Working as a child and adolescent mental health professional can offer a versatile number of career options for you, but studying further and doing your master’s degree in child and adolescent mental health can open even more doors for you. If you’re wondering whether or not you should study further, here are some potential careers you can pursue with a master’s degree in child and adolescent mental health.
1. Behavioral therapist
For those who enjoy studying the behaviours of others, a master’s in child and adolescent mental health opens the door for you to become a behavioural therapist. Behavioural therapists are trained to diagnose and treat behavioural mental disorders, like anxiety, addictions, phobias, and destructive coping mechanisms. They would help their patients adopt their behaviours by learning new ways to cope with their feelings or surroundings.
2. Social worker
If you have a passion for families and children, pursuing a career in social work might be fulfilling. Social workers advocate for families and children who need help or intervention in certain situations. Social workers generally get involved when families with kids are struggling financially, or there is domestic violence in the home. Their duties involve assessing the living conditions, meeting with the kids or families regularly, and working alongside teachers to ensure that children are duly cared for and are treated appropriately.
3. School guidance counsellor
The school hires school guidance counsellors to act as certified counsellors for students with mental issues, or who just need someone to talk to. They work alongside teachers to help students achieve academic success. Guidance counsellors are available to students who are struggling with the weight of academic requirements or those struggling with social issues. They also play an important role in helping students choose a career and assisting them with applications to universities.
4. Family therapist
Family therapists also offer family-centred services. They’re professionally licensed to counsel couples and families who’ve experienced mental health or emotional conflict. Generally, their services encompass helping families that have experienced traumatic events, assisting through divorces, and working through behavioural concerns and substance abuse with individuals in the family. If you’re passionate about the family structure and want to see it succeed, this is how you could be an active part of this.
5. College lecturer
A master’s in child and adolescent mental health is an advanced degree, one that could open the doors for you to become a lecturer at a university. As a lecturer, you would be responsible for preparing and delivering lessons to aspiring students on the subject of child and adolescent mental health in accordance with the university’s set curriculum. This is a more structured use of your skills and knowledge, where you can impact others indirectly by preparing the next generation of child and adolescent mental health professionals.
6. Psychotherapist
Psychotherapists take a more specialised approach, dealing with individuals who struggle with multiple mental issues. They usually treat people who have issues like obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, or anxiety. What sets apart Psychotherapists from counsellors is that they generally stick to one of four types of psychotherapy to treat their patients.
7. Researcher
If you’re wanting a break from the hands-on work, you could become a researcher, using your knowledge and skills to develop and discover new methods and statistical techniques that can be used by counsellors and other professionals to help kids with mental issues. Researchers are often sought after in many industries and businesses because they are able to use data to create solutions to problems.
8. Child psychologist
Child psychologists specialise in using their extensive knowledge about child and adolescent mental health issues to diagnose and treat children who experience mental health disorders. Their roles generally involve them performing a variety of tests evaluating their patients and conducting therapy sessions with the patients to help them learn to cope with or overcome their struggles.
Where to study your Master of Child and Adolescent Mental Health?
Deciding to study further is the first step; now, you need to choose where to study. If you’re considering doing your Master of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, here is a helpful page from Victoria University. This page will give you all the information you need to know about the course, from entry requirements to the course outline, and you can even get in touch with a student enrollment advisor who can answer any questions you might have.
Final thoughts
With a master’s degree in child and adolescent mental health, you have your pick of the crop when it comes to related careers. With the option to specialise, you could even study further and become an expert in your field. From working in your local schools to researching ways in which you can help young kids, there are a lot of opportunities available to you.
