Ten Qualities of an Effective Mental Health Worker

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ONE: AVAILABILITY – America’s mental health system is past capacity and many places have long wait lists. Call around and see what the options are before committing yourself to a particular practice or clinician. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment in the event they aren’t available. Also, the bigger the organization is, the more corruptible they are. The more insurance companies and systems that are involved, the more likely you are to feel like meat in a meat grinder. Find a qualified individual who cares about you as a human being. Private practices are just a better option (and you’ll be supporting a small business rather than contributing to a broken system that runs on liability and profit).

TWO: TRUST YOUR GUT – ARE THEY OKAY? Your gut impression MATTERS. Most of the therapists I’ve met in this field are NOT okay. I’m not saying you have to be perfect to work in mental health, but wellness is a DISCIPLINE, and you shouldn’t be taking instructions from someone who doesn’t basically have their own mental, spiritual, and social health in order. Everyone has a bad day, but professionals should be able to demonstrate a skill set that prevents burnout. In the rare event they DO become burnt out, they should be able to push through that temporarily to keep their commitments until they can rest in recover in their own space and time. Don’t allow a burnt out mental health worker to project their own issues or imbalance onto you. Is your counselor comfortable and secure in their own skin? Mental wellness requires an understanding of the self. If your counselor is using YOU to feed or validate their own ego, that’s a huge red flag to me. They should be inquisitive and speak to you as a peer, not arrogantly or narcissistically.

Burnout is a HUGE problem in the mental health industry. Is the person trying to help YOU be okay okay themselves?

THREE: PEOPLE AREN’T PAWNS – Is your mental health worker hearing you, or are they just waiting to respond? Sometimes, the high level of education required to become a therapist makes them feel like they are playing a game of chess rather than dealing with human beings. In other words, are they trying to understand you, or are they just trying to diagnose you?

FOUR: CHALLENGING TOXICITY WHILE VALIDATING EMOTIONS – Does your counselor respectfully challenge your ideas while also validating your experiences? Do they empower you to navigate your own life and make your own choices, or do they encourage you to depend on others? Do they challenge you to WORK to make yourself better? We all need validation, but a good counselor should also encourage you to consider the perspectives of those closest to you and to strengthen your healthy relationships. They shouldn’t avoid taboo topics or the elephant in the room – a competent mental health worker doesn’t worry about filling the session with conversation, they want to get to the matters of substance, and to do so, they need to boldly ask questions about your faith (or lack thereof), your relationships, your flaws and trauma. This isn’t a field for people who can’t respectfully (and gently) gather information.

FIVE: PUNCTUALITY, BOUNDARIES, AND RESPECT – Does your therapist or coach respect your time and keep appointments? Do they often reschedule or cancel? Do they make other clients wait for more than a few minutes while allowing you to go over during sessions? Controlling the schedule and having good boundaries is a key part of being a competent mental health worker. Also, if you are CHOOSING to work on yourself, regardless of your age, there’s a maturity in that and they should treat you with due respect. I even speak to my minor clients as if I’m speaking to a respected adult peer – illustrating unconditional positive regard, along with appropriate boundary setting, are incredibly important in this line of work.

We all have bad moments and bad days, but punctuality is an easy way to show respect. It’s important and you deserve it.

SIX: THE SPACE MATTERS – A good mental health worker should be mindful of the environment they are presenting to clients. Lighting, sound, smell…are there plants in the office? What about pictures of their family? I don’t buy into the “blank slate” many therapists try to present to clients. You don’t need a blank slate, you need a human who cares about your journey, and having a little context as to their own circumstances is a healthy part of that. Do you feel safe and welcomed in their space? Do they go the extra mile to provide snacks, tea, or coffee? Our space is a work in progress, but making our clients feel safe is certainly a priority. Check out this virtual tour!

SEVEN: INTELLIGENCE – This seems like a given, but I’m sorry, not every mental health worker you meet will have the intelligence necessary to help you analyze why you are the way you are and how to improve your outlooks. If they aren’t as smart as you, how can they help you grow? Note that there are many types of intelligence. In particular, mental health workers should be effective at gathering context and understanding the implication of said context. The final step is to distill those implications into actionable strategies for improving your mental health.

A balance of experience, education, and contemplation makes for the best mental health worker!

EIGHT: ONLINE OR IN PERSON? – In my opinion, it’s best if you can have in-person access to your counselor at least initially or occasionally. A good mental health worker can overcome the obstacle and you can still have productive sessions, but it’s very easy not to feel accountable to a person you’ve only ever known on the internet. If there’s something that ties you together, that can help establish the mutual respect necessary for online counseling, but a lot of communicating happens in person that is lost in an exclusively online environment.

NINE: DIGESTIBILITY – Can they explain technical concepts in a way that is digestible to you?  There are a TON of approaches and theories in psychology, they should be great at picking out the ones that will be effective for you and talking about how you can implement them in your daily life.

TEN: OPTIMISM –  People go through a lot. Your mental health worker should be able to understand that regardless of your framework, you have it within you to become a whole and functioning human of purpose and conviction. If they spend more time trying to convince you that you’re sick than they do helping you to become better, find a new resource. They should be optimistic: humanistic psychology tells us that each of us has a potential that we can reach under the right circumstances, and that regardless of any past or future versions of ourselves, we only have control over the now. They should encourage you to live in the present and be mindful of how now effects tomorrow.

It isn’t always about becoming perfect or becoming whole, sometimes we have to carry our experiences and ALSO find the beauty in things and enjoy feeling happy when we’re able to. A great counselor should encourage you to find gratitude in all facets of your life. As a mental health worker, I know that I wouldn’t be effective at doing my job unless I’d experienced each and every trauma in my life. It’s that experience that allows me to relate to others. I’m thankful for all of it, even the stuff that hurt.

In a world that is both negative and positive, choose to focus on (and contribute to) the positive. Breathe. Smile. Rest. You’ve got this.

If you’re still looking for a mental health resource, feel free to check out our customer reviews and reach out! The framework of mentorship allows for holistic development of human beings, and you’re unlikely to find anyone more passionate about personal growth! We hope this was helpful regardless!

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