Mental Health Counselor Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Mental Health Counselor resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Mental health counselors help people with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and addiction. They also work with people who have mental health issues that aren’t serious enough to require medical attention, like eating disorders or body image problems.
If you have a passion for helping others, fantastic listening skills, and the ability to offer guidance and support, then you might be ready to become a mental health counselor yourself! But before you can land your dream job, you need a resume that will impress hiring managers and get interviews rolling in.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write yours.
How to Write a Mental Health Counselor Resume
Here’s how to write a mental health counselor resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to focus on the responsibilities of your job. But that’s not always the most effective way to showcase your skills and experience.
Instead, you can use your bullet points to tell a story about your work. For example, rather than saying you “provided counseling services to clients with mental health issues,” you could say you “worked with clients suffering from anxiety and depression to develop coping mechanisms and reduce symptoms.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what your job entails. And it also provides some specific examples of the types of clients you worked with and the types of outcomes you achieved.
Related: What Is a Mental Health Counselor? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a mental health counselor role, your resume is likely to go through an applicant tracking system (ATS). This program will scan your resume for certain keywords related to the position. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, the ATS might automatically reject your application.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, make sure to include relevant keywords throughout all parts of your resume. Here are some common mental health counselor keywords to get you started:
- Mental Health Counseling
- Mental Health
- Mental Health first aid
- Crisis Intervention
- Group Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Psychology
- Case Management
- Counseling Psychology
- Working with Adolescents
- Family Therapy
- Psychotherapy
- Social Services
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Working with Children
- Personal Development
- Counseling
- Behavioral Health
- Career Counseling
- Event Planning
- Mental Health Clinical Practice
- Social Work
- Community Outreach
- Child Welfare
- Individual Counselling
- Counseling Psychology
- Group Counseling
- Trauma Therapy
- Emotional Intelligence
- Motivational Interviewing
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Mental health counselors use a variety of technology tools in their work, including client management software, telehealth platforms, and online databases. They also need to be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, as they often need to create documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. So if you have experience with any of these programs, be sure to list them in your technical skills section.
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