Mental Health Counselor Resume

To land your target mental health counselor job, you need a resume that highlights your most relevant skills and experience. Below you’ll find a mental health counselor resume sample and expert writing tips that show you the way to making a standout job application.

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RESUME SUMMARY

Compassionate mental health professional with 5+ years of experience providing counseling, coaching, and mentoring to diverse populations in one-on-one and couple settings. Skilled in conducting diagnostic evaluations of patients suffering from alcohol addiction, mood disorders, and family trauma to encourage long-term patient recovery.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Thriveworks, Valley, AL | April 2019–Present
Mental Health Counselor

Educate 30+ weekly adolescent clients on life skills, problem-solving strategies, and how to interact with other peer groups
Developed comprehensive treatment plans after conducting therapy meetings with individuals and couples to improve interpersonal behaviors and reduce their mental stress
Directed 4 monthly community meetings to better understand the needs of the patients and help the facility create a more friendly environment for all members
Performed specialized clinical evaluations, conducted group sessions on self-help, and implemented new techniques to ensure clients’ integration within their communities

Bluepipes, Greenville, AL | March 2018–March 2019
Mental Health Therapist

Organized daily activities for a group of 65 patients and provided progress updates to mental health workers, senior counselors, and program directors
Provided individual, group, and family counseling to 15–20 weekly clients, and updated clinical records with treatment plans, progress notes, and termination summaries
Facilitated group meetings with victims of domestic violence while maintaining a regular caseload comprised of walk-ins, agency referrals, and individual counseling sessions

Veterans Health Administration, Columbus, GA | July 2017–February 2018
Staff Psychologist

Outlined appropriate treatment plans and long-term psychological services for veterans and their dependents
Provided round-the-clock on-call crisis intervention, assessment, and consultation services for 35 veterans
Performed psychological assessments and drafted reports to describe patients’ backgrounds, test results, and conclusions

EDUCATION

University of South Alabama, Baton Rouge, LA | May 2017
Bachelor of Arts in Clinical Psychology
Honors: summa cum laude (GPA: 3.9/4.0)

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Outlook
Counseling, crisis intervention, treatment planning, communication, behavioral therapy, attention to detail

How to write a mental health counselor resume

Learning how to put together a resume for the specific job(s) you want will help you land more interviews.

A mental health counselor is a professional who helps people manage and overcome mental health problems and issues. They provide counseling, therapy, and support to their clients, helping them develop healthy coping mechanisms and improve their quality of life.

Mental health counselors must have a deep understanding of mental health issues, as well as the ability to listen attentively and provide support. They must also be able to create a safe and welcoming environment for their clients by being respectful of their feelings and beliefs.

To get interviewed (and eventually hired) for your desired counseling role, you’ll need to make a mental health counselor resume highlighting your job-specific skills and experience. Here’s how:

1. Target a specific mental health counselor job description

When you make a resume for a mental health counselor job, use keywords from the job ad to:

help your resume stand out to the hiring manager
show that you’re a good fit for the job
indicate that you’re genuinely interested in the role

In addition to keywords, you should also include information that’s relevant to the job in your resume’s education section and work experience section.

Here’s an example of a mental health counselor resume bullet point tailored to a job description that emphasizes adolescent patient education:

Educate over 30 weekly adolescent clients on life skills, problem-solving strategies, and how to interact with other peer groups

By customizing your resume to the job opportunity, you’ll increase your chances of getting an interview.

2. Write an attention-grabbing summary for your mental health counselor resume

The 3–4 sentence summary at the top of your mental health counselor resume is often the most difficult part to write. You need to write your resume summary in a way that grabs the employer’s attention from the very beginning so they’ll keep reading your resume.

To write an attention-grabbing resume summary as a mental health counselor, focus on your ability to connect with clients and help them overcome challenges. So highlight your:

counseling experience
education in psychology or counseling
relevant certifications or licenses
unique skills that make you especially well-suited for the job

Your resume summary should be concise and easy to read. Avoid overly technical or flowery language — just stick to the facts and let your qualifications speak for themselves, like in this example:

A mental health resume summary sample with three sentence outlining the applicant's relevant skills and experience — Keep your resume summary concise so public health employers can quickly read it.

3. Showcase your mental health counselor skills

It’s important to showcase your hard and soft skills on your resume for mental health counselor work:

hard skills are the specific, job-related abilities you’ve acquired through education or experience, such as record-keeping, conducting therapy sessions, and administering tests
soft skills are the interpersonal skills that enable you to interact effectively with others, like active listening, empathy, and conflict resolution

Both hard and soft skills are important for mental health counselors, as they need to be able to understand and respond to the needs of their clients. Here are more examples of skills that you can describe on your mental health counselor resume to impress employers: