links, membership rosters and opportunities for continuing education on their websites, which may be useful to you after graduation. Another option is to join a professional group such as the American Counseling Association or American Mental Health Counselors Association, which offer a directory, online learning, conferences and competitions for students.
5. Consult your state's Board of Licensing (it may be called the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, such as in North Carolina, or the Secretary of State, the Division of Licensing or another name) to determine the types of professional counseling licensing and the requirements. For example, North Carolina offers three versions of license: a supervised associate, a professional counselor with no supervision and a counselor supervisor. All require transcripts of a completed graduate-level counseling degree and an exam given by the National Board for Certified Counselors. Counselors interested in the second tier, professional counselor with no supervision, must provide documentation of having served a minimum of 3,000 hours as a professional counselor under supervision.
6. Find job openings by checking schools, rehabilitation facilities, college campuses, mental health centers and counseling offices where groups of psychologists rent or purchase an office space and share expenses. Also, the American Counseling Organization and American Mental Health Counselors Association both list searchable job openings for counseling psychologists on their websites. Employment of counselors is projected to continue an 18 percent rise through the year 2018, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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